LEED ON - Environmental Concerns Increase Interest in Sustainable Design
By: Nena Groskind
June 2010
“Green” is in the news. Although economic concerns continue to dominate the headlines, energy-related issues - from climate change, to sustainable design, innovations in energy conservation and fights over the installation of solar panels - are commanding their share of media attention.

Protecting, Supporting and Enhancing Communities
May 2010
Over the past year in addition to the routine and often anticipated challenges that New England associations have historically faced, homeowners, volunteer leaders and industry professionals have been confronted with a host of new obstacles resulting from high profile identify theft crimes, the fall out of a national economic crisis and unprecedented federal, state and local governmental regulation. But throughout New England, communities and homeowners successfully navigate these daunting seas thanks to the leadership and fortitude of individuals who stay the course. It was with appreciation and gratitude that CAI-NE and the more than 300 people in attendance at the dinner recognized these industry leaders from around the chapter at the 14th Annual Awards Banquet and Casino Night.

Hardening Insurance Market; Higher Costs
By: Nena Groskind
April 2010
Insurance industry executives have been predicting for the past five years that the exceptionally ¡§soft¡¨ insurance market would be hardening. But premium costs, which should have been rising, continued to decline instead, surprising the experts but pleasing community associations (and other consumers) who have benefited from that trend. There¡¦s a reason they talk about insurance cycles, however, and it appears that this one, too, is coming to an end. The hard market insurers have been anticipating is beginning to materialize, promising higher premiums and stricter underwriting standards for community associations, and bringing challenges for their governing boards, managers and insurance agents.

Savings & Efficiency Push Communities & Managers off the Technology Sidelines
By: Nena Groskind
March 2010
Community associations are not on the cutting edge of new technology. This hardly qualifies as a stop-the-presses revelation. In the race to embrace technological change, as a group, condominium communities and association management companies are more likely to be characterized as the tortoise than the hare. But if the industry is not in the technology vanguard, it is no longer sitting passively on the sidelines either.

Planning a Construction Project?
By: Nena Groskind
February 2010
It’s pouring rain and has been for the past 10 days. The condominium parking lot, which was supposed to be re-paved today, looks like a swimming pool, except for all the mud, which is also filling the actual swimming pool down the hill. The paving contractor says if he doesn’t do your job today, it will be six weeks before he can get back to you. The community-wide window replacement project you’ve been planning for the past year is also on hold, not just because of the weather, but because the windows delivered last week aren’t the ones you ordered. Your e-mail and voice mail boxes are both full of messages from owners. Many are colorful, all are angry, none are inquiring about your health. The phone in the management office has been ringing all morning, the cat threw up as you were leaving your house, and there are three very unhappy looking board members heading your way. This is when you wake up – or maybe not. If you are a community association manager, this could as easily be a recurring nightmare or an accurate description of one or more of the construction projects in which you have been involved. The details vary. Perhaps your cat didn’t throw up; maybe the windows were ok, but the contractor disappeared. But most managers who have notched any significant time in this business have at least one nightmare tale and many hair-raising ones in their construction project annals. They also have insights, usually gained the hard way, that can help less experienced managers and board members who are undertaking construction projects large or small prepare for what lies ahead.