Homes Plus
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/183795
Fall Home & Garden Special Edition Your Guide to Homes, Home Improvement, Lawn & Garden and MORE! A publication of the Waukesha Freeman and Oconomowoc Enterprise • October 2013 Discover ways to improve home's efficiency ■ Top tasks for your fall home maintenance list ■ Home furnaces should be inspected annually ■ Annual maintenance of furnace key to its long life, efficiency ■ Fall lawn tips that keep your yard looking great ■ When is the right time to leave 'home'? Firm uses computer program to design landscape for homes Product offers 3-D views for customers to consider By Kevin Passon HOMES PLUS CORRESPONDENT WAUKESHA – Two-dimensional drawings for proposed landscape projects are the industry norm, but a few companies are making the transition to 3-D models with the help of computer programming. "The beauty of this piece of software is that it makes use of technology from the video gaming industry," said Rodger Northouse, president of the former Northouse Landscape Company in Milwaukee, now part of the MCR Group. "Making a 3-D model is not a lot of extra work." Northouse first began using computer technology to design landscapes in the mid-1990s, but the programming wasn't very good. He abandoned the concept until a few years ago when the new programs were introduced. "It goes beyond the hardscape," he said. "It can also include which plants to use and which will look best in the space." Submitted photos This series of photos shows, starting from the top left, a home before any new landscaping was added, the computer rendering of the home with the proposed virtual landscape and the home after the project was completed. See COMPUTER/Page 3 231981021 CONTENTS