—— Editor, Sheri Koones is a columnist and book author who writes about construction and issues pertaining to new homeowners. Sheri also writes this regular column for homeresourceguide.com as well as articles on other topics relating to the home. She endured the building of her own dream home a few years ago and, through much trial and error, now knows what should be done when building a home.

Her book, published by Hanley Wood – From Sand Castles to Dream Houses is "A Planner for Building or Remodeling Your Home". This easy-to-read home building/renovating guide offers up-to-date information and advice to the homeowner in clear, everyday language. In addition to the explaining how to get the home built, she provides information on the various accessories and systems available today for the home.

The NAHB's 2005 International Home Builders' Show® in Orlando, Florida had a record-breaking 104,922 in attendance. The show was held in the second-largest convention center in the country with more than 1.5 million square feet of space, the equivalent of 40 football fields. There were over 1600 exhibitors displaying cutting-edge designs, technologies and products available to the building trade in the New Year. This year's show will be held January 11-14, 2006, Wednesday through Saturday, again in Orlando, Florida.

Some of the trends prevalent at the 2005 show were products and seminars with an emphasis on Universal Design and designs with “boomers” in mind, “green” construction, and safety. Several unique and practical new items were introduced, along with other items, just meant to make life more comfortable.

The Reiker Room Conditioner functions as a heater, ceiling fan (with a 54-inch blade circumference) and lighting fixture while requiring a minimal amount of energy. The fan mounts to the ceiling like a standard ceiling fan but unlike other fans it also has four ceramic heating elements with a remote thermostat controlling the heating function, ceiling fan function and lighting fixture.

A transmitter checks the room temperature every three minutes, turning on or off one or more of the heating elements as needed to maintain the room temperature desired. Fan blades push the heated air in a flow removing hot spots and cold spots upward across the ceiling, down the walls, across the floor and back again into circulation to be reheated.

A Whirlpool Fabric Freshener releases wrinkles and removes odors (such as from secondhand smoke, cooking odors) from clothing in a collapsible appliance in about 30 minutes. This product received a great deal of attention at the show; it should be available in May directly from the Whirlpool web site or Best Buy Stores.

An interesting attraction at the show was the Gladiator GarageWorks line from Whirlpool, an integrated storage system of garage products including such items a wall panels, trash compactor, lockers, workbench, drawers, flooring and a Freezerator Convertible Refrigerator / Freezer, a Chillerator Garage Refrigerator and a Modular Garage Refrigerator (a.k.a. The Beer Box) engineered to perform in severe garage environments. All of this has an attractive stamped metal tread plate which can make the garage as attractive and functional as the other areas of the home.

Bathroom fixtures are becoming more and more luxurious and spa-like. Ondine introduced an Electric Light Shower. Along with the 270 spray channels, there are fiber optic lights illuminated with a special halogen light source that gives off a changing rainbow of colors. The color action can be stopped when a “comfortable” color is found. The overhead lights in the bathroom can be turned off and the chromatherapy is said to have therapeutic benefits – if nothing else, it should be incredibly relaxing.

Jacuzzi is consistently creating whirlpool baths with new innovations and added luxury. This year at the home show they introduced their new Morphosis Line designed in conjunction with Pininfarina, Ferrari car designers. These tubs incorporate chromatherapy lighting with sleek, encapsulating designs.

Jacuzzi also introduced their Summer Rain II which offers two bathers separate shower columns in one enclosure. Each column can be set with different water temperatures and massage levels. To avoid stepping in or out of a cold shower when the water is off, it is equipped with a drying system which includes 12 adjustable heated air jets, enhancing the bathing experience.

The electronics industry is forever coming up with more advance technology for home entertainment. This year Sony introduced two in-wall products, an audio system and a home theater system that can connect with most home computer networks to enable multi-room audio distribution, as well as intercom and room monitoring functions. This modular system can be installed in living spaces throughout the home and, when connected via an Ethernet based home network, can share audio content. These units can be ordered in white or with paintable faceplates to customize the units.

A dramatic focal point for any room is the patented design from Heat & Glo’s Cyclone, which is a whirling flame inside a concentric glass design offering a 360-degree view of the fire. It gives off minimal heat but has a very warm, flickering look. It can be freestanding as a pillar or be incorporated into any custom application. It can also be purchased as a wall mount in a choice of finishes. Operated with a remote control, it uses natural gas and like direct vent fireplaces must be vented outside the home.

Another amazing gas fireplace is the Ring of Fire by Travis Industries. This is designed to be used outside and combines a water fountain with flames coming out of the center. A bed of molten glass stones conceal all the mechanisms and controls while refracting the submersible lighting. Three tiers of water cascade onto the stones with the gas flames in and throughout the cascading water. Independent control of light, water and gas allows for numerous configurations.

New products seem to get more sophisticated each year. Just when you think appliances have reached the pinnacle of convenience, something new is available.

Several appliance manufacturers featured home products that replicate restaurant grade items. Gaggenau introduced a steam/convection combination oven. The steam injection, for years used by professional chefs, helps create healthy foods, in less time than some other types of ovens. It is a non-pressurized system so the door can be opened at any time, it is attached to the water line and can be set to produce four different degrees of humidity. The zero degree humidity setting allows the convection mode to give bread a crispy crust, or poultry a golden brown finish.

Another interesting development in kitchen technology from Gaggenau is their Teppen Yaki griddle, long used for Asian fusion cuisine. Food is grilled directly on this large, hard-chromed smooth stainless steel surface. With two cooking zones, adjustable from 122° to 482°Fahrenheit, food can be cooked or heated on one side or both, without a need for pots or pans.

Not yet available, but due out in the Fall is a built in coffee maker from Gaggenau. It can hold two types of coffee beans grind them and froth milk for Cappuccino, espresso, latte or regular coffee. One cup or several cups can be prepared in six levels of coffee strength. This stainless steel coffee machine can be integrated into any cabinetry and it automatically rinses itself after each portion.

Bosch’s dishwashers are so quiet, they incorporated a Infolight feature that beams a red light from the bottom of the dishwasher to the kitchen floor to let you know that it is operating. They have also included systems that automatically adapts the washing cycle to the soil level of the dishes and about a 30 minute wash for quickly cleaning up to six place settings. Besides the standard 24 inch units, they have also introduced an 18 inch unit for small apartments or for areas where the larger units would not fit.

LG Electronics also claims their dishwasher is extremely quiet and offers an oversized tub capacity, able to fit 16-place settings, verses the standard 12 or 14 available most often in the market. The LG dishwashers is also energy efficient and includes a soil sensor which determines the number of rinses needed, and the zone cleaning option allows for washing in the upper and lower decks only to conserve water.

Most people do not enjoy doing laundry so several companies are trying to make it an easier, less time consuming activity.

Bosch showed their new Nexxt laundry line with front-loading washers and dryers they claim are the quietest on the market. The Nexxt laundry line is also Energy Star qualified and has earned a high efficiency rating from the Consortium of Energy Efficiency (CEE) ensuring maximum energy and water savings.

The washer utilizes their Sensotronic Plus system to digitally monitor and maintain water temperatures for 15 different washing programs. An Auto Load Adjust sensor adjusts the water level, wash time and energy consumed according to the load size.

Bosch’s dryers also have moisture and temperature sensors – the Duotronic system – to automatically determine when the clothes are dry, to prevent over-drying. The controls for both units are ergonomically placed in the front to avoid the need to reach across the machine to access the controls. Premium models are available with special features, such as the special rack on the dryer which prevents wrinkles from setting in.

LG unveiled a remote monitoring laundry system which can be placed within the home into any electrical outlet and will display the washing/rinsing/spinning, remaining time and a buzzer signifying the end of each cycle. The LG units also have automatic temperature control, fast spin speeds, high energy rating and a large load capacity.

Each year new and more wonderful technologies are introduced at the International Home Builders' Show®, as well as some of the other home trade shows. These add to the many options that homeowners must consider when building or remodeling their homes; new technologies that add comfort, convenience and in many cases help us save energy.

- Sheri Koones