Universal Design: A Winner-Takes-All 'Experience'

Do we shape our houses, or do they shape us? The words of Winston Churchill echo the dilemma we face when designing and building homes for the lucrative baby boomer and over 50 market. How we respond will determine whether the homes we build attract home buyers or send them to our competition.

Most of us are familiar with the term, “Information Age," but for the boomer and beyond market this will be the "Experience Age." Noted Swiss architect and city planner Le Corbusier once said that the home should be “the treasure chest of living.” The “experience” we deliver in our homes will be the treasure this population group covets. The following are elements to provide in your homes that will heighten your home owners’ experience:

• Provide Comfort.

Do your homes include elements requiring reduced physical effort that swing, slide, maximize ease of use and minimize hazards? Do they enhance your potential buyers’ changing abilities and foster long-term independence?

Features such as pull-away faucets and sitting areas in the laundry, vanity areas and in the kitchen, where people can sit while cooking or preparing foods, are examples of how comfort can enhance the home “experience.” Special lighting such as multi-task, automatic sensor and natural day lighting are important, too, because they can reduce physical and mental strain while enhancing safety and security. Peace of mind is a coveted experience that, once achieved, becomes a priceless comfort.

• Provide Control.

Can everyone enter and move through major living areas of your homes without having to manage stairs or surface elevation changes? Provide the “experience” with step-free entries, a multi-generational kitchen and an owners’ suite on the main floor with a spa-like spacious bathroom large enough and maneuverable enough to accommodate a caregiver, if needed.

Open space with clear vision lines will also bring ample maneuverability not only for buyers who may require walkers or wheelchairs over time, but also for visiting family members with baby carriages.

Provide Convenience.

Do your homes offer improved ergonomic access through reduced stepping, bending, climbing, reaching, lifting and carrying? Are you providing cabinetry and appliances that can be easily reached by all users, whatever their height? Is each leg of your kitchen triangle useable by grandparents, parents and kids — and less than nine feet long so it eliminates extra steps?

Can appliances and fixtures be used by all based on their placement or type? Pop-open windows with crank handles keep things within reach. Raised washers, dryers and dishwashers eliminate some bending. Provide moving drawers, shelves and carts for convenience, too.

Provide Creativity.

Since baby boomers will have more leisure time and want to reinvent themselves, include spaces for this challenge. A well designed home promotes multiple uses and flex space can be shared by various family members as well as guests. For instance, consider a family studio with open knee space beneath or within cabinetry for seated activities, lowered sinks and work surfaces, and built in components so customers can manage a home business or do crafts.

Raise the bar for what your home owners will come to expect. Creativity is implementing standard items in new ways — adjustable closet rods, pop-up electrical outlets on counter surfaces and recessed storage.

• Provide Choice.

Home buyers have hundreds of options from which to choose — and these options will become increasingly popular if they allow the buyers to live out their evolving life “experiences.” Through greater connectivity with family, friends and even re-discovering themselves, home buyers will devote leisure time to enhancing their lifestyles with these features. They will make their lives easier, healthier and more flexible and entertaining while they “grow” into retirement. Expand your options list often and they will marvel at the selection and want what their neighbors have — or more.

Help your home buyers live life to the fullest, without the hassle of maintenance, adaptation and bother. They want homes for a lifetime. And, since they are so choosy, they may even want two or three homes to suit their expanding lives. Choice has no boundaries.

Identify Their Needs So They Can Age in Place

If you are ready to sell to this targeted market, plan to identify their needs and build homes that will allow them to “age in place.” By providing a home environment, both inside and outside, with features and elements to be used to the maximum extent possible, regardless of age, size, strength and ability, you can provide a total “experience,” a universal design experience.

• Your design can be seamless, invisible, practical and beautiful.
• Your homes will have appeal that is useful and marketable to all.
• The innovations you create will meet and exceed your home buyers' expectations
• Act now, rather than later, and you will probably be ahead of your competition. You’ll also be solidifying your brand as a builder who delivers what customers want.
• Package your options. It is more profitable and it will differentiate you from your competition.
• By shaping homes for your customers’ future, you will have created a win-win business arrangement. Your customers will be happy, and you will have created a foundation for referrals for years to come as well as a personal sense of pride and accomplishment.

Universal Design Now, Or Higher Home Owner Costs Later

Universal design amounts to barely 2% of new construction costs, versus 25%-27% for retrofitting an existing home. The cost savings are stacked in your favor if you can offer a home that will meet ever-changing needs and provide the “experience” this graying population will demand.

If you haven’t begun to sell to this market, or even considered it, you might want to reconsider because the demographics speak for themselves. Never before has focusing on simple, logical design brought so much unlimited opportunity to the table.

Universal design is good design. Incorporating these features, perhaps before home buyers even recognize what their needs may be, puts you in a unique, credible position, and your homes will be in the best shape for selling.

In this Information Age, the right knowledge and its implementation are the answers to capturing this growing market. Learn all you can about this market, what is meaningful to them and how universal design is the unfound treasure for which they are searching. And, you will be creating milestones for our future.

Attend the 2005 Seniors Housing Symposium in Metro Washington, DC, Area

Do you want to learn more about the fastest-growing segment of the housing market? Make your plans to attend Building for Boomers & Beyond: Seniors Housing Symposium 2005, the premier educational and networking event for industry professionals who serve the burgeoning 50+ market. For more information, click here.

'Marketing Seniors Housing' Available at BuilderBooks.com

"Marketing Seniors Housing," available at BuilderBooks.com, contains a wealth of proven tools, techniques and non-traditional strategies to successfully market within the new and still-evolving seniors housing market. From learning 'Senior Speak' to developing unique promotional events, Marketing Seniors Housing will help prepare you to successfully enter this market niche. To view or purchase this publication online, click here, or call 800-223-2665 to order.

Learn More About Seniors Housing Through the Seniors Housing Council

To learn more about seniors housing, join the NAHB Seniors Housing Council. The council provides information, education, networking and recognition opportunities for its members and represents NAHB on seniors housing issues. For more details, e-mail Jeff Jenkins or call him at 800-368-5242 x8292.

Pitfalls to Avoid When Planning an Active Adult Community

Planning and developing an active adult community differs in many ways from what is required for traditional communities because with an active adult community, you are dealing with a completely different buyer in a unique market.

To succeed in the 50+ market, you must to do your homework and, early in the planning process, begin your market research and sales staff training. If not, you will not be fully prepared and could find yourself susceptible to any of the 12 big mistakes project teams often make when developing strategic market planning for an active adult community.

The mistakes to avoid include:

• •  Not Properly Targeting Your Market Feasibility Study

Very often, builders and developers will look at the demographics and make decisions on the basis of age and income when targeting their active adult prospects. This approach is too simplistic and fails to recognize that the active adult market is fractured, multi-generational and complex, and that the buyers are more sophisticated and discerning than their predecessors. Not understanding this can lead to a community’s failure before ground is broken.

• Not Testing Market Results

If you rely on an initial market research program that only utilizes quantitative data, you’re headed for disaster. It’s important to engage your target buyers using qualitative research (i.e., focus groups, attitudinal telephone and mail surveys) as well as obtain information from residents in competing, existing communities. Failing to do so could hurt your community’s market acceptance and will prevent your project team from getting the proper information it needs to design your product, amenities and community infrastructure.

• Not Periodically Re-evaluating the Marketplace

In today’s development climate, taking a community from the beginning to the grand opening — from optioning the land through zoning and initial community development prior to pre-selling and the grand opening — can take between 24 and 36 months or more, depending upon the region. You not only need to do initial research, you should continue to check the competition (current and planned) at least every three to six months while you are undergoing development planning. You also should survey your target market to see if the views of your potential prospects have remained the same or begun to change.

• Not Building a Strong Lead-Generation Database

The most successful active adult communities during the past five years have been those that understand the value of building a lead-generation database — and starting early.

Waiting until your community breaks ground is not the time to start developing qualified leads. You should begin when you are in the early or final stages of zoning and are confident of obtaining approvals. At that time, you also should put in place the systems, scripting, fact sheets, folder, booklets and other materials that provide the answers active adult buyers seek when visiting your lifestyle community.

• Not Strengthening Your Lead Follow-up Program

If the systems, promotional materials and answers are not available when prospects inquire, the odds of converting your leads into qualified prospects and purchasers will decrease considerably. If you haven’t thought out the methodology of how your sales agents will follow through after the initial contact — the visit, telephone call or inquiry — overall market acceptance more than likely will decrease, too, and potential sales will be lost to your competition. However, a systematic, periodic follow-through will encourage prospects to contact you for further discussion or steer them closer to purchasing.

• Offering Outdated or Flawed Product Designs

Too often, builders and developers of active adult/early retirement lifestyle communities take the approach that, “If it’s selling, don’t fix it.” Either that or they just don’t have a plan for periodic introduction of new product. This approach can lead to a false sense of security as more competitors enter the market and as your target market evolves.

To prevent your product design from becoming “stale,” you need to conduct ongoing research. You should continually question current residents about what they would change or what might be missing if they had to purchase the home again. You also should ask them how much they would pay to have these changes made.

Buyers and residents always have a wish list, but you need to find out their priorities and how much they are willing to spend for upgrades.

• Not Following a Marketing Plan or Developing an Adequate Budget

Nothing hurts a community more than “helter-skelter” decisions or a temporary response to a competitor’s marketing program or promotion. You cannot live in a vacuum and ignore what the competition is doing, but your best bet is to create an annual marketing plan that is broken down into quarterly or 13-week periods and has a built-in flexibility in order to accommodate change.

Second, developing budgets based solely on a percentage of projected gross sales may not be comprehensive enough to accurately do the job. Instead, look at each of your major expenditures and ask yourself this question: “Have I budgeted sufficient money to do the job, reach my projected goals and attract qualified prospects that have the money to buy and are willing to buy?" Only after you can answer ‘yes’ can you say that you have developed a budget appropriate for the task.

• Not Establishing Urgency or Contingency Plans

You cannot live in a dream world when you prepare your marketing plan. You have to provide for contingencies in case the market changes or the competition increases. For instance, if sales slow, are you prepared to delay your clubhouse opening? And what effect would that have on your prospects and your community’s future?

If you don’t plan ahead for events like these, you could lose all your prospects. Also, if you don’t establish an “urgency to buy” — by controlling the release of your inventory, price increases or a limited amount of marginal models — many of your buyers could delay their purchases.

• Not Staffing Your Sales Office Adequately or With Enough Support Personnel

The larger the community, the more staff you need not only in sales but in marketing support services. Usually, your first three to six months after opening will determine how fast you are gaining market acceptance.

It is better to set goals for each sales counselor (approximately 36 to 50 home sales per person annually) and then weed out the weak people who don’t carry their load. Also, active adult marketing requires support personnel in the design center and solid follow-through in processing, walk-throughs and warranty service.

Do not burden your sales counselors with processing and closing functions when you pay them to sell. Non-productive activities that don’t lead to a sale can upset the market strategy and diminish your sales team’s productivity.

• Not Providing Enough Concentrated Sales Staff Time

Programming a sales counselor’s time on the sales floor produces more efficient sales and enables your sales staff to conduct the follow-through with prospects. If you expect high-volume sales (150 to 300-plus annually), then deliver traffic that allows them to be on the sales floor at least 50%-70% of the workday.

Good salespeople try to work with at least 50 prospects:

• 30% who will buy in 30 days
• 40%-50% who will buy in 90 days
• 20%-30% who will buy in 180 days
  
  
• Staffing Your Sales Office With Staff With Little Experience Selling to Active Adults

Too often, sales counselors with good experience in other forms of real estate sales are hired even though they have little or no knowledge about how the active adult buyer thinks, reacts and goes through the decision-making process. This could result in your sales staff not connecting or bringing bad habits from previous jobs to your community.

All sales professionals, regardless of their experience, are looking for new ways to sell. Sales management needs to conduct ongoing and continuous training programs to increase the rate of conversions of qualified prospects to buyers.

• Lack of Team Effort Between Sales & Marketing and Company Management

In today’s corporate organization — with its company mission statements, business plans and work effort diversification — the lifestyle community development sector requires a “team effort” to produce efficient sales that don’t cause undue delay. In many cases where coordination is not present, project management can be “inflexible” and insist that change orders be kept at a minimum. The result is that active adult buyers are not able to get what they truly want. By the same token, sales management tends to accommodate the buyer by forcing the issue and not recognizing why certain customer changes cannot be done.

Remember, active adult buyers are still “king.” They have a choice and can buy from another developer. Unless your entire project team understands what these customers want and projects and delivers a customer-friendly atmosphere, your marketing and sales efforts will not be successful and your community will not gain total market acceptance.

20 Club Forming for Seniors Housing

NAHB, in conjunction with the NAHB Seniors Housing Council, is preparing to launch its first 20 Club for builders and developers who serve the 50+ housing market. The newly formed 50+ Seniors 20 Club will enable members interested or involved in seniors housing to gain additional insight about various aspects of the seniors housing industry from peers who operate in non-competing markets. 

The new seniors 20 Club is for single-family and multifamily builders and developers who build for-sale and rental communities that cater to boomers, empty nesters, pre-retirees, active adults and seniors.

Plans also are underway to eventually form separate clubs for architects and other industry professionals involved in assisted living and other types of seniors housing.

How the 20 Club Works

NAHB's 50+ Seniors 20 Club is open to CEOs, presidents, owners, principals and partners in companies involved in the seniors housing industry. Members will be grouped with other industry leaders from non-competing markets whose companies are similar in size and operations. They will meet several times a year to exchange ideas and develop business, strategic and marketing plans that position their companies for success.

"The networking and education in a 20 Club is second to none," said NAHB Seniors Housing Council Vice Chair Randy Rinehart, a custom builder from Charlottesville, VA, who has been active in 20 Clubs program. "It allows the owners and decision-makers from companies to exchange information, find out what others are doing across the country and pick up ways to improve operations and increase their bottom line. The best way to learn is through others' experiences." 

Fill out the 50+ Seniors 20 Club application. Or e-mail Kristin Peck or call her at 800-368-5242 x8105 for more details.

Attend the 2005 Seniors Housing Symposium in Metro Washington, DC, Area

Do you want to learn more about the fastest-growing segment of the housing market? Make your plans to attend Building for Boomers & Beyond: Seniors Housing Symposium 2005, the premier educational and networking event for industry professionals who serve the burgeoning 50+ market. For more information, click here.

Vanilla Not a Favorite Flavor of Generation X Home Buyers

Now married with kids and in their peak home buying years, members of Generation X — who were born during the decade following the last of the post-war baby boomers in 1964 — present some unique opportunities for builders who understand the values and desires that make them tick, according to panelists at the PCBC conference in San Francisco last month.

Yankelovich President J. Walker Smith discussed a number of characteristics that set Xers apart from the previous generation:

• They are more family-oriented and the concept of family extends to close friends. They do not have “the disaggregated individuality of baby boomers,” said Smith, and they are dedicated to doing a better job of raising their children than their parents, who had a high divorce rate.
  
  
• They tend to like the idea of a return to more traditional values in their relationships with neighbors. According to a Yankelovich OmniPlus poll conducted in February, community attributes such as safety, sidewalks, recreation facilities and community amenities are important for Xers. “Planned communities that foster togetherness and neighborhood life will resonate with this generation,” Smith said.
  • Xers are extremely practical and self-reliant, and unlike the generation that preceded them, a strong majority — 78% — feel the need to plan for retirement.
    
    
  • The generation is comfortable with technology and they don’t regard it as a novelty. “Here’s your market for the wired house,” Smith said. “They will embrace it.”
    
    
  • And they are comfortable with an evolving shift away from the predominance of white people in the ethnic composition of American society. Smith cited a growing movement toward children of mixed races and ethnic heritages.

On hand to discuss how research on the Xer generation translates into opportunities in the housing market were architects Barry Berkus, of Berkus Design Studio, and Brent Harrington, of DMB Associates:

• Gen Xers are looking for public gathering places and many are in the market for flexible downtown living, said Berkus, in old towns that are being rejuvenated. They are in the market for “traditional design and values, but at the same time special places in which to live, where kids can get to the park without having to cross the street.” The dining room table is making its return as a gathering place for members of this demographic, he said. Special places for this group include 1,200-square-foot loft units with 14-foot ceilings in Santa Barbara that sold in the $400,000-$600,000 range and only a year or so later are being resold for $1.2 million. Berkus is emphasizing a diversity of materials and architecture, and he is building housing on top of office buildings.
  
  
• According to Harrington, Gen Xers “find suburbia homogenous and uninteresting.” They are individualists who are looking for charm and character in their housing, and there is “extreme disillusionment with the bland, vanilla suburbs.”
  
  
• On the list of products attractive to Xers, Harrington said, are small homes with big personalities, warmth, dignity and elegance; simple massing with beautiful porches; good proportions; craftsman style architecture and classics revisited.
  
  
• Xers are interested in “keeping it real,” advised Harrington. “Boomers are focused on entertaining and showing off. Xers are less likely to behave that way. The friends and neighbors who are coming over have refrigerator privileges.”
  
  
• Harrington added that Xers “view a great neighborhood as an extension of great parenting” and they “want their children’s lives to be full of wonder and discovery.” They are looking for more free time to spend with their families; neighborhoods that are inclusive rather than exclusive and that include a mix of people; schools that are located in the heart of the community rather than at its edge; a shopping environment that is more than utilitarian, providing experiences; designs that are conducive to living instead of entertaining; less square footage with more detail; environmental stewardship over views; and human values over property values.

Best in American Living Award Deadline Extended

Entries for the 2004 Best in American Living Awards (BALA), the most prestigious new home design competition in the home building industry, have been extended to the end of the month.

• Entry notebooks are now due: Saturday, July 31

Co-sponsored by Professional Builder magazine and NAHB, BALA is open to builders, architects, designers, developers, land planners and interior designers.

Now in its 21st year, BALA has grown to 41 categories, ranging from single-family attached and detached homes in a variety of sizes, to custom homes, rental developments, best community and one-of-a-kind spec homes.

The competition also includes the Best Affordable Home category, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary’s Award for Excellence and the Best Smart Growth Community award.

Additional design categories include best kitchen, best bath, best specialty room and best detail.

Entries are judged on: exterior design/curb appeal, interior architecture and interior design, sales success of the product, construction quality and cost efficiency, and the site plan.

Entrants are advised to submit good photographs along with their entry notebook so that the judges can evaluate architectural elements of the project.

Floor plans are evaluated for their livability; considered are such elements as accessibility of the kitchen from the garage, traffic flow through the home, the relationship of formal to informal space and how adult areas relate to those for guests or children.

Entrants are also asked to identify their market; judges consider the plan within the context of the identified market to ensure it makes sense for the region and has market acceptance.

Winners will be announced at the International Builders' Show in Orlando, FL. Winning entries will also be displayed on the Professional Builder Web site, HousingZone.com, for up to one year.

For information, eligibility requirements and application forms, click here, or contact Professional Builders' Judy Brociek (630-288-8184) or Colleen Paez (630-288-8168) or Michelle Persinger of NAHB at 800-368-5242 x 8343.

NAHB Members Urged to Act Now to Preserve Habitat Conservation Program

NAHB is urging its members to submit comment letters in support of the Permit Revocation Rule (PRR) and the No Surprises Policy, which are incentives for property owners, builders and developers to participate in the Habitat Conservation Plan program (HCP).

Under a June 10 court decision, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service cannot issue HCP-related take permits with No Surprises assurances until it completes a new PRR, which was struck down and re-proposed on May 25 for public comment. (Click here to read an NBN story on this ruling.)

“The court opened the Permit Revocation Rule to attack by groups that want to eliminate it,” said NAHB President Bobby Rayburn. “NAHB supports the No Surprises Policy and the Permit Revocation Rule, and we need members to help us preserve them for new Habitat Conservation Plans.”

“Federal regulators must hear from builders that these provisions are absolutely essential to the continued success of the HCP program, and that they be preserved in the new rule,” Rayburn said.

For a sample letter and directions for submitting comments directly to the Fish and Wildlife Service, click here.

Comment letters must be sent to the Service by 5:00 p.m. on Monday, July 26. Submissions will not be accepted after the deadline.

“The HCP program incentives provide builders the certainty to participate proactively in species conservation efforts while allowing them to meet the housing needs in their communities,” said Rayburn. “And through this certainty, builders also can continue keeping costs down and housing affordable for all consumers.”

For more information about the Permit Revocation Rule call to action, No Surprises and HCPs, click here. Or e-mail Christopher Galik at NAHB or call him at 800-368-5242 x8663.

Waiting for Decision on Beach Mouse Plan a Hardship for Small Alabama Builder

Species conservation can be costly, time-consuming and unpredictable for small builders and developers involved in developing Habitat Conservation Plans (HCP). For Greg Miller, owner of Fort Morgan Realty in Baldwin County, AL, protecting the endangered Alabama beach mouse and three sea turtle species on his half acre of oceanfront property has been challenging in all three categories.

Miller submitted an HCP in February 2001 to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) for conservation of the mouse and turtles. Established under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the HCP program allows property owners to identify and preserve the essential habitat of a species. Once the HCP is approved by the Wildlife Service and the species’ future is secured, property owners can build on the land.

However, FWS has yet to approve Miller’s HCP, and he continues to suffer financially as a result of the delay. “The permitting process is at a standstill. For our company, this means lost income with the future looking dismal,” said Miller.

The review and approval of Miller’s HCP should have taken no more than three to five months, according to the FWS Habitat Conservation Planning Handbook, and without the agency’s approval, Miller can’t move forward and begin his land development projects.

“As a small company, our business plan calls for building three to four duplex projects per year. For the past three years, we have been totally shut down when it comes to construction,” said Miller

The upfront expense of designing an HCP can be significant. Consulting fees alone cost Miller an estimated $5,000-$7,000. He also has been carrying the costs of continued financing and lost income on prime beachfront property. “At this point, we are sitting on three lots and have several clients for single-family home projects that have been caught in the permitting process for years,” said Miller.

Miller’s case highlights the difficulties small builders and developers experience with the FWS review and approval process for Habitat Conservation Plans. NAHB continues to advocate for the agency to establish mandatory time frames that provide more predictability on HCP decisions.

Click here to visit NAHB’s new HCP Web section and to read more about the benefits and difficulties of HCPs.

For more information about Habitat Conservation Plans, e-mail Christopher Galik or call him at 800-368-5242 x8663.

Eco-Terrorists Intensifying No-Growth Battles in California

Already under attack by no-growth advocates who are adept at using the political and regulatory process to stop residential construction, home builders in California are now finding themselves under siege by radical environmentalists who use terrorist tactics to make their point.

A presentation at PCBC in San Francisco last month focused on how builders can keep themselves from becoming victims of “green collar crime” and also get their projects out from under the barrage of community opposition that can be just as serious an impediment to the production of badly needed housing.

Anyone who profits from the so-called “exploitation of the natural environment” is a potential victim of the economic mayhem that has become the stock-in-trade of ELF, or the Earth Liberation Front, warned Laer Pearce, president of Laer Pearce & Associates in Laguna Hills, CA. “They are a growing force and a threat to all of us.”

The loose-knit organization specializes in arson and claims to have inflicted $100 million in damages on construction sites since 1997, Pearce said. Just prior to the PCBC conference, ELF was suspected of destroying $1.5 million worth of property at a lumberyard in the suburbs of Salt Lake City. In its most devastating raid to date, it burned down a $50 million, five-story apartment building in San Diego.

“With one night’s work, a few individuals can accomplish what years of legal battles and millions of dollars most likely did not,” touts ELF’s press office.

To make matters worse, complained Ken Ryan, principal of EDAW, in Irvine, the environmental extremists who have been thwarting home building efforts are now starting to be perceived as moderates in comparison to fire-brandishing eco-terrorists.

Panelists suggested a number of strategies for successfully battling the enemy at the door, whether or not they are outright criminals:

• At the interface of urban areas and natural lands is where builders will find themselves most at risk, according to Pearce. And if there is a college nearby, “that trumps everything,” he said, because there are “radical professors at college who fire up students who fire up your houses.” Those who feel they are at risk of a criminal attack should alert their local law enforcement leaders and meet with them or security consultants to discuss the precautions they can take.
• If perpetrators of terrorist acts are apprehended, and they have financial asserts, builders could have recourse to a civil remedy, Pearce said. Most of the perpetrators who have been caught have been college students from middle- or upper-class families, he said.
• Builders will have a hard time suing environmentalists for making false claims about their projects, Pearce said. “But your opponents don’t have much integrity, so don’t let their claims go unchallenged” and “never assume that their claims are true.” When falsehoods are discovered, refute them in a letter to the president of their organization and send copies to the city council, mayor and other decision makers, he recommended. “Use their own words against them.”
• To create a more receptive environment for new housing, Ryan recommended using local-based design that incorporates a sense of place and aspects of great neighborhoods; tapping into local community values; emphasizing green building strategies; finding opportunities to identify the public benefit of the project and quality of life issues. “Recruit supporters,” he said, “and expose the extremists. Take the high road, keep your message simple and talk about the community instead of the project.”
• Tim Paone, a partner at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, cautioned that “courts don’t have the expertise to deal with land use decisions. They can delay your project and frustrate your efforts.” Agreeing with his co-panelists who counseled getting into the trenches and going door-to-door to rally support, Paone indicated that education can be a more productive approach than the two other solutions — litigation and legislation. “Work with the public agencies,” many of which are accountable to no one, he said. “That’s where the education needs to be done.”

Solar Photovoltaic System Built on Rooftop of Brooklyn Rectory

St. Matthew’s Roman Catholic Church in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn is one of the first religious institutions in New York to invest in green home building technologies that harvest electricity from the sun.

The church installed a 2.7-kilowatt solar photovoltaic system on the rooftop of its rectory. The system is comprised of 16 photovoltaic modules, which convert solar energy into electricity with no moving parts.

Among the benefits that will be provided by the system are no noise from its operation, pollution-free electrical generation and the satisfaction of harnessing energy that is completely free, renewable and abundant, according to the project’s proponents.

The solar electric system will reduce the church’s monthly energy bills and prevent up to 56 tons of carbon dioxide emissions over a 25-year period.

A free energy workshop conducted to mark completion of the project was attended by experts in solar energy from eDesign Dynamics, Duce Construction, Solar Energy Systems, NYSERDA (New York State Energy Research and Development Authority) and BASIC (Big Apple Solar Installation Commitment).

For more information, e-mail Dr. Franco Montalto at eDesign Dynamics or call him at 201-453-9300.

Don’t Miss the 2005 National Green Building Conference

NAHB promotes environmentally responsible and resource-efficient construction methods known as "Green Building.” The National Green Building Conference is the only national conference targeted to "Green Building" for the mainstream residential building industry.The 2005 National Green Building Conference is scheduled for March 13-15, 2005, in Atlanta. For more information, click here.

Mississippi Circuit Court Knocks Down Local Impact Fee Ordinance

In a victory last month for the Home Builders Association of Mississippi, the Jackson County court ruled that the City of Ocean Springs' impact fee ordinance was unconstitutional and in violation of state statutory law. 

The municipality had imposed multiple impact fees for fire and police facilities, park and recreational facilities and water and roadway infrastructure, totaling almost $5,000 per single-family home.

In knocking down the fee program, the court ruled that the state's Home Rule Statute did not enable Ocean Springs to implement the fees in the absence of express enabling authority.

The court found that the municipality was not authorized to impose fees through its general planning and zoning powers, and determined that the purported “regulatory” fees were operating instead as illegal taxes. According to the court, the city's “venture into the realm” of taxation, without express taxing authority, was illegal.

The court ordered Ocean Springs to develop a detailed accounting of funds already collected and to submit a written plan for refunding the fees. Ocean Springs is certain to appeal the circuit court's decision and the case could ultimately end up in the Mississippi Supreme Court.

NAHB's Legal Action Fund provided financial assistance to builder interests in this case, and is currently accepting applications for funding that will be considered during the NAHB Fall Board of Directors Meeting in Columbus, OH, in September.

For further information on this case, e-mail John Luther, NAHB legal counsel, or call him at 800-368-5242 x8329.

New York Agrees to Test Third-Party Modular Approvals

Effective Aug. 1, modular home building companies across the country can breathe a little easier when shipping their product into New York under a pilot program the state government has agreed to test for third-party approvals of residential factory-crafted homes.

While many other states already rely on third-parties, New York has traditionally kept the approval process in-house. While modular producers have been able to apply for a “systems approval” for standard designs coming out of manufacturing facilities, custom projects and those not included in a company’s stock portfolio have been subject to more onerous state approval.

With modular homes gaining in popularity in recent years, New York has been experiencing approval backlogs of six to eight months, a major headache for producers.

“Housing starts and modular housing starts have increased in New York,” said John Colucci, chairman of the Building Systems Councils (BSC) Advocacy Committee and a modular home producer in the state. “With custom and unique plans having to be hand-reviewed by the state, the efficiency and quick turn-around provided by modular housing have been compromised for both builders and consumers.”

Even with a systems approval from the state, Colucci said that his company, Westchester Modular Homes, has had to turn down projects because of the prolonged approval process.

NAHB’s Building Systems Councils, along with a coalition of associations representing factory-crafted homes, successfully lobbied the New York State Government to draft and enact the third-party approvals process.

To qualify for an expedited approval, producers must have had at least 30 successful site installations in the state over the previous 12 months, among other requirements. Companies must also have at least one employee who has completed three courses sponsored by the American Forest & Paper Association.

The complete list of prerequisites is available from the Building Systems Councils at 800-368-5242 x8576.

The pilot program, according to Phil LaRocque, executive vice president of the New York State Builders Association, “will help expedite the building process and benefit consumers, as well.” He noted that there is clearly a market for modular homes in New York, including workers who are looking for affordably priced housing.

Pat Fricchione, Jr., CEO of Pennsylvania-based Simplex Homes and BSC vice-chairman sends many of his homes to New York and ispleased with the new approach. “The approvals program will allow consumers to realize the full benefits of modular housing — a high-quality home constructed with tremendous time and cost advantages.”

What’s in a Name? Plenty — If It's Followed by ‘MIRM’

By Steve Hoffacker, MIRM

One of the attributes that people generally notice and respect in accomplished individuals in any field of endeavor is their level of commitment to that sport, activity, vocation, avocation or profession.

Anyone in any profession or occupation can demonstrate some degree of skill and perform what is expected of them. However, the truly outstanding ones are those who are dedicated to pursuing the skills that will allow them to perform at an optimal level.

So, what about people in new home sales and marketing? How do they demonstrate that they have made a serious commitment to their chosen profession?

The answer lies in the MIRM designation program — available through NAHB’s University of Housing. Since 1978, the Institute of Residential Marketing has bestowed the designation of Member, Institute of Residential Marketing (MIRM) on those professionals who have distinguished themselves in the home building industry.

Holders of the MIRM designation are builders, developers, marketing and advertising professionals, salespeople, Realtors®, consultants, lenders, appraisers, architects, designers, HBA staff, suppliers or anyone else with a keen interest in the building business.

But what is the market value of the MIRM designation? Why should a builder, developer or builder services company hire a MIRM — particularly in a sales, marketing, design or research capacity — to assist them in making their venture a success?

What’s in a MIRM? Knowledge and Experience

Professionals who achieve the MIRM designation have completed four multi-day intensive classroom programs on various facets of research, sales, marketing, merchandising and managing a new home community. In addition to meeting educational and professional criteria, they also have written a major case study — not unlike a thesis — on successfully bringing a development to the market.

Hiring a MIRM as an employee or consultant means that you will bring on board an individual who has proven their dedication to developing the skills and techniques needed to help your company succeed in this competitive industry.

If you have a choice among the candidates you are considering for a position or an engagement, and one or more of them has the MIRM initials after their name, understand that these individuals already have distinguished themselves from others in their industry to become one of the 1,000 people nationwide who have put forth the time, effort and money to complete this additional study and earn this designation.

Bendable Vinyl Coil Has Come of Age

It has taken more than a decade, but the world’s first cold bendable vinyl coil from Alum-a-Pole Corporation has finally come of age, according to the manufacturer.

Headquartered in Scranton, PA, Alum-a-Pole Corporation is a member of the National Council of the Housing Industry — the Supplier 100 of NAHB.

When Alum-a-Pole Corporation first introduced the product in 1990, Alcoa, Reynolds, Royal, Alside, Heartland, Certainteed and other companies all ordered it, expecting a major upgrade for the vinyl siding industry. Unfortunately, the vinyl cracked, didn’t hold its bend and ripped excessively, and Alum-A-Pole went back to the drawing board.

Now, 14 years later, numerous contractors are finding that the company’s Pro-Trim Vinyl Coil is a very viable product, according to the manufacturer. Several Army and Marine bases have repeatedly ordered thousands of coils. The University of Georgia has an enormous amount of vinyl coil under copper gutters where aluminum would have presented galvanic problems.

In the August, 2001 edition of The Journal of Light Construction, Alcoa stated that aluminum will rot if installed over pressure-treated wood, which is not a problem with Pro-Trim coils.

Each box of plain or grain Pro-Trim Vinyl Coils comes with instructions and 60 Hide-A-Nails. “It really does hide the nails,” says Pro-Trim. “This innovation virtually eliminates ripples. And now bend retention is excellent, and any brake will do the job."

Along the way Alum-A-Pole Corporation has also received patents designed to streamline aluminum and vinyl coil processing. “With over one million Alum-A-Poles in the industry one might ask, why continue to pursue the vinyl coil industry when Alum-A-Poles are so successful? Why, because vinyl siding deserves vinyl coil,” says the manufacturer.

Dark colors are expected to be available soon.

For more information, call 800-421-2586 or click here.

The Boss With the Swiss Cheese Desk

Manny Bucks and I were having lunch the other day. “I enjoy reading your columns,” he said.

“Thanks — appreciate it,” I replied. “Any particular reason?”

“I love to see what my competition is doing wrong. You frequently write about how construction companies screw up.”

“Best way I know to learn something — from making mistakes.”

“True — hopefully someone else’s mistakes. Did I ever tell you how I came to hire my best field hand, Bob N. Frappl? Now there’s a story with a lesson.”

“No, do tell.”

“Well, Bob N. was working for a small local construction company, S.T. Inc. The company owner, S. Lackh, was your typical small business owner: jack-of-all-trades — overworked, overstressed and underloved. He bid and supered all the jobs. Real nice guy, but could not delegate. That was his downfall. He made himself so busy, there was no possible way he could get everything done. This, of course, affected everyone under him.

“Case in point: Bob N. Frappl. I remember the day he came to interview with our company. He was so frustrated, I thought he might have an attitude problem. But he had just come from S.T. Inc., where he’d, one hour before, handed in his walking papers. ‘I can’t take it no more, working for S. Lackh,’ he said. ‘He’s nice enough, but…his desk, it’s made out of Swiss cheese. Everything falls through the cracks. For example, I need more material on a job site; Lackh doesn’t order it on time. I need an inspection; Lackh forgets to call. The owner calls Lackh with a change order; Lackh doesn’t call back. Electrical sub supposed to be there on Tuesday; Lackh doesn’t call him until Wednesday. I tell you, working for that guy is like shoveling manure with a pitch fork. Stuff all the time falls through the cracks.’

“Bottom line,” Manny said with a grin, “S. Lackh’s loss was my gain. I hired Bob N. and he’s been a star on my team ever since.”

“Great story,” I said. “So, to summarize, the company owner had a Swiss cheese desk, which upset his best employee enough to quit.”

“Yes, that’s exactly right. At first, I thought Bob N. might have been after more money. But that wasn’t it. He actually took a slight cut in pay to work for me. It’s all about pride. Bob N. is the type of guy who truly cares about his work. He doesn’t want his name attached to anything shoddy. That line of thinking fits well at my company — I’m the same way. Result: Bob N. Frappl has been with me for over 10 years now, and has brought us both considerable success.”

Tim K. Garrison P.E. of ConstructionCalc.com has authored books and short courses and lectures on topics relevant to builders. Got a technical or management issue? E-mail buildersengineer@constructioncalc.com. Tim reads every one.

This column cannot be reprinted without permission from the author.

The views expressed in this article represent the personal views, statements and opinions of the author and do not necessarily represent the views, statements, opinions or policies of the National Association of Home Builders. NAHB does not necessarily endorse any of the views expressed by the author and NAHB is not responsible for any direct or indirect consequences arising out of the views expressed in this article.