The Not So Big Showhouse will be open to more than 100,000 visitors, all of whom have a stake in the growing market for environmentally friendly materials and building practices.

Portland, ME, Oct.1, 2004: Sarah Susanka, whose bestselling books ignited the Not So Big' movement to build better, not just bigger homes, announces her next showhouse to debut January 13-16 in Orlando, Florida during the International Builders' Show 2005. The Not So Big Showhouse will be open to more than 100,000 visitors, all of whom have a stake in the growing market for environmentally friendly materials and building practices.

For Susanka, the Not So Big Showhouse serves as a hands-on display, showcasing the principles set forth in her bestselling books, The Not So Big House, Not So Big Solutions for Your Home, and most recently Home by Design: Transforming Your House into Home. According to Susanka, "builders and consumers are realizing that by reducing a home's footprint through better design, they can put the savings into details that are high-quality, energy-efficient and environmentally sound."

The house is being built by Bradford Building Corp., in NorthLake Park at Lake Nona, a traditional neighborhood design, which includes features such as attractive parks, thoughtful landscaping, and pedestrian-friendly "front porch" architecture.

Appeal Beyond the Curb -- Continuing Education Tours

With technical oversight from building science consultant Steve Easley, as well as THE GREEN BUILDER' Ron Jones, the Not So Big Showhouse tour is a serious yet entertaining, multiple-media learning experience onsite, online and on CD. The tours offer hosted-audio by Sarah, Steve and Ron with informational video, and electronic product information.

Three audio-visual tours focusing on design principals, the benefits of building-science and green-building.
Documentary videos covering the construction and materials-selection processes.
Special edition of Building Edge Magazine, serving as a comprehensive project brochure with in-depth articles, topical discussions by Susanka's team and integral product information.

A Learning Module for Greener Building

The Not So Big Showhouse is a collaborative effort between the project's three principle Anchor Sponsors:

1) The Department of Energy (DOE) wants builders to build, and homeowners to ask for, energy efficient homes. Three of the DOE's Building America teams collaborated on the Susanka designed house using a "building as a system" approach to design, specify, plan and (eventually) monitor the house.

2) The Green Building Subcommittee of the NAHB's Construction, Codes and Standards Committee has added the demo home to a growing list of educational and outreach activities. "This demonstration home will help show our fellow builder-members that green design is mainstream now. We're excited to be a part of it," said Ray Tonjes, this year's chair of the NAHB Green Building Subcommittee and a home builder from Austin, Texas.

3) The Sustainable Buildings Industry Council (SBIC) is a resource for builders just getting started in green building. Helen English, SBIC's Executive Director, says, "The project gives them a well-balanced and practical approach to consider. Green design strategies will differ, of course, depending on climate and architectural style, but this is a great jumping-off point." The project tries to incorporate many of the principles found in the fourth edition of SBIC's Green Building Guidelines: Meeting the Demand for Low-Energy, Resource-Efficient Homes.

The Not So Big Showhouse will be open for tours during the entire International Builders' Show. Shuttles will be available from the Orange County convention center to the Showhouse, and special events are scheduled at the home throughout the week.

After October 15, please visit notsobigshowhouse.com.

The Not So Big Showhouse Team

About Sarah Susanka

Bestselling author, architect and cultural visionary Sarah Susanka has emerged as the leader of a movement that continues to shape the future of the American home. With her first book, The Not So Big House (1998) Sarah Susanka launched a revolution in residential architecture that changed the way we think about our homes. The Not So Big House and her next two books, Creating the Not So Big House (2000) and Not So Big Solutions for Your Home (2002) inspired over one million readers and continue to receive international media attention. Her approach to residential architecture has been embraced by homeowners, designers, architects, builders, realtors, planners and sustainability advocates around the world. In addition to her presentations on residential design, Susanka is a much sought-after keynote speaker on such topics as sustainability, energy conservation, urban planning, and how the built environment affects our health. Fast Company named her to their list of "Fast 50" innovators whose achievements have helped to change society - an honor preceded by her selection as a Newsweek top newsmaker for 2000 and a U.S. News & World Report innovator in American culture in 1998. Professional Builder Magazine presented her with its achievement award in 2000, and in 2003 she was the recipient of Residential Architect's Leadership Hall of Fame Award. F! or more information about Not So Big design principles, see www.NotSoBigHouse.com. For more information about Sarah Susanka, visit www.Susanka.com. Not So Big® is a registered trademark of Susanka Studios.

Sarah Susanka Press Contact: Irina Woelfle 305-373-8616 or irina@iwprgroup.com

About Steve Easley

Steve has over 25 years experience in the construction industry, and was a Professor of Building Construction and Contracting with tenure at Purdue University for 10 years before moving to California. He has spent most of his career performing field research to help builders build durable, comfortable homes that are cost effective as well as energy efficient. Steve is often a featured speaker at conferences because of his extensive field experience and practical approach solving problems and providing education within the industry. Steve's firm provides program design, technical consulting and quality assurance for contractors, utilities, governmental and trade associations.

Steve's work has been featured in Professional Builder, Fine Home Building Magazine, Journal of Light Construction, Custom Builder, Popular Science, Home Energy Magazine and numerous other print publications. . Steve is also host of the upcoming Bob Vila's Energy Wise Home Project for the Internet.

About Ron Jones

Ron Jones a.k.a. The GREEN BUILDER® has been a green builder for more than 35 years and has actively promoted sustainable building at the National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB), where he chaired NAHB's Green Builder Subcommittee. Ron also helped the SBIC Advisory Committee develop the Green Building Guidelines --. As a design/builder, Ron knows what works, what doesn't, what's cost effective and what's just plain costly. Ron will host a 15-minute "green behind the scene" audio tour (online and on CD) that will describe how the Orlando showhouse meets the demand for low-energy, resource-efficient homebuilding.