One Window

We’ve been building with essentially the same techniques and materials for the last century. Sure we’ve built a better hammer and invented new materials, but these are nothing more than incremental improvements on the same system. Through my work, I encounter radically new approaches to building all the time. One Window is my soap box to share the great successes (and failures) that I come across.

Tom Schirber is a housing and building technology consultant based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His work focuses on developing collaborations to advance affordable housing issues, furthering research in high performance building technologies, and promoting strategies to reduce construction costs for residential buildings. Tom’s extensive career has taken him through numerous business ventures in real estate development, residential building and other enterprises. He spent a decade at the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation in St. Paul, where he launched several programs to increase the supply of affordable housing, build the capacity of community development corporations, and improve the housing conditions in the area. Prior to moving to Minnesota, Tom managed a homeless shelter in North Dakota.

Smart Building

With all the buzz words flying around the construction industry coupled with the do-it-yourself craze, contractors and home owners alike are finding it impossible to keep up. What does it really mean to build green? Design build? Modular building? What I propose is that we simply build smart. In my Smart Building blog I’ll take you along with me on my search for smart, practical and realistic solutions to the barriers and frustrations I encounter as a contractor and business owner.

Steve Schirber is the CEO of Think House Group and founder of SMS Builders Inc., a successful residential Design/Build firm in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Steve’s journey as an entrepreneur began in the sixth grade when he started his own lawn care service in Bismarck, North Dakota. Steve discovered his passion for construction while working as a framing carpenter in high school. While attending college, Steve started a painting company which later grew into a full scale remodeling company. Steve’s 15 years in remodeling industry and his entrepreneurial experience gives him a keen understanding of the intricacies of business ownership and the construction industry.

Steve holds a BCE in structural engineering from the University of Minnesota where he played football for the Golden Gophers. He lives in Minneapolis with his wife and two children.

Stranded

Jennifer Strand began her career in the construction industry as a surety underwriter in 1992. It was in this capacity that she learned how complicated accounting and accounting systems can be for growing contractors. With that realization in mind she founded Strand Solutions in 2001. Strand Solutions is a consulting firm in Minneapolis, MN that specializes in accounting and estimating software for small to medium-sized construction companies. Jennifer has a reputation for establishing effective accounting systems and procedures specifically tailored to the needs of her clients.

In addition to consulting, Jennifer has a passion for educating contractors so they understand the business side of their trade. She has participated in various educational conferences for Metropolitan Council, Associated General Contractors (AGC) and the Association of Women Contractors (AWC). Jennifer has been a Sage Master Builder Certified Consultant since 2002 and holds Advanced Certification in Report Writer and Project Management.

Jennifer and her husband, Pete, have been married for ten years and have three children.