1. Make sure to install virus protection software on all PCs on your network, and make sure they are updated as routinely as possible.

2. Enable Microsoft file and printer sharing with extreme caution. If you set permissions incorrectly, outsiders can locate your PCs more easily and gain access to files on your hard drives. Consider enabling port blocking on your firewall.

3. If you have children using your network, consider setting up some form of Web filtering through either a software-based firewall (like McAfee Internet Security 5.0 or Norton Internet Security 2003) or a hardware firewall (like the D-Link DI-604 or Linksys Firewall Router).

4. If you choose a hardware firewall, make sure it includes Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI). SPI inspects the content of packets (not just the source and destination addresses and ports) to determine whether to allow them access to your network.

5. If you're building a wireless network, be sure to turn on WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) on your wireless router or access point.
6. Periodically check for heavy traffic on your router's LEDs and whether each PC's log files contain new entries you are unfamiliar with. These factors could indicate that someone has hijacked your PC and is using it for DDoS attacks or other malicious activity.

7. At night, shut off your wireless router—especially if you live in a densely populated area—and your PCs. What is not available cannot be hacked.

The world of building products is one of ongoing evolution and improvement as manufacturers constantly strive to up the ante and provide the most advanced products in their categories, whether tools, trucks, fenestration, flooring, or decking. The result for dealers is the opportunity to continually sell products that help their customers produce work more efficiently, at a higher quality, and to the greater satisfaction of their own clients. In 2004, we witnessed a handful of interesting trends in a few key product categories that are sure to shape the building landscape today and into the future:

Siding Vinyl siding manufacturers have continued to expand their color options with darker, richer shades that are more resistant to fading and heat distortion than some earlier attempts. Manufacturers have taken advantage of advancements in polymer science, infusing their vinyl siding products with acrylic and ASA (acrylonitrile/styrene/acrylate) additives--which are inherently stable against UV radiation--in the form of capstocks. Strong warranties are offered to back up these products.

Fasteners Over the past year, fastener and connector manufacturers have continued to develop new products for use with ACQ-treated lumber, which is more corrosive than its predecessor, CCA. Manufacturers also continue to test these and previously existing products for corrosion resistance, and the majority of manufacturers offer very specific recommendations for the use of their products in conjunction with pressure-treated wood. Until the industry develops a universally accepted test method for corrosion-resistance, though, dealers and customers must remain vigilant to ensure the correct fasteners and connectors are used with ACQ-treated lumber.

Windows The number of manufacturers offering impact-resistant windows and doors has continued to increase during the last few years, but the drive by manufacturers picked up even more steam in 2004 as four hurricanes pounded Florida; months later at January's International Builders' Show in Orlando, the need for impact protection was still top of mind as existing and new lines of storm-resistant windows were heavily promoted.

Interior Doors While the exterior window and door category continues to focus on developing impact-resistant units, the interior door segment has concentrated lately on offering an ever-expanding spectrum of decorative options and designs. Interior door manufacturers are making it easy for builders and designers to carry a home's architectural themes all the way through its interior by offering doors in distinct architectural styles. Other decorative options that have surfaced include vanity-mirror doors, a proliferation of glass light choices, and even specialty panels.

Housewrap The housewrap category is evolving to solve the complex moisture problems of homes as they are understood today by not only preventing air and water intrusion from the outside, but also by allowing water generated inside the home to escape from the wall cavity. Some manufacturers have taken a more aggressive approach by incorporating drainage paths that channel water to the bottom of the wall so it can escape the cavity more quickly.

Robert K. Futterman & Associates, LLC has completed a lease with Family Inada Inc. at 7 W. 56th St., also known as the Crown Building. The Japanese home furnishings retailer signed for 2,832 s/f at the 366,200 s/f building for 10 years.

Robert Futterman, chairman and CEO, and Ariel Schuster, senior director of RKF, represented the building owner in the transaction. Motoko Ueno Culp, of Redac Inc., represented the tenant. Family Inada will open its new store on the ground floor in late 2004.

"Family Inada complements the prestigious list of upscale retailers at the Crown Building and the surrounding neighborhood," said Schuster.

After a long search, Family Inada chose the Crown Building as the location for its U.S. flagship. The historical building provides a perfect setting for its unique concept.

Neighboring tenants include Beverly Feldman, Bulgari, Louis Ferand, Piaget and Mikimoto.

The "PC Revolution" may be well behind us, but PCs continue to change how we interact and play with video and audio content. From PVR applications that turn TV content into digital video files, to storing an entire music CD collection on a single hard-drive, the PC still has a little revolution left in it after all. And when you add wireless network to the mix, things get really interesting.

In Part II of our Go Wireless series, we showed you how to deploy wireless clients throughout your house and get them all good signal quality. Wireless networks remain unfriendly places to stream media traffic, because all traffic is treated with the same urgency, an approach called "best effort." But with a few workarounds, you can give yourself a better chance of successful streaming.

At the core of this wireless wonderland there needs to be a repository, a media furnace (a.k.a. server) that holds and disseminates all of your media. But how beefy of a machine does this need to be? That answer depends on what tasks you expect this server to do. We'll help figure just out how much server your home network is going to need. Then we'll show you the right components to bring this machine to life.

The first question to ask is: what do you want this server to do? Do you currently plan to only serve up your music collection and still photos to machines around your house? Or are you looking to do video capture and streaming over your network? The answer to this last question is the key determinant to how much horsepower this server needs, since video is by far the most demanding media type to encode and deliver over a network.

If you don't need video services, then a more modest system will get the job done. You can also repurpose an older PC, and stick a big hard-drive in it to act as your primary media bucket. Something as modest as Pentium-III 800MHz system will be more than adequate for an audio/still image server, though you'll want at least 256MB of system memory if you're going to be running Windows XP on it. Linux is an option here as well, but most mainstream distros, when loaded up with X Windows, a decent number of software packages and system services will also run better with additional system memory.

There is future-proofing to consider here as well. You may not want to put streaming video on your network now, but what about six to twelve months from now? If it's something that may be in your future, then consider "shooting ahead of the duck." Beef up your server's components to have it ready for heavier future workloads. And appreciate that even if you're only serving up audio and still images for now, you have to rip those CDs to the server, and for that task a faster CPU should definitely be on your list. Another option here is to rip your CDs using the fastest machine on your network, then copying the ripped tracks over to the server. But for the file-copy you'll definitely want to use the wired side of your network.

Network Segmentation Options

The next area of concern is how to put this server on your network. There are basically three options: Put the server on the wireless net: Probably the least appealing option, because not only will wireless clients be hitting the server for streaming media and file I/O requests, so will your wired clients (via the Access Point). Put the server on both nets: This option is a good one, since wireless and wired clients will each access the server via their respective pipes. You can even bridge the two connections, though an access point effectively handles that task. However, the wireless hardware for the server will add about $70-80 of cost. Put the server on the wired net: This approach is the best and cheapest, and here's why: wired clients will access the server through a speedy 100Mbits/sec Ethernet pipe. Wireless clients will (after bridging onto the wired network via the AP) also use this same fat pipe to access data on the server. In addition, if wired clients need to say, copy files from the server, this additional I/O won't consume precious wireless bandwidth, and shouldn't cause trouble for media streams already in flight. One way to give streaming media is best chance for success on a wireless network is to reduce or eliminate all other traffic on the air. By having the server on the wired network, all wireless clients will access it via the AP, and wired clients won't add any traffic on the wireless network. Appreciate that this design is the best way to accommodate streaming media over wireless, but it doesn't guarantee a hiccup-free media experience. But if the human coprocessor (that's you) provides the media streams with as much of a clean transmission path as possible, the odds for success increase considerably.

The National Association of Realtors recently reported that the median sales price of existing single-family homes in the United States increased 15% between April 2004 and April 2005.

The percentage increase is substantially higher in areas where demand is great and land is scarce. Examples include (at the end of the first quarter of 2005): San Bernadino, California (32.6%); Las Vegas (29.4%); Miami, Florida (28.4%); Sarasota, Florida (36%). Building costs have climbed sharply in the first five years of the new millennium, fueled by increases in the prices of virtually all building materials, notably lumber, brick, concrete block, steel and plumbing.

The challenge for agents, brokers and companies is clear. Dwelling coverage limits must be reviewed and adjusted upward at renewal time. Contact with the insured is an essential part of the process because a substantial premium increase warrants explanation so the insured understands what must be done to assure rebuilding, however severe the damage might be.

Dwelling Coverage A under homeowners policies written for single-family dwellings provides for replacement cost if the limit of insurance has been fixed at, generally, 80% or more of the replacement cost of the damaged building. Otherwise, adjustment will be made on an actual cash value basis. In light of the escalating cost of building materials and skyrocketing property values, special steps must be taken to make certain that out-of-pocket rebuilding expenses paid by insureds are limited to applicable deductibles. relatively new consideration is the increased cost of rebuilding with materials and procedures required by a governing building code. These code regulations have proliferated in numerous communities and counties and, in some cases, are applicable statewide. As the provisions vary from area to area, it is essential to be aware of the requirements for the location in which covered property is situated.

The special homeowners forms used by major insurers-including ISO and AAIS forms-now include basic provisions to comply with ordinance and law requirements up to a specified limit. When such laws first appeared, policy exclusions, reinforced by court decisions, resulted in denial of coverage for such expense. The problem was first eased by availability of optional endorsements to cover the additional expense for additional premium. When the problem mushroomed, "built-in" protection for the exposure was designed, with additional limits available by endorsement when building requirements warrant them.

If the amount of dwelling coverage under a homeowners policy was fixed at the approximate replacement cost of the dwelling when the property was acquired and occupied by the insured, the attachment of an optional inflation guard (or automatic increase in limits) endorsement became a big factor in keeping abreast of construction costs. However, because of the unprecedented current rise in values and costs, it would be a good idea to look at the Coverage A limits and the provisions of the applicable inflation guard endorsement and to make adjustments in limits if necessary.

Last year's natural disasters, including the Florida hurricanes, demonstrated the value of loss of use insurance, Coverage D. The limit of insurance under Coverage D is an additional amount that is fixed at 20% of Dwelling Coverage A in most broad and special forms, generally 20% of Personal Property Coverage C in renters forms, and 40% of Coverage C under condominium unit owners forms.

The key benefit under Coverage D is for additional living expense, defined as "any necessary increase in living expenses incurred by you so that your household can maintain its normal standard of living." Families requiring temporary housing while their dwellings are being repaired or replaced following fire or windstorm damage will attest to its value. Food, clothing and transportation are other major expenses that are within the scope of coverage. Just as Coverage A limits warrant increase, so do those for Coverage D.

Photos of a covered dwelling, both inside and out, are especially useful in the event of loss when limits have been substantially increased prior to the occurrence. Additions and structural improvements are significant subjects on which to focus.

Personal property coverage (Coverage C) under a homeowners special form (3) is an additional amount of insurance, on an actual cash value basis, that is generally fixed at 50% of the dwelling coverage limit. The cost of home furnishings and other personal property has increased during the same period in which dwelling construction expenses have risen. When the Coverage A limit has been fixed accordingly on renewal, a revised Coverage C limit based on it will be proper in most situations. However, it may be adjusted to suit individual needs.

A home inspection covers everything from the foundation to the roof, excluding areas that are not visible or accessible, such as crawl spaces or insulation behind walls. In addition to inspectingthe building; checking for lead paint, radon gas and termites; and evaluating the well water and septic system, the inspector may perform mold and air-quality tests. (Go to homeinspection.com/YourHome.asp for a list of checkpoints.) Here's how to assess the property:

1. DON'T JUDGE A HOUSE BY ITS CURB APPEAL AND WINDOW DRESSING A fresh coat of paint and a well-manicured lawn and shrubs can give any home the "buy me" look But it takes special expertise to figure out if the structure is solid.

2. DIG DEEPER Unless you do, you can't tell if there are plumbing, electrical or structural problems. And even if you tour the home a number of times, you may not be able to gauge the actual condition of the heating and air-conditioning equipment. You need a home inspector--that is, someone to certify the condition of your property and to warn you of items that could cost you hundreds or thousands of dollars down the road.FIND A HOME INSPECTOR Get several recommendations from your agent or friends. Most states require home inspectors to be licensed, but it's important to check them out yourself. The National Association of Home Inspectors (nahi.org) and the American Society of Home Inspectors (ashi.org) can help you find an inspector who belongs to their trade associations. Before you hire anyone, contact the local Better Business Bureau and the Department of Consumer Affairs to find out whether any complaints have been registered against the inspector or the inspector's company. Ask the inspector for references and an example of the report he prepares. And "make sure the home inspector has coverage for errors-and-commissions [a special type of insurance] so that if he or she fails to discover a defect, you can seek damages for negligence," says Ulysses "Deke" Clayborn, chair of the National Bar Association's real estate and probate law section and general counsel of the Missouri Housing Development Commission.

Here's a statistic that will probably make you nervous: Two-thirds of big builders believe that the home building supply chain could be made more efficient if manufacturers would stop protecting their distributors, according to the 692 respondents to a study conducted this year by BIG BUILDER magazine, a sister publication of PROSALES. But don't panic just yet. Luckily, when asked the same questions in a companion study, most manufacturers disagreed with this statement.

These findings were unveiled in late October at the American Housing Conference (AHC), which was produced by PROSALES' parent company, Hanley Wood, LLC, Sept. 20-21 in Chicago and attracted 350 attendees from across the construction industry to hear economic forecasts and get the latest word on trends in the hottest building markets. No doubt, the big-builder sector is still on fire. But it also continues to fuel the great debate as to whether or not lumber and building material distributors will remain an integral part of the production-building supply chain or end up bound into a secondary role by direct deals between big builders and manufacturers. The opinions are split by about a 10 percent margin, according to the BIG BUILDER study. Forty-six percent of the respondents would prefer local-level relationships with suppliers and 37 percent favor national-level negotiations. Approximately 16 percent did not respond, so that leaves some room for speculation as to how close the scales actually weigh.

At both the AHC and the NLBMDA/ ProSales Industry Summit, which took place in Vancouver, Canada, at the end of September, I heard heated discussions about this topic, and I wanted to share some opinions that fall on both sides of the fence.

The Good News. For the past four years, we have put together builder panels for our Industry Summit, which has been held in partnership with NLBMDA for the last two years. This year's panel focused on dealer/big-builder partnership strategies outlined by executives from Colorado-based Village Homes, a privately held company that currently is building 650 homes a year, and California-based Standard Pacific Homes, now the 11th largest home builder in the country. Standard Pacific works in 31 major markets throughout the country and expects to reach 15,000 closings in 2006.

Both builders are focused on enhancing partnerships with dealers and leveraging them to make the supply chain more efficient. Standard Pacific, for example, is looking for suppliers that bring value to the table. Scott Hearty, vice president of regional purchasing, told the attendees that he is targeting five areas to create a better distribution network by teaming with dealers willing to analyze Standard Pacific's business needs; dedicate resources to make the building process more efficient; take creative approaches to solving problems; adopt pricing strategies that consider volume leverage; and share management information across the channel.

Village Homes' director of purchasing, Ron Alberts, shared similar views and focused in on the need for supply "relationships" that develop trust between dealers and builders for long-term "mutual" benefits. (You can read more about Village Homes' partnership with Home Lumber in this month's Market Matters article, page 81.) He stressed the need for dealers to incorporate value added services that will differentiate you from the competition.

The Bad News. There is a big, growing challenge for dealers to offer more to garner big builders' business. At the AHC, a panel of big builders and manufacturers discussed the fact that they believe there is a lot of inertia in the distribution sector. But if you consider all of the dealers now entering areas including construction services, truss manufacturing, and installed sales, it's clear that many distribution companies are actively stepping up to the plate. More needs to be done to promote these new ventures within the supply channel, market services, and form partnerships to change perceptions such as this. The value of new and diverse business ventures is dependent on communication and strategic alliances. Now is the time to tip the scale in your favor.

New-home construction nationwide rebounded from the shock and devastation of hurricanes Katrina and Rita to maintain a vigorous pace in September, the U.S. Commerce Department reported this week.

Total housing starts increased 3.4 percent for the month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.108 million units following upward revisions to the July and August rates.

The September construction pace was 10.3 percent above a year ago and remained above 2 million units for the sixth month in a row.

Single-family home construction rose 2.6 percent to a near-record pace of 1.747 million units for the month. This was 12.3 percent above the pace of a year ago.

"Builders are operating at a very healthy pace and see little letup in the months ahead, despite the initial shock and economic uncertainties immediately following hurricanes Katrina and Rita," said Dave Wilson, president of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a custom home builder from Ketchum, Idaho.

"All the fundamentals remain in place and the overall housing market continues to exhibit ongoing strength," said NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders. "Favorable mortgage rates as well as strong household income and job growth continue to bolster housing demand."

Astoria Residents Reclaiming Our World (ARROW), a Queens-based nonprofit environmental group, will open what it is calling "the first building materials reuse center in New York City" in March in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens.

A launch event is taking place Friday evening, March 7, and will include brief remarks by the ARROW staff, a tour of the facility and a reception with live music and refreshments.

ARROW's leaders say the re-use center is based on models up and running in other cities across the country such as The ReBuilding Center in Portland, Ore., and Urban Ore in Berkeley, Calif.

ARROW's center will offer building materials at discount prices for the individual homeowner and small contractor markets. Fixtures, doors, sinks, shelving, kitchen cabinets, sheetrock, lock sets and many other items will be offered for sale secondhand.

The center's inventory will be drawn from materials donated by New York residents and businesses. ARROW says it will accept bathroom fixtures, cabinets, light fixtures, metal and wood doors, windows, furniture, kitchen fixtures and small quantities of dimensional lumber. The group is already receiving materials at the site at 51-02 21st Street at Borden Ave. in Long Island City. Donations are accepted during limited hours and are tax deductible.

Jeanne Ballard Robinson stopped renting last year and began building wealth the bricks-and-mortar way. She bought her first home, in Cleveland, after completing an eight-hour financial literacy course that walked her through the entire home- buying process and granted her an $800 certificate to use toward closing costs. Single and with an annual income of under $50,000, Robinson, the 2003 NASW Social Worker of the Year, made a 3-percent down payment and got a $79,500 loan to buy the $83,000 three-bedroom, two-car garage house. It now has a market value of $85,000. So she already has $5,500 in equity; her mortgage payments are $200 a month less than what she paid in rent; and her interest payments are tax- deductible.

For the average U.S. family, the single largest source of wealth is the equity in their home. With interest rates at near 40-year lows, it's easier than ever to own a home. Start by controlling your spending, then make these moves to start creating wealth credit report paints a picture of your account-payment history. Before mortgage shopping, order your report from the three major credit-reporting agencies and correct any errors. Incorrect information that's negative can inflate your interest rate or disqualify you. A previous bankruptcy may not prevent you from getting a mortgage--if you now pay bills on time and if you've had a clean payment history since the bankruptcy was discharged--but your interest rate may be higher. Robinson learned that each credit report often has different information, so she got a copy from Experian, (888) 397-3742; Equifax, (800) 685-1111; and TransUnion, (800) 888-4213. She followed instructions on the reports and disputed the inaccuracies.

2 DON'T BUY MORE HOUSE THAN YOU CAN AFFORD.

Determine what you can comfortably pay each month for housing. Keep in mind that in addition to principal and interest, you'll also have to pay real-estate taxes and insurance. You'll also need funds for maintenance and repairs. Before extending a loan, lenders generally look at your debt-to-income ratio--debt payments (excluding rent) divided by gross monthly income (before deductions). For instance, if you make $3,000 a month and pay $600 toward your debt, your ratio is 20 percent ($600/$3,000=0.20), which is considered good. A higher ratio suggests a need to control spending. Lenders also want to see your mortgage payment equal no more than about 29 percent of your monthly gross income. "You have to know the difference between a fantasy home and one you can pay for," says Robinson.

3 SHOP FOR THE BEST MORTGAGE.

A fraction of a percent difference in an interest rate can save you thousands of dollars over the life of the lean, so shop around. Your first choice doesn't have to be a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage, especially if you plan to stay in the home for less than seven years. Compare interest rates to see if an adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) is a better financial fit. If you can afford a higher monthly payment, consider a 15- or 20-year mortgage that may have a lower rate, thus saving you money in the long run. (Check out Lending Tree, [lendingtree.com or (800) 555-8733], an online loan marketplace.)

4 NEGOTIATE CLOSING COSTS.

You should receive a Good Faith Estimate of Closing Costs when you apply for a loan. This gives you an idea of the lender's charges for origination and discount fees, credit report, appraisal, title insurance, document preparation, termite inspection and other costs, and tells you how much out-of-pocket money you'll need to pay. Sellers are often willing to help with closing costs, so negotiate.

5 GET YOUR OWN EXPERTS.

For a few hundred bucks, you can get a lawyer to review the purchase contract and make sure your interests are protected. You'll also save a bundle in unforeseen repairs if you hire a house inspector, who may uncover hidden problems like termites or structural defects before you seal the deal. Also understand that the real-estate agent works for the seller--unless you have a "buyer agency agreement." Without one, if you tell the agent, "I just love this place, and I'd pay the $130,000 asking price, but I'll offer $110,000," the agent is obligated to tell the seller you're willing to pay more.--L.S.

For 13 years, Mike Brown managed Stock Building Supply locations throughout North Carolina and South Carolina, catering to the custom home builders--and to a smaller extent repair and remodel contractors--that are responsible in large part for the overall growth of one of the nation's largest pro dealers. Some of the locations had a mix of regional production builder activity, but most markets were dominated--usually at upwards of 90 percent--by custom accounts with low annual starts and high-margin dollar purchases.

But since the mid-'90s, all of that has changed, as Stock--like virtually every other pro dealer--has been forced to readjust operations to account for the huge market shares in new-home construction being consumed by national and regional production builders. Despite a size and scale rivaling any pro dealer operation out there, Stock has still had to reorchestrate its market approach through corporate reorganization and the further development of value-added services to better match up the company's local supply and service offerings with production builder markets.

"The production business has grown by so much just over the last five years. It's just phenomenal, and I think everybody [in the industry] is seeing that," says Brown, who in 2003 was named Stock's production sales manager for North and South Carolina. "Especially in metro markets, the production guy is building the lion's share of the housing. You just don't see many local builders building there anymore, because the price points [to compete on land acquisition and development] are being driven higher and higher."

For Brown and a growing number of other Stock production sales managers just like him, working to secure big builder business has evolved in tandem with these rapidly shifting markets. Although the buzz surrounding national supply partnerships continues, the emphasis--from Stock's standpoint at least--is focused almost entirely on local service execution, and boardroom strategy sessions are just as likely to include Brown, an outside sales rep, and a local jobsite supervisor as they are to involve top-level executives from Stock and a national big builder.

Brown's experience in the markets of the Carolinas--including the shift in market share toward production builders and the pro dealer tactics used to garner more of their business--mirrors to a certain degree ongoing changes at Stock Building Supply as a corporate whole. Although the Raleigh, N.C.-based company still relies heavily on a custom builder base for approximately 70 percent of its business, changes are afoot as the dealer continues to leverage the growing big builder hold on the housing market. Even as the housing market cools, some experts are expecting big builders to gain an even larger share of residential starts across the United States. For the top 10 builders, that share is estimated to hit 30 percent in 2006, according to an October 2005 home builder market white paper by Margaret Whelan, an analyst for investment firm UBS. According to Whelan, as the builder economy slows, scale could afford the top 10 better access to labor, land, and the capital markets to acquire both, possibly driving their cumulative market share to 50 percent or greater by 2010.

"I think those estimates of market share are pretty accurate," says Stock president and CEO Fenton Hord, who predicts that within the next 10 years Stock's own customer breakdown will be an equal share of production versus custom business, with smaller shares of approximately 15 percent in commercial and repair and remodel. "In the major metro markets I wouldn't be surprised if we are already at 50 percent or more." With 270 locations across 30 states, Stock's exposure to the full gamut of big builder businesses rivals only several other almost-national pro dealers, including Eighty Four, Pa.-based 84 Lumber; Redmond, Wash.-based Lanoga Corp. (which in January merged with Brooklyn, N.Y.-based The Strober Organization, forming the nation's largest pro dealer operation); San Francisco-based Building Materials Holding Corp. (BMHC); and Dallas-based Builders FirstSource. The idea of a one builder/one dealer supply chain partnership that will span across all markets is still a goal that all of these companies are working out on a limited basis, and while most have a relationship with a majority--if not all--of the nation's top 20 builders, full-spectrum coverage of the entire big builder market remains for the most part a long-term strategic goal.

New legislation enacted in January will reward builders with tax credits for improving the energy efficiency of new homes. The problem is most builders don't know how to qualify for the $2,000-per-home tax credits--and time is running out because the credits expire in less than two years.

"You have to go through the brain damage of trying to figure [this] out," says Bill Justus, vice president of supply chain services for David Weekley Homes, one of the nation's largest home builders.

"We are hearing a lot of questions," agrees Richard Morgan, program manager for the Austin Green Building Program in Texas, the nation's oldest and most respected green building program. "Builders want to know, 'What does this mean for me? How do I take advantage of this?'"

President Bush's broad national energy plan, the Energy Policy Act of 2005, is intended to encourage energy efficiency and conservation, promote alternative and renewable energy sources, reduce Americans' dependence on foreign sources of energy, increase domestic energy production, modernize the electricity grid, and encourage the expansion of nuclear energy.

One of the act's major goals is to promote energy-efficient home building, including the construction of zero-energy houses that are powered by solar energy. According to the federal government, the average American home loses between 10 percent and 50 percent of its energy due to inadequate insulation and inefficient lighting and appliances.

"I think it will change the way builders build their homes and hopefully that will force their competition to do the same," says Ed Pollock, team lead for residential energy efficiency research at the U.S. Department of Energy.

The energy act also sets new minimum efficiency standards for a range of consumer and commercial products, including heaters, refrigerators, and light fixtures. And it encourages the production and sale of energy-efficient products, which the government says will increase the supply of available energy.

The legislation took effect Jan. 1, but it wasn't until late February that the IRS approved procedures by which home builders can prove they qualify for the tax credits. Understanding the procedures, written in government jargon and covering dozens of pages, is an arduous task, according to builders and others familiar with them. Besides getting a grip on the procedures, builders need to grasp the science behind super-efficient building--and that may be impossible in such a short period of time.

"You're not going to learn it in two years," says Jim Sargent, owner of AndersonSargent Custom Builders of Waxahachie, Texas, who builds energy-efficient homes near Dallas and Fort Worth. "If you don't have a handle on it now, you're not going to get there" in two years.

The tax credits may be particularly out of reach for the nation's large production builders, which construct tens of thousands of homes each year and therefore could have the most impact on saving energy. Local codes and regional variations in construction materials and methods make it difficult to quickly implement substantial changes on a nationwide basis, says Ed VonThoma, president of Burnsville, Minn.-based Voned, a construction consulting firm, and a former employee of big builders Centex and Town & Country Homes. Additionally, some big builders are erecting dwellings purchased months or even a year ago, making it impossible to alter the plans, says Justus.

Even smaller, more nimble custom home builders face challenges, such as "finding the right site, getting the right design, and taking another six months to build," says Morgan. "That would probably mean that only projects started within the next few months would probably be able to take advantage of this," he adds.

But the biggest challenge may be getting builders both large and small to consider installing more energy-efficient, yet pricier products and systems. "A high-performance window is more expensive. A higher performing wall system is more expensive. And sealing your house more tightly is more expensive" says Kim Calomino, vice president of technical and regulatory affairs for the Home Builders Association of Metro Denver and director of Built Green Colorado.

Some believe the tax credits will help. "Will it cost more to build a more efficient high-performance home? Yes it will, [but] tax credits for builders will give an incentive to achieve those results," says VonThoma.

Designed for 2-way network communication over power lines, half-duplex Binary-FSK Model ST7540 features 8 selectable carrier frequencies, covering bands A, B, and C, and 4 programmable baud rates from 600-4,800 bps. Device integrates single-ended Power Amplifier with accessible I/O lines for external signal components. In addition to 5 V regulator, transceiver includes on-chip 3.3 V, 50 mA voltage regulator for powering different types of external microcontrollers.

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New power amplifier combined with 'stripped down' key features from the state-of-the-art ST7538 to create a smaller, cost-effective power line transceiver

Geneva, March 21, 2006 - STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM) today announced a new power line transceiver, the ST7540 http://www.st.com/stonline/products/literature/ds/12176.htm, strengthening ST's leadership in Narrowband Power Line Communications by broadening the company's current offering to include space constrained and cost-sensitive home and building automation applications and remote monitoring systems.

The ST7540 is a half duplex Binary-FSK (Frequency Shift Keying) transceiver designed for two-way network communication over power lines, with eight selectable carrier frequencies, covering CENELEC bands A, B and C, and 4 programmable baud rates from 600 to 4800 bps. Reduced in size and pin count, the new ST7540 maintains the field proven 'core' technology of the earlier ST7538, but without some accessory functions (such as zero crossing detection and the uncommitted operational amplifier).

Designed for 2-way network communication over power lines, half-duplex Binary-FSK Model ST7540 features 8 selectable carrier frequencies, covering bands A, B, and C, and 4 programmable baud rates from 600-4,800 bps. Device integrates single-ended Power Amplifier with accessible I/O lines for external signal components. In addition to 5 V regulator, transceiver includes on-chip 3.3 V, 50 mA voltage regulator for powering different types of external microcontrollers.

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New power amplifier combined with 'stripped down' key features from the state-of-the-art ST7538 to create a smaller, cost-effective power line transceiver

Geneva, March 21, 2006 - STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM) today announced a new power line transceiver, the ST7540 http://www.st.com/stonline/products/literature/ds/12176.htm, strengthening ST's leadership in Narrowband Power Line Communications by broadening the company's current offering to include space constrained and cost-sensitive home and building automation applications and remote monitoring systems.

The ST7540 is a half duplex Binary-FSK (Frequency Shift Keying) transceiver designed for two-way network communication over power lines, with eight selectable carrier frequencies, covering CENELEC bands A, B and C, and 4 programmable baud rates from 600 to 4800 bps. Reduced in size and pin count, the new ST7540 maintains the field proven 'core' technology of the earlier ST7538, but without some accessory functions (such as zero crossing detection and the uncommitted operational amplifier).