Houzz Rebounding After a Difficult Year

Walnut Creek, California-based remodeling and design firm Everlast Construction has been recognized by industry organizations such as Angie’s List, with Yelp and the Better Business Bureau giving the company high ratings. In addition to receiving high marks from these groups, Everlast Construction has been featured on Houzz, an online platform that provides information on the latest design and remodeling trends.

After having a rough year, Houzz appears to be rebounding, with the online platform set to introduce new tools and possibly offer an IPO in 2021. The platform currently serves a community of more than 2.7 million remodeling and design professionals. Though it was forced to reduce its staff by 10 percent last year, it is beginning to see business grow again.

Last year gave the company time to devise new ways to attract customers. Houzz Pro, which launched in April 2020, offers a subscription to design and remodeling professionals to help them connect with clients. This particular offering provided a 58 percent jump in project leads for professionals who used the service in June.

An overall trend driving business is the number of baby boomers getting their homes ready for retirement. Low interest rates and depleted inventory combined with old housing stock also are impacting the platform.

A Primer on NARI University

Walnut Creek, California-based Everlast Construction is a leader in the design and remodeling industry and offers a unique design-build remodeling strategy to achieve impressive results. Everlast Construction maintains affiliation with multiple professional organizations including the National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI).

Established in 1982, NARI exists to promote the remodeling industry and to provide industry-related information resources to consumers. NARI also offers a range of certification and accreditation programs to its member professionals working within the remodeling industry. In addition, the association operates NARI University to provide its members with access to ongoing educational opportunities.

Through NARI University, remodeling professionals have access to a range of certification preparation courses delivered online and in-person in some chapter locations. The association also offers online learning webinars that are focused on industry best practices and designed to assist professionals with improving the performance of their businesses. NARI’s collection of online learning webinars are free for members to access and enable participants to earn continuing education credits. Each of NARI’s certification preparation courses and online webinars are developed and delivered by subject matter experts.

Certification Courses Offered by Build It Green

Operating out of Walnut Creek, California, Everlast Construction is an award-winning architectural design and construction company. Everlast Construction offers a diverse range of services, including exterior and interior remodeling, new construction, and foundation repair. Committed to using sustainable building methods, the company maintains membership with Build It Green (BIG).

Dedicated to promoting green building methods, BIG provides a range of educational and supportive resources for professionals operating within the building industry. Three certification courses BIG offers on green building practices are described here.

Certified Green Building Professional

This 16-hour curriculum introduces green building principles and how the system’s approach can be applied to the residential building and operations process. Key concepts presented in this course include air quality, energy efficiency, resource management, and water conservation.

Certified GreenPoint Rated Advisor

Ideal for architects, designers, and builders, this 2-hour certification course provides an education on the GreenPoint Rating and what criteria must be met by homeowners, design teams, and others involved in the building process to achieve it.

Certified GreenPoint Rater

This certification provides the knowledge needed to perform each step of the GreenPoint home rating process, including the evaluation of green measures and completion of applications for submission to BIG with the necessary supporting documents. The Certified GreenPoint Rater program consists of multiple courses, including GreenPoint Rated Core, GreenPoint Rated New Home, GreenPoint Rated Existing Home, and CA Multifamily Existing Building.