The powerful storms that rolled through St. Louis last weekend have left many residents with a lot of damage, and the need to find a good general contractor to make repairs and even make some major renovations.

Unfortunately there are also many storm chasing, fly-by-night operations that are poised to take advantage of homeowners who have found themselves in a bind and in need of repairs.

When hiring a contractor for a home renovation or repair project the most important thing you can do is a little bit of homework before making their selection – it can save thousands of dollars and can help make sure you get a quality job for your money.

Here are a few important tips for selecting a general contractor for your storm repairs, renovations, or additions:

Keep it Local – Avoid the storm chasers who roll into town specifically to take advantage or storm victims and support your local economy by hiring a contractor in St. Louis, and preferably one headquartered within a reasonable driving distance to your home. By keeping it local you may also shave some costs and time off of your project because subs and materials are more likely to come from local suppliers.

Check Credentials – Make sure that your contractor is a member of a nationally recognized, professional organization such as the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), the local chapter of the Home Builders Association (HBA), or National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI). It’s easy to determine their affiliation by looking for membership affiliation on their website, or simply by asking them during your initial conversation. Many organizations will also list member companies and contractors on their websites, which can also be a great way to start your start your contractor search. These memberships are important because they support their reputation, but many of the associations also require ongoing education as part of their membership, meaning you can be confident your builder is up to date and knowledgeable.

Check the BBB – One of the best resources for customers who are considering doing business with anyone new, it only takes a few seconds to search for a builder’s name or company on the Better Business Bureau’s website to see if there are any past complaints, to check out their rating, and make sure they are approved.

Nothing Beats a Referral – Happy clients develop a good relationship with their contractor over the course of their home project, and the contractor should be happy to pass along contact information for a few past clients. But be wary if they can’t, or won’t, give this information to you – this red flag could mean they haven’t been in business very long, or that they have a series of bad projects in their past.

When hiring a general contractor it may be tempting to jump to the lowest bid blindly, however taking a company’s track record and qualifications into account when making you decision can prevent a lot of hassle, wasted money, and disappointment.

In this rendering from architect Jeff Day you can see how Active House utilizes natural lighting and energy via windows and lot placement to conserve energy.

We are in the middle of two very exciting and important weeks in the construction of Active House USA. As you can imagine, it takes a team of highly skilled hardworking people to partner together to build a new, custom home. And with all of the industry leading technologies and techniques that are going into Active House USA, the partners involved in the project are as enthusiastic as they are dedicated to making this project successful.

Over the last few months architect Jeff Day has worked closely with the homeowners, as well the Hibbs Homes and Verdatek Solutions crew and project partners, to design an innovative green home that also blends seamlessly with the surrounding, historic neighborhood of Webster Groves, MO. Visually the home is at home with it’s neighbors, however the energy efficiency, indoor air quality, and the attention to the surrounding environment are features that the rest of the block would be hard pressed to keep up with. In fact, the design fits within in the neighborhood so well that Active House project manager Matt Belcher of Verdatek Solutions overheard many people who visited at an Active House Alliance conference booth in Europe commenting on how traditional and all-American the design of the home is compared to the other prototype homes around the world.

Consulting partner & Active House project manager Matt Belcher with homeowners David, Thuy & Cameron Smith.

To make way for Active House USA, the previous house on the lot was torn down yesterday, and the homeowners were there along with friends and family to watch this very important first step towards their new home take place. Homeowner David Smith was even manning the equipment during the first few swipes, taking down the front porch and front facade before turning it over to the pros.

Next week marks another important Active House milestone-groundbreaking! Hibbs Homes, Verdatek Solutions, Active House Alliance members, will be there along with local leaders and the homeowners to mark the official start of construction on May 2 at 10:00am. In the weeks following the ceremony, construction crews will start getting to work, and the goal is to have the home certified, the homeowners moved in, and have Mizzou’s monitoring set and ready to go by this fall.

You can find out more about the project and follow the progress by heading over the the website ActiveHouseUSA.com, and find out more about Active House and the Alliance by heading to ActiveHouse.info.

Image credit: Microgrid Energy

As St Louis Cardinals baseball fans, we have a lot to be proud of-a World Champion Team, Willie McGee, and the fact that our home team is one of the teams in the MLB that is one of the leaders in sustainable operations. In addition to the ball club’s efforts in recycling and reducing energy usage, they have recently stepped up their game and made a massive energy overhaul by becoming the sixth team in the MLB to install solar panels in their park.

“St. Louis Cardinals’ fans may not taste the difference, but the next hot dog they consume at Busch Stadium could be cooked with power from solar energy,” said Microgrid Energy’s website. According to an recent post on Microgrid’s site, the team worked with Microgrid Energy, Electrical Connection, and Sachs Electric to install 106 solar modules on the roof of the ticketing building and a concession area canopy in the Ford Family Plaza that has the capacity to produce 25,000 Watts (W) total power, and around 32,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy annually.

The power collected from the panels is mixed with traditional energy in the stadium’s system and though it might just be a small percentage of the stadium’s overall energy usage, when looked at over the life of the stadium and combined with all of the other green and sustainable efforts the club has tackled, the St Louis Cardinals are hitting a home run for the environment.

And this weekend, when the Brewers come to town, they will be celebrating the 42nd anniversary of Earth Day and teaching fans about solar energy and recycling during their 3rd annual Green Series, April 27-29.