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It didn’t really shock me, upon reading my blog’s 2011 summary, that the year’s most frequently viewed and commented-upon post was Summary of Changes Introduced in the 2012 Ontario Building Code, which I wrote after attending the OBC 2012 Get to Code Workshop last October. The second most popular post also dealt with 2012’s OBC.

Not all diplomas are valuable. This one is.

Obviously, people out there have an interest in the new code. And so they should: as I explained in the aforementioned articles (as well as this one), the new code stands to simplify builders’ lives. Of course, it also ensures Ontario homeowners get a better product for their money and that the environment gets preserved.

While I remain open to questions and comments, I highly recommend to all our clients and all Ontario builders that they register for one of these upcoming seminars (the first is on February 6 and the second on February 8).

Hurry, though — they do sell out quickly.

As I’ve written before, the new Ontario Building Code will come into effect on January 1, 2012. Thanks to stricter standards, this OBC will ensure homes in Ontario use less energy, reducing emissions and helping homeowners save money.

Brookfield Homes’ Pathways is one of many communities featuring Energy Star-qualified homes.

Admittedly, the new OBC has the potential of becoming somewhat onerous for builders to enforce. It has, after all, up to 10 different compliance packages that pertain to builders in the GTA. They involve many variations in insulation levels in the attic, basement walls, and exterior walls, plus an option to include a heat recovery ventilator depending on the chosen package, as well as an increased furnace’s annual fuel utilization efficiency.

Luckily, things are now simpler. The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing has just published amendments that make it possible for builders to bypass these packages, settling instead for current Energy Star specifications.

In other words, every new home that meets the Energy Star technical requirements will be considered compliant with the energy efficiency requirements for the 2012 OBC. In effect, Energy Star has become the 11th choice for local builders to comply with the new OBC.

This will greatly simplify builders’ lives, making it easier for them to build far more Energy Star-qualified homes while complying with the new OBC. This is why we’ll be calling our clients today to inform them about the new amendments and to encourage them to make their upcoming communities Energy Star-compliant.

This is a good day for green. And with that in mind, I wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

As Shakespeare’s Juliet famously wondered, what’s in a name?

Although the Bard of Avon implied (or at least Juliet did) that names have little meaning, we marketers know better.

Here at BAM, we spend long hours choosing different names for our clients’ communities. These names need to convey, often in just one word, everything that’s essential to the community. They must embody its spirit. They must be easy to remember. It helps if they’re catchy.

On all accounts, the name of our company does a great job, if I say so myself. (And I have to, since I wouldn’t feel comfortable discussing names we’ve used for our clients.)

Of course, the fact that Builder Advertising & Marketing happens to form such a short potent acronym is not a coincidence. But that’s not the main reason we use it — the way I see it, BAM works as a name because it’s an onomatopoeia.

Indeed, the word “bam,” which dates from 1772 or thereabout and imitates a sudden loud noise, is “often used interjectionally to indicate a sudden impact or occurrence.” Which is precisely what we like to do for our clients — to create an impact.

In other words, BAM works because it’s an acronym that stands for what we do. It works because it’s short and memorable. Above all, it works because it embodies, better than any other word, the idea of an impact.

I’m often reminded of this when I go to an event and someone greets me with a loud “BAM!” I always think, “Thanks for the free publicity,” even as some passers-by look on, a confused look on their face, probably wondering why somebody shouted “bam” at me.