I went to Denver in mid-May to see the 2011 HGTV Green Home and was totally impressed. First of all, the location of the home was at the old airport in Stapleton. (Stapleton Airport was the city’s primary airport from 1929 to 1995, until the opening of the new Denver International Airport.) Now known as Stapleton Denver, the area is a mixed-use development covering 4,700 acres of homes, retail shops, offices, parks and schools with history, sustainability and educational offerings.

Driving up to the home site at Stapleton Denver, we could see the old airport control tower that served as a directional landmark. The 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath home packed everything a homeowner would want in today’s home: living room, dining room, powder room, loft, “do” room and a two-car garage, complete with a dog-washing station, in approximately 2,343 sq. ft.

The home features a 5-kilowatt solar system powering the heating, cooling, lighting, energy and security systems from a digital touchscreen. Design of the home is influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1908 Robie House and utilizes a modern prairie style with a front patio and side deck for expanded living areas.

Built by Denver area home builder Infinity Home Collection, the home is LEED Platinum Certified by the U.S. Green Building Council. Featured throughout the home are Shaw Floors’ hardwood, carpet, carpet tile, ceramic, area rugs. Many of the rooms featured bound broadloom carpet placed over the hardwood floors. The reason: additional LEED points.

One lucky person will win this home along with a GMC Terrain vehicle. The total prize package is nearly $700,000, including $100,000 cash. You can visit the HGTV Green Home with a public tour through July 3. Go to the National Floor Trends website (www.ntlfloortrends.com) to view more details about this year’s Green Home.

DOC Preliminary Determination of Engineered Wood AD Rates Released
At press time, the Department of Commerce (DOC) released its preliminary determination in the antidumping (AD) duty investigation of multilayered (engineered) wood flooring imported from China (PRC), finding that engineered wood products are being sold in the United States at less than fair value.

Mandatory respondents Zhejiang Yuhua Timber Co., Ltd. (Yuhua) and Zhejiang Layo Wood Industry Co., Ltd. (Layo) received preliminary de minimis dumping rates of zero percent; another mandatory respondent, the Samling Group (Samling), received a preliminary rate of 10.88 percent. The DOC found targeted dumping with sales by Layo and Samling, and the Layo rate remains de minimis. Seventy-three exporters qualified for a separate rate of 10.88 percent (See the complete list on our website). All will be responsible for duty deposits in addition to the countervailing duties previously determined.

Chinese producers/exporters not included at the 10.88 rate are subject to a China-wide preliminary dumping rate of 82.65 percent. According to Jonathan Train, president of the Alliance for Free Choice & Jobs in Flooring (AFCJF), the organization of independent American importers, distributors, retailers and hardwood exporters, “This means that more than 95% of imported flooring will receive the rate of 10.88% and much of it will enter at zero.  The all industry rate of 82.65% applies only to an insignificant amount of imports.”

According to Jeff Levin, counsel for the Coalition for American Hardwood Parity (CAHP) on behalf of the U. S. manufacturing petitioners, in about half of the antidumping investigations regarding China which have been conducted over the past few years, there have been significant, and often times very significant, increases in the dumping margins between the preliminary and final determinations. An importer’s reliance on lower preliminary dumping margins that are susceptible to substantial increases at the final stage can expose these companies to enormous retroactive liability.   

The next step in the process is a final determination in August 2011, followed by an ITC Final Determination on September 16, 2011.