What they mean. A boomburg is one of the countless cookie-cutter suburban communities that sprung up like mushrooms during the housing booms of recent decades. A boomburb is a rapidly growing, sprawling city of 100,000 or more on the edge of a major metropolitan area. A boomburb has the look and fee...

We've shown you ways to lower your energy and water bills. And by paying all of your bills electronically, you'll save not only some of your hard-earned cash—fewer stamps to buy and checks to write—but also natural resources. The PayItGreen Alliance, a nonprofit coalition of financial-se...

In this installment of 10 Questions for . . . , Associate Editor Kimberly Janeway speaks with Arlene Blum, Ph.D., a biophysical chemist, author, and avid mountaineer. Blum recently won a Purpose Prize for 2008, which recognizes individuals 60 and older who are working to solve some of society's ...

The world's largest home-improvement retailer is downsizing. Home Depot announced today that it will close 34 Expo Design Centers, the decor-focused little sister to the Home Depot stores, as well as five Yardbirds stores, two Design Center stores, and the HD Bath remodeling business. The move w...

In this installment of 10 Questions for . . . , Senior Editor Daniel DiClerico speaks with Tyler Jones, president of Blue Heron Development, which built the New American Home 2009 at the International Builders' Show in Las Vegas. Here, Jones talks about the project's biggest innovations, off...

Although the weather outside the Las Vegas Convention Center has been warm and sunny, the current economic crisis has cast a dark shadow over the 2009 International Builders' Show. From what I've seen and heard so far, show attendance is noticeably down from recent years, and there appear to...

While Mother Nature has dumped a decent amount of snow on the Consumer Reports headquarters this winter (as you can see in the video, right), early on in the testing cycle for snow blowers, the white stuff was limited. In mid-December, testers began preliminary work using wet sawdust, since it can s...

If your New Year's Eve plans include watching the festivities on TV, be sure to tune in at 11:59 p.m. Eastern time, when a bigger, brighter, and more energy-efficient ball will start to drop over New York City's Times Square. I saw the ball up close during its unveiling last month, and it's a stunni...

More than 31 million cut Christmas trees were sold in the United States last year. And while the vast majority of them were recycled after the holiday, you can make your Noel greener by buying a live tree that you plant outdoors after the holidays. Using energy-efficient LED holiday lights is anothe...

Perhaps you've experienced this scenario: Your washing machine is broken but you're not sure whether you should repair it or replace it. Replacing your clunker of an appliance will be pricey, but determining repair costs can be elusive until you’ve sprung for the initial service call—and then yo...