Register Today for NAHB's Fall Construction Forecast Conference

Get the latest forecasts on housing starts, project budgets and other economic bellwethers of the housing industry at NAHB's Fall Construction Forecast Conference at the National Housing Center in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 27. Click here for more information and to register.

‘Not-So-Big’ Home Meets Needs of Today’s Active Adult Buyers

To understand the active adult market, it is important to look at what this particular market doesn’t want.

Active adults have had it with big yards, but are used to privacy. They are tired of high utility bills, but like natural light. They don’t use the entire house they now have, but want to keep most of their things. They don’t want stairs of any type, but still want space.

What they do want is the “not-so-big” (NSB) active adult home — a compact, yet well-designed floorplan that meets buyers’ needs without exceeding the necessary space requirements. As designers and builders, we have our work cut out for us.

Actual square footage is not as crucial as the efficient use of space and meeting seniors’ demands. When designed properly, 1,500-2,000 square feet (with optional expanded space) should handle the needs of most of this market.

Forty-Foot Building Widths Are Ideal

A 40-foot building width is an ideal starting point. It allows for the efficient integration of a front-loaded, two-car garage, a front entry and living space — generally a living room or bedroom suite.

Anything wider than 40 feet will not add much more efficiency or flexibility until you reach the 50-foot mark. That width enables you to design a vastly different home.

Keep in mind that designing a house under 40 feet wide with a front-loaded, two-car garage can cause problems. Design-wise, the narrower width forces front entries to open directly into living space. An alternative solution is to have a side-entry.

If your lot size dictates a width narrower than 40 feet, consider designing a home with a one-car garage. Most active adults do have two cars when they move into their new home or community, but soon end up with just one car. For the NSB house, this would work just fine.

Side Entries Can Work — With the Right Design Touches

Many buyers prefer front entries, which provide identity and security and eliminate the need to walk down a narrow side yard past the neighbors’ blank wall.

Because an NSB house may be narrower than the traditional home, a side entry is an effective architectural solution. A side entry design brings residents and guests into the middle of the home. It also lessens the long, narrow look of the house.

If a side entry is your only alternative, consider putting an entry porch on the side, a trellis between houses or, better yet, an angled side entry — an appealing compromise.

The Right Bedroom Placement Will Broaden Your Market Appeal

Active adult buyers generally want bedrooms on the first level. Keeping the master bedroom on the first level and putting additional bedrooms upstairs will attract not only a senior buyer, but also a younger senior buyer (the so-called “junior senior”).

However, putting two bedrooms on the first level assures you of an even broader market. An optional second level can be used as a den/loft/guest bedroom, office, television room, retreat or just storage space — all options the active adult considers for his or her individual lifestyle.

De-emphasize the Garage

The front-loading garage still seems to be the market preference, but don’t let the garage dominate the streetscape. The NSB home buyer isn’t looking for a garage with a house attached to it.

Try these tips to de-emphasize the front-loading garage:

• Pull the garage back six to 12 feet from the face of the home or front porch.
• Recess the garage door.
• Add a trellis over the garage door.
• Use “designer” garage doors.
• Use architectural elements (i.e., dormers, second-story room, etc.) to pull the eye away from the garage door.

A more radical solution is to use an alley scheme with the garage in the back. In this scenario, the garage disappears completely, providing unlimited porch opportunities in the front of the house. This design, however, pushes many rooms to the front and diminishes the use of a rear patio or sunroom.

This can become a problem when the home’s width dictates that the master suite is at the front (not the most desirable location). However, the neo-traditional movement is making inroads into seniors housing, and the benefits of living toward the street and the creation of a true “neighborhood” have many advantages.

Great Room vs. Formal Living Room? Offer Variety

The NSB house can’t be everything — at least not in one model. The solution is to offer variety — a great room plan and a formal living room plan, the details will make either of these house plans work — and allow buyers to make the decision.

The NSB house incorporates windows to visually expand the limited square footage and admit the natural light many active adult buyers desire. However, the designer should be cautioius about furniture placement: if buyers are moving within the same geographic area, they probably will bring plenty of “heirlooms” with them. The designer should offer ample space for these items.

Other useful design features are high windows that furniture can go beneath, or split windows that furniture can go between. Consider windows under kitchen cabinets, windows over bathroom mirrors, transoms over windows and even transoms over inside doors to admit more natural light.

Offer Plenty of Lifestyle Choices

Adult buyers, especially the boomers, are accustomed to choices. While the builder can offer sunrooms, second-floor space, different kitchen and bath packages, and color choices, it’s essential to go a step further and offer your buyer a variety of lifestyles.

One model should offer conservative, more defined rooms for more mainstream buyers, while the others can be more creative. Bear in mind that the next generation of active adults increasingly will demand more exciting space, including a range of ceiling heights, lots of windows, open plans, home offices, workshops, greenhouses, decks, terraces, hot tubs, landscape packages and gourmet kitchens. In other words, they are looking for quality.

Build in Lots of Storage

Most active adult buyers prefer to store belongings rather than throw them away. Designers must look for every opportunity to create storage. Forget the pull-down stairs to attic storage. Basements aren’t ideal either — they add stairs and a possibly undesirable storage climate.

It’s important to be innovative with storage solutions. This means allotting storage under the stairs when there is no basement and providing kitchen cabinets in the laundry room and garage. Also consider including oversized linen closets, garages and actual storage rooms to overcome the storage issue.

Garage space, preferably a defined additional storage area, works well. If you are offering second-floor rooms with a “real” stair, then a door into the attic is fine.

Porches Are Becoming More Popular

While sunrooms remain a popular option, porches are becoming an important design element. They add an inviting image, and if useable — preferably eight feet wide — and not merely decorative, they add certain vitality to the street and the community. The screened porch on the back of the house adds real living space to the home. It’s also an easy option for a sunroom enclosure.

While the rear sunroom is highly desirable, another approach is to add a front sunroom — the old “enclosed porch.” Properly detailed to blend with the home’s architecture, the front sunroom can add architectural interest, bring living space to the street and serve a double function as a den, TV room or office.

Keep in mind that an extra room in the NSB house is a definite marketing plus.

Make the Home Adaptable

Keep in mind that active adults think they are 10 years younger than they really are. The NSB home should be designed to allow for aging-in-place without shouting it. Larger house numbers, lighted doorbells and accessible front entries all enhance livability without taking up valuable space or significantly increasing costs.

The builder should pay attention to heights of switches and controls. Designing wider hallways (three feet, four inches) and doorways (two feet, 10 inches) and offering at least one accessible bath (even though not required in a single-family home) extends the livability of the home for all residents regardless of their age or ability.

Get familiar with the Fair Housing Act and basic universal design guidelines. Use them in conjunction with creative design to “hide” the adaptability of the NSB active adult home.

Active Adult Market Is Open to Builders of All Sizes

Boomers are rapidly approaching active adult status, but they are approaching active adult home buying with different requirements. While the large active adult community continues to be popular with many buyers, there will be an increasing demand for smaller infill-type senior communities. This opens up the market to builders of all sizes, especially in urban and many suburban markets.

The new “senior” buyers will be looking for a different home. They want:

• Carefree exterior maintenance, but not at the cost of elegant design
• A downsized home, but with larger rooms
• Community character and a sense of place (not the traditional “subdivision” feel)
• Energy-efficient, but with lots of glass
• Offices at home, not crafts at the clubhouse
• Individualized homes
• No yard, but plenty of privacy

The NSB house has to meet all the criteria that a 3,000-square-foot home does. A deeper understanding of the active adult buyers’ needs, not to mention good design, can help you meet this challenge.

William J. (Bill) Devereaux, Jr. is the president of McLean, VA-based Devereaux & Associates, which specializes in residential design and planning as well as recreational and commercial structures, resort villages and manufactured housing. Devereaux has been involved in seniors housing design on the East Coast for 25 years and is a contributing editor to Builder magazine. For information, e-mail him or call him at 703-893-0102.

Enter the 2005 Best of Seniors Housing Awards — Entries Due Nov. 5

Enter your community design, clubhouse, models or marketing and merchandising in the 2005 Best of Seniors Housing Awards competition. The deadline for entries is Nov. 5.

The competition has more than 100 categories to choose from, including active adult, assisted living, continuing care retirement community, congregate care community, renovated seniors housing, special needs housing, seniors multifamily and more.

For details, visit Call for Entries, or call 800-368-5242 x8220.

'The Best of Seniors Housing News' Available at BuilderBooks.com

"The Best of Seniors Housing News," available at BuilderBooks.com, is a compilation of up-to-date, informative articles gleaned from Seniors Housing News. From design ideas to customer service, you’ll learn the unique vantage points that will keep you ahead and give you an edge in the seniors housing market. To view or purchase this publication online, click here, or call 800-223-2665 to order.

Attend the 2005 Seniors Housing Symposium in Metro Washington, D.C. 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.

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.

What’s Really Behind All Those Referrals?

Anyone who has attended the Remodeling Show or has been involved in discussions with remodelers from other areas of the county has heard this refrain many times: “We get all our business from referrals.”

It just seems to be the thing to say,  when asked where our new business comes from — and makes the speaker so much more admirable, doesn’t it? But do referrals really just fall into our laps?

I would contend that, even if you have a strong referral base (and after a certain time in business, any well-run business can and should expect that), you still have to work to turn referral possibilities into tangible contracts. I mean, referrals and kind words may be good for the ego, but they don’t count ego in your bank account.

Identify the Sources of Your Business

First and foremost, to be proactive and build a strong referral base, you need to know the sources of your business referrals.

For instance, do the referrals come from a particular business group, association, trade contractor, customer or potential customer? Are they generated through your public relations and marketing program — from press announcements, articles or releases in your local newspaper, from advertising or your son’s or daughter’s ball team?

Determine Where to Focus Your Energy and Resources

Okay, now take it one step further. Analyze what kind of work comes from your different referral sources so you will know where to focus your energy.

If, for example, you receive a number of nice little $500 repair orders from your son’s ball team, but several $200,000 agreements are generated through your business networks, where do you think you should spend your marketing dollars? If your networking with the chamber of commerce gets you lots of repair jobs but your involvement in your local home builders association brings you additions, where should you concentrate your energy and time?

I’m not suggesting that any of these examples are factual. That’s for you to find out.

Market, Market, Market

But I think we often paint referrals with a very broad brush. What seems like a referral may actually have resulted from hard work and consistent involvement with a particular group. Over time, that effort built trust within that group and eventually led to successful closings on a number of projects.

Nobody just sits back and waits for them to walk through the door with a checkbook — or my favorite, a bag of cash. Credibility, knowledge, ethics, ingenuity and craft doesn’t just happen. There is, and always will be the expenditure of effort and resources to establish yourself.

That’s marketing — and nurturing sources to produce referrals plays a role in it. In other words, pouring your resources into a group or groups to elicit requests is not categorically “all my business is referral”— it’s really smart marketing.

So, call referrals what you want. It’s the results we’re after, and what we can count on when we market our businesses effectively. I’m off to wait for the telephone to ring.

Fundamentals Matter When Considering Growth by Acquisition

By Stuart Phoenix, FMI Corporation
Acquiring a business has become the preferred method for growing a construction company. However, the odds of making a successful acquisition are no greater than 50%. The failures have many causes but usually can be traced to buyers ignoring some fundamentals of the contracting business.

Making an acquisition should not be a strategic objective in itself. Objectives for contractors should read more like, “We will grow annual revenues and profits 20% by expanding our core capabilities or increasing our geographic markets.” In this growth scenario, acquiring a company or companies is a strategy that supports the corporate goal. Acquisitions can play a key part in several different potential strategies. However, some companies appear to forget about the underlying strategy that led them to choose to make acquisitions.

Keep Your Corporate Strategy in Mind

One of the reasons companies lose sight of their strategy when they start to think about acquisitions is that growth by acquiring a company is so much more dramatic and sudden than organic growth. Twenty years ago, it was the norm in the industry to assign an estimator or project team to a new geography or type of project. After a successful bid or sales effort, a project was obtained, the organization was built and a new initiative was started. This process was notably slow and sometimes expensive.

Since then, acquisition has become the preferred alternative to organic growth. However, firms often tend to start their discussions with the acquisition criteria for expansion or the companies that are available and fail to adequately analyze what they want to accomplish with an acquisition. They also fail to discuss the impact the acquisition will have on both organizations and the implications of the acquisition for ownership and management succession. The acquisition becomes the strategy, whereas the original strategy was to enter a new market or to grow.

Planning an acquisition should begin with a discussion of corporate strategy in which other tactics to achieve corporate goals are considered and, if appropriate, rejected. Time frame considerations often lead companies to determine that a strategy calls for acquisition. Once you determine that the strategy calls for acquisition, the acquisition process itself must be planned and periodically monitored for its fit with the overall strategy within your company’s mission.

Planning for Acquisitions

Contracting is a tough business, as most businesses are; however, there are some fundamental characteristics of construction companies to consider when the idea of growth by acquisition is on the table. Here are a few observations from FMI Corporation’s mergers and acquisitions work with contractors:

• Contracting is fragmented for a reason. Some of the factors include:
  • Geography — The ability to travel is limited for most contractors.
  • Lack of economies of scale — Contractors don’t necessarily gain efficiencies or buying power with size.
  • Propensity of the business of larger firms to unravel — As contractors grow, they sometimes lose focus and discipline at the project level.

A construction company is principally a group of people who know how to procure, perform and get paid for construction services. Take a few top people out of most construction companies and the company loses focus quickly. Key people can lose motivation, go to competitors or even start new competitors. So the phrase, “Our people are our key assets,” is particularly true for construction companies.

• Market opportunities come in waves. Five years is an eternity in the contracting business when it comes to planning. It is not so much that the technology changes, it’s because what is built does. Construction may grow overall with gross domestic product, but within the market for construction, sectors are going up and down, sometimes radically. Therefore, a contractor cannot rely on the work it does today to grow consistently.
  
  
• Contractors don’t do very well in downturns. Construction suffered severe downturns in the early 1980s as interest rates soared and in the early 1990s in the wake of the savings and loan crisis. These downturns bankrupted many developers and contractors.

Perhaps the current downturn will be less onerous for contractors, but generally a lot of contractors do not do well in a downturn. In fact, one sign of a savvy contractor is the ability to get small when economic conditions call for it.

Other considerations for contractors in downturns include:

• Falling backlogs cause contractors to reduce margins.
• Contractors may lay off people needed in an upturn.
• Banks and bonding companies periodically embrace — then later turn away from — the industry.

Fundamentals of Acquiring a Construction Firm

While acquiring a contractor may provide great strategic opportunity, be aware that there are perils to be avoided. We recommend you carefully consider these fundamentals before tendering an offer:

• Acquiring a company often destroys some of its value. An acquisition changes almost everything about a company unless you never plan to integrate the companies. However, there is really no such thing as not integrating. Owners change, incentives change and top management usually changes. For better or worse, the whole corporate culture will likely change.

We mentioned above the importance of key people in determining value; it’s not surprising that much of the value of a construction company may be in its culture. Think of the values that may be gained and lost when integrating the acquisition.

• Cash flow is king, but the balance sheet matters in contracting. A construction firm must be able to bond and bank.

A number of the consolidators in recent history have proven that bad things happen if you do not have a strong balance sheet when the tide of fortune turns against you. The reliance of cash flow on people issues, the uncertainty of the length of the construction economic waves and the potentially destructive impact of the very act of acquisition tempers reliability of the discounted cash flow method for valuation.

• A construction company is usually worth more to the seller than to the buyer. Sellers understand the risk profile of the company better than the buyer does because they have “lived the company.” From the buyer’s perspective, the very act of acquiring the company can destroy value. Therefore, there must be motivation by the buyer or seller to bridge the value gap.
  
  
• An acquisition in construction is more like a marriage than an investment. There are no good hostile takeovers in contracting. Financial analysis is meaningless without a cultural fit and consideration for compatibility and retention of the organization. Divorce is never pretty in construction.

Acquisitions do not fail because a buyer pays 10% or even 20% too much. They fail because of people issues such as poor integration or poor cultural fit. The more you study the financials of an organization, the fuzzier financial projections for the future become.

Ultimately, an acquisition’s success depends on the acquirer’s ability to maintain and enhance the organization’s ability to procure, perform and get paid for construction services.

The Basics of a Successful Acquisition

If you are certain that acquisition is the move to make to implement your growth strategy, the following fundamentals will improve your chances of success.

• Don’t outrun your people and don’t assume the acquired troops will follow. It is easy to become enamored with marketing strategies, operational efficiencies and financial potential. However, strategies fail without people to execute them. Plan according to your organization’s ability to get the troops aligned behind the strategy.
  
  
• Formulate an operating strategy to develop key people. This will support organic growth and provide leaders for acquired companies to bring them into your culture. It is important to remember to develop leaders, not just managers. There is a difference between management and leadership. Managers implement plans and direct people. Leaders drive the organization and set direction for the business. You need both, but leaders are often forgotten in development efforts.

Leaders can be developed and it is best if they are developed internally. Leaders are hard to hire without upsetting the organization. Make leadership development part of your long-term plan for growth and ultimately the continuity of the firm (whether it’s sold to employees or to a third-party buyer).

• Don’t outrun your balance sheet. Financial advisors often counsel aggressive growth or distribution of earnings. Construction is a cyclical business, and markets can turn quickly. Bad jobs happen even to the best of contractors. History tells us that banks and bonding companies are not very forgiving when times get tough. In the recessions of the early 1980s and early 1990s, it was the contractors with perseverance and a solid balance sheet that emerged stronger.

A bit of a Depression mentality helps in construction. Anyone who has spent time with a parent or grandparent who lived through the Great Depression should understand a certain way of thinking that says — no matter how good things get, you should be prepared if things get really bad. Boomers and Generation Xers are less likely to think this way.

In construction, markets can turn sharply, a job can be a disaster, people can be lost and lawsuits can defy comprehension. If your fortunes turn, a strong balance sheet is a good thing to have when those you have counted on are less than supportive. Never make a bet you can’t cover.

• Forecasting beyond five years is based on your confidence in dealing with a changing market. Be realistic when making projections beyond five years. By years four or five, the buyer will have far more impact on the success of the operations than the seller will. Cash flow and earnings are the basis of valuation, but the reality in construction is that after you make the acquisition, your culture will change the acquired company’s culture, some people will be lost and markets will change. Thus, cash flow in the short term will be driven largely by what you buy. Over time, however, your responsibility for cash flow will increase for better or worse.

If you are going to forecast beyond five years, you are really basing it on what you do to the company to make it successful in five years. A lot of buyers five years into an acquisition wonder what they were thinking when they started, because their initial vision was so different from the world they now face.

• Analyze the waves. Buyers often look at companies as financial machines that generate cash flows for which they pay a fair value. Underpinning that assumption is another assumption — the market that generates the cash flow will be there as long as the cash flow model projects. The reality in construction is that most market sectors go through peaks and valleys of activity and that good margins draw competition. Successful companies are able to move with the markets.
  
  
• Have a strategy to deal with the change you will inflict on the company. You will change the company you acquire, and some of the change will likely be destructive. Think this through realistically and develop action plans to make the best of it. You need to perform an organizational analysis before you close, and you should take it to some depth before you value the company.

This organizational work will lead directly into your integration plan. The seller, and as much of the organization as the seller will let you work with, should be involved in developing the integration plan. This involvement should enable you to surface as many of the problems you will face in the acquisition as you can.

As we discussed earlier, the very act of acquiring the company will often destroy value. Your goal is to minimize the destruction and set the stage for building future value.

• Look for companies with similar cultures. We recently met with a potential buyer and seller and noted that, after the buyer finished the acquiring company’s presentation, the potential seller said, “You sound like us describing our approach to the business.” That type of cultural similarity is important in acquisitions. Changing culture is risky and hard to do.
  
  
• Focus early on culture and motivation, but don’t procrastinate on value and structure. You can spend a lot of time getting to know an acquisition candidate, and that should be the initial focus. However, if the seller is not motivated or is unrealistic on value, cultural fit will not get a deal done. Don’t rush to numerical analysis. Instead, begin a discussion of value and structure after determining basic fit.

Don't Ignore the Fundamentals of Contracting in Making Your Acquisition

Acquisitions are fun, challenging, potentially profitable — and potentially a mistake. Don’t ignore the fundamentals of contracting in making your acquisition. Take the time to get to know the seller and to know yourself. Resist the temptation to get lost in the numbers and confront the people issues. Remember that acquisitions are a means to fulfilling strategy and that letting the acquisition itself become the strategy is a mistake, usually an expensive one.

Stuart Phoenix is a principal with FMI Corporation’s Investment Banking Group who assists general contractors, specialty contractors, construction materials producers and design firms in the areas of mergers, acquisitions and ownership transfer. He can be reached at 919-787-8400 or sphoenix@fminet.com.

©2002 FMI Corporation.This article originally appeared in the May 2002 issue of FMI Management Letter. Used by permission of FMI Corporation.

HUD Advises Consumers on Mold Prevention in Florida Hurricane Cleanup

As Floridians continue their massive rebuilding efforts from Hurricanes Charley and Frances, the Department of Housing and Urban Development is providing consumers with guidance on how to prevent mold when they are cleaning up.

Areas inside the home that were exposed to significant levels of moisture are particularly susceptible, and the department is advising households to dry those areas as quickly as possible to prevent mold growth.

“After everything these families have had to endure, the last thing they need is mold,” said HUD Secretary Alphonso Johnson. “We hope this information can help people reclaim their homes knowing they are healthy and safe.”

Among HUD’s recommendations:

• Install a humidifier where there is moisture intrusion.
• Replace contaminated components, such as drywall and insulation.
• Remove or replace carpets, furniture, walls and floorboards that have been damaged.

Roof Repairs

In related news, Governor Jeb Bush has signed an executive order allowing residential, building and general contractors who are licensed in Florida to make roof repairs. Only licensed roofing contractors, however, will be allowed to work on tile or metal roofs.

The governor's order applies to both locally registered and state-certified contractors, but it does not extend the geographical jurisdiction in which contractors are registered, which is determined locally through reciprocity agreements and ordinances.

The roofing must be performed by the contractor’s employees, or subcontracted to a properly licensed roofing contractor.

Warnings of Fly-by-Night Contractors

In paid public service announcements, the Florida Home Builders Association continues to warn consumers to be on guard against fly-by-night contractors.

Consumer information on how to hire a licensed Florida contractor is available on the Disaster Contractors Network, which also includes a link enabling citizens to verify a contractor through the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

The Florida state builders association has also developed a Rebuilding Model Contract for its members.

Reinforced Concrete Masonry Stands Up to Hurricane Charley

In a hurricane season that is unfortunately providing Floridians with ample opportunity to test the effectiveness of more stringent building codes put in place in the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew in 1992, representatives from the concrete masonry industry are reporting that their product is performing well.

“Because of Hurricane Andrew and other storms in this area, the residential building codes have become much more specific in Florida,” said Dennis Graber, a member of the International Code Council Standard for Hurricane Resistant Residential Construction and director of technical publications at the National Concrete Masonry Association, who was on site in Punta Gorda, FL, to assess damages from Hurricane Charley.

“High wind standards are now much more specific regarding the amount and location of reinforcement to put into a masonry wall and how to provide a continuous load path from the roof to the foundation for all building materials,” Graber said.

As an example of how conformance with the new codes made houses better able to withstand the onslaught of Hurricane Charley, Graber noted that in modern, code-compliant structures in the Punta Gorda downtown area, concrete masonry withstood the high winds. By contrast, he reported that structures that were not built to current codes “suffered significant damage, because the concrete masonry was not reinforced to current construction standards even though the walls were substantial.”

“In virtually all cases, the modern reinforced concrete masonry structures were able to withstand the wind forces and performed very well in these conditions,” said Graber, who has more than 14 years of experience investigating high-wind disasters.

“The true test is when a structure is out in the open, unprotected by adjacent structures or trees,” he said. “We’ve seen numerous reinforced concrete masonry structures in these situations and they performed admirably. Over and over again, in talking to people who rode out the storm, we heard comments like, ‘Thank goodness we were in a block house; it kept us safe.’”

The National Hurricane Center suggests that home owners in hurricane areas contact local building code officials to find out what requirements are necessary for home improvement projects.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency encourages construction with strong, impact-resistant materials, such as concrete masonry, within homes and other structures located in hurricane-prone areas.

“Residents of South Florida saw again the importance of building with hurricane-resistant construction” said Jim Gulde, president of Masonry Information Technologists, Inc., who was also on site in Punta Gorda.

“Code changes have helped to limit the amount of damage to property and potentially saved lives,” said Gulde. “The real story is that hurricane-resistant materials like reinforced concrete masonry did great.”

The National Concrete Masonry Association is a member of the Concrete Home Building Council. For more information on the council, e-mail Dawn Faull at NAHB, or call her at 800-368-5242 x8362.

Attend This Year’s Building Systems Councils SHOWCASE

The Building Systems Councils SHOWCASE is the ultimate NAHB resource for the systems-built housing industry. SHOWCASE features educational sessions, trade show exhibits, award ceremonies and considerable networking opportunities tailored to manufacturers, builders, dealers, suppliers and associates in concrete, log, modular and panelized home building industries.

SHOWCASE is scheduled for Oct. 31-Nov. 3 in Austin, TX. Click here for more information or to register.

Deadline Extended for Building Systems Councils Award

Companies have been given an additional 10 extra days to enter the Building Systems Councils’ Excellence in Marketing & Home Design Awards. The deadline for entries has been extended to Monday, Sept. 20.

The awards are the only ones in the country to recognize every facet of the systems-built housing industry, providing recognition for homes completed in the past 12 months using concrete, modular, panelized or log building techniques.

The competition is open to BSC member manufacturers and associates and any NAHB builder member involved in systems-built housing.

Complete awards information — including award categories, entry forms and entry guidelines — is available on the BSC Awards Resource Page.

Award winners will be announced during a special ceremony at SHOWCASE 2004 before the grand opening of the Exhibit Hall. Winners will have their materials displayed during the show and will be publicized in The Systems-Built Advantage, NBN Online, Building Systems Magazine and press releases to the nation's real estate community. They will be posted on NAHB's Web site for one year.

The entry fee for the awards is $50 and $25 for builder categories.

For more information about the awards, click here, or call 800-368-5242 x8576.

Pittsburgh Builders Step Up to the Plate for Skilled Workers

Members of the Builders Association of Metro Pittsburgh (BAMP) and NAHB Student Chapters teamed up with the Pittsburgh Pirates, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and the Skilled Trade Coalition to honor the men and women in the building trades during a Labor Day baseball game at the Pirate’s ballpark, PNC Park.

The working men and women were honored as part of “Skilled Trades Day” during a pre-game tribute that included recognition on the stadium’s scoreboard and a ceremonial throwing of the first pitch. The Labor Day ceremony was the kick-off event of the “Skills to Build America’s Future” initiative launched by DOL and the Skilled Trades Coalition to address the nationwide shortage of skilled workers.

About 50 members of BAMP, NAHB and NAHB Student Chapters participated in the event.

“Skilled workers are in demand now more than ever as the baby boom generation moves into retirement,” said U.S. Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training Emily DeRocco. “The best way to ensure a pipeline of workers entering the skilled trades is to encourage young people and transitioning workers to consider these jobs as future careers.”

The “Skills to Build America’s Future” initiative is a nationwide outreach and education effort to attract the next generation of workers to the skilled trades. According to DOL, over the next eight years, there will be nearly one million new jobs for these skilled workers — a 15% increase over current needs.

Partners in the initiative include NAHB and local associations, the Construction Industry Round Table, the National Heavy & Highway Alliance and its seven affiliated international unions, and DOL.

BAMP members participating in the event included Mark Lantz, of Cross Towne Builders, Inc. in Pittsburgh and Michael Schultz, Sr. of Pittsburgh-based Michael J. Schultz Construction.

Lantz is chairman of BAMP's Workforce Development Committee and a past president of the association. At BAMP, he helped create seven vocational school student chapters with more than 400 student members in the greater Pittsburgh area. Schultz, a custom home-builder for more than 37 years in the western Pennsylvania area, is a member of the NAHB Executive Board and a state representative.

John Auciello, the executive director of BAMP, helped organize the event for the local association.

In addition to the on-field activities, the “Skilled Trades Day” event included pre- and post-game radio advertising in the five-state area surrounding Pittsburgh, game day program advertising and an outreach video that debuted on the stadium’s Jumbotron scoreboard.

Similar baseball-related events are planned for a St. Louis Cardinals game on Saturday, Sept. 18, and a Pittsburgh Pirates game on Sept. 24.

Energy Efficient Homes Qualify for Advantageous Financing in Winston-Salem

Local home buyers in the Winston-Salem, NC, area have additional financial incentives to purchase energy-efficient homes under Fannie Mae's Energy Efficient Mortgage program (EEM), it was announced last week.

The EEM recognizes the savings value of energy conservation, which can enable borrowers to qualify for a larger mortgage. Depending on their income, loan borrowers can put down as little as $500 from their own funds.

“Building energy- and resource-efficient homes is one of the most significant movements in the home building industry in the last 30 years and a trend powered by voluntary, market-driven building practices,” said David Pressly, NAHB vice president and treasurer and the owner of a highly energy-efficient home in North Carolina

The announcement was made at a home in the new Morris Farms subdivision, where energy-efficient, single-family homes built by Homes by Hamrick have earned the Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR® label for sound construction, lower energy consumption and reduced air pollution.“Energy-efficient homes benefit home buyers by reducing heating and cooling costs,” Pressly said, “and the availability ofthe Energy Efficient Mortgage will make these homes more affordable for families in Winston-Salem.”

Pressly was on hand for the announcement along with Virginia Foxx, a Republican senator representing North Carolina’s 45th district, and representatives from Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET), the North Carolina State Energy Office, the Home Builders Association of Winston-Salem, Homes by Hamrick, Energy Solutions, Advanced Energy, Countrywide Home Loans, Wachovia Mortgage and Fannie Mae.

Dual-Cooling Refrigerators Keep Food Fresh Longer

In response to home owners who see good money go to waste when the food in their refrigerator goes bad, General Electric is manufacturing a new line of refrigerators that have been designed to keep food fresh longer.

Headquartered in Fairfield, CT, General Electric is a member of the National Council of the Housing Industry — the supplier 100 of NAHB.

In recent survey research, GE found that 78% of the respondents, who were in the 35-44 age range, acknowledged that they discover spoiled items in their refrigerator at least once a month. More than 90% admitted to wasting money each month because food spoiled before it could be eaten. And 44% said that they might consider replacing their refrigerator with one that keeps food longer and saves energy.

GE says that with the introduction of its ClimateKeeper2 technology, consumers can say, "Goodbye soggy and hello crispy."  The new refrigerator uses two separate cooling systems — one for the freezer and one for fresh food. An independent cooling system for the fresh food section allows humidity levels to increase substantially, helping keep food fresher longer.

All ClimateKeeper2 refrigerators meet the 2004 Energy Star standards, and purchasers receive a 30-day, money-back guarantee that the refrigerator will be the quietest they ever owned.

The GE Profile Arctica with ClimateKeeper2 technology (model# PSH23PSRSV) is available in stainless, white, bisque and black. The refrigerator is offered in a 23-cubic-foot custom style configuration that gives it a built-in look.

For more information about GE Consumer & Industrial products, builders can visit the company's web site at www.geappliances.com.

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