Entries are being accepted for NAHB’s 2010 Best in American Living Awards (BALA), the foremost residential design competition in the country. Builders, interior designers, architects, land planners, remodelers, developers and marketing and real estate professionals are invited to enter.

The entry deadline is Thursday, Sept. 16.

The competition includes 32 categories — recognizing excellence in custom and spec homes; attached, detached and multifamily homes; affordable housing; remodeling; rental developments; communities; interior design; and green homes and communities.

"The BALA awards are the most prestigious awards of their kind, setting the benchmark for innovations in residential home design," said Mike Nagel, 2010 Design Committee chairman and a partner at Men at Work Chicago. "We are proud to have a long history of honoring those who set the bar high by encouraging creativity, originality and imagination in our industry."

For more than 25 years, the BALAs have fostered design excellence in the building industry and highlighted those builders, architects, interior designers, remodelers, developers and land planners who have achieved superior levels of creativity and innovation.

Formerly administered by NAHB and Reed Business Information, the awards program is now run exclusively by NAHB's Design Committee.

Entry Process Streamlined

To streamline the submission process, award entries must now be submitted electronically — and hardcopy notebooks are no longer required.

Additionally, several award categories have been combined, and additional categories have been added for remodeling.

Winning entries will be announced at the NAHB International Builders' Show in Orlando in January and will also be featured in Nation's Building News Online.

To Enter

Entries are due by Thursday, Sept. 16.

To register and for information regarding deadlines, entry requirements and judging criteria, visit www.nahb.org/bala; or e-mail Jaclyn Toole at NAHB, or call her at 800-368-5242 x8469.