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Distinguish Yourself Through Advanced Technology
By Susan Conbere, D&R International
 Incorporating even a few new technologies and practices that increase the quality of your homes can translate into dramatic savings in materials, labor, callbacks and time.
The Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing (PATH), a program of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, has developed an inventory of almost 200 innovative technologies, with an emphasis on the practical and cost-effective. PATH’s goal is to help builders improve the quality, durability, energy efficiency, environmental performance and affordability of their homes — all of which can support your goal of selling more homes.
But that’s a lot of technologies to wade through, so PATH has divided them into four categories: “graduate,” “mature,” “emerging” or “on the horizon” based on their stage of commercialization. Graduate technologies have generally achieved market share and acceptance by building officials and home builders.
To help narrow the choices even further, PATH has developed a list of top 10 technologies — a short list of advanced technologies on the rise:
- Frost protected shallow foundations protect against frost heave without the need for excavating below the frost line.
- Home run plumbing systems feed flexible piping directly to each fixture from a central manifold.
- Engineered panelized systems form a structural envelope that reduces or eliminates the need for on-site framing and can be assembled swiftly.
- Tankless water heaters use less space than traditional water heaters and provide the customer with hot water on demand.
- Air admittance vents are pressure-activated, one-way plumbing valves that eliminate the need for conventional pipe venting and roof penetrations.
- HVAC optimization maximizes efficiency and comfort.
- Shared (community) waste water treatment connects a single drainfield/treatment area to each house's individual septic tank, which may allow builders to build more homes per acre and use one big system to serve several houses.
- Low-impact development can offer a cost-effective way to address stormwater management through site design and best management practices.
- Integrated steel/wood combination framing combines the best of steel and wood, allowing builders to conserve lumber, speed up construction and add structural flexibility.
- Pre-cast concrete panels for the walls and foundations are made under quality-controlled factory conditions, and are therefore ready in a fraction of the time needed for a poured foundation.
For a detailed description of all the PATH-profiled technologies, click here and click on Resources.
Put It to the Test
So, you’ve assessed a few technologies and want to give them a go. The best advice for builders is to proceed with your eyes wide open. Some technologies and practices are a snap to employ; others require more planning.
Think of the first house as the prototype, where you work out the kinks. That first house will require more time as you train crews to change their methods. This may cost you some money in the short run, but once you’ve mastered the process, every house thereafter will be easier, and often faster, to build. Innovative builders usually report that after they overcame the hurdles in the first home, the technologies paid off in every house thereafter.
Linda Deacon, co-owner of Extreme Panels in Cottonwood, Minn., is a manufacturer of structural insulated panels (SIPs), a form of engineered panel system. Deacon works with around 20 builders in Southwest Minnesota.
“We’ve found that contractors that have worked with SIPs don’t want to go back to stick building because of the ease in building,” she says. “You don’t need as much skilled labor. The house also gets done quicker, so the customer is happier. And when the house is completely done, you don’t have the callbacks you would have on a stick-built house.”
Assessing the cost of a new technology may also require some creative thinking. For example, you can’t make a one-to-one comparison between the price of a standard wall and a SIP. “When you consider everything that goes into the wall, the price of SIPs is comparable because you’re not putting in insulation, or adding sheet rock on the inside or styrofoam on the outside,” Deacon says.
Curt Stendal, a builder with Panelworks Plus in St. Francis, Minn., has been using SIPs for more than 23 years. On costs, Stendal says, “You can save about one-third of the on-site labor time.” In the end, he adds, there are “a lot of savings for subcontractors because there is less time spent sheetrocking and there is less material waste.”
The Home of the Future
Builders who truly want to stay ahead of the game aren’t looking just at today’s technologies, but tomorrow’s as well. Several initiatives focus on maximizing efficiency, durability and quality. Among them are the NowHouse in San Francisco; the Millennium House in Tulsa, Okla.; and the PATH Tutorial Townhouses, which appeared at the International Builders’ Show (IBS) in January.
A fourth home is so cutting edge, it currently exists only as an architectural model. The PATH Concept Home is PATH’s image of the home of the future — a home that will be flexible enough to accommodate the changing needs of its owners.
The model incorporates many of the most innovative ideas of leaders in the home building industry. Components come in standard sizes, allowing easy assembly on the job site and reduced building waste. Utilities are also organized and accessible so walls can be moved and utilities can be maintained, replaced or upgraded as the needs of the family change.
Standardize Components
Imagine building a house with your kid’s building blocks. Easy, fast — and colorful, too! Stackable blocks come in standard sizes so that everything fits together in a snap. What if home building were the same?
If walls, doors, roof trusses and other standard components were pre-made in a factory, building crews would lose no time in fitting — and refitting — building components. Standardizing the measurements of major building components and their interfaces would eliminate the guesswork in product selection. While traditional components require additional cutting that generates waste, standardized components could be pre-assembled in the factory and “snapped-in” on the job site. Voila! Building is easier, faster and more efficient. And since your construction time is shorter, your customer is happier.
Disentangle Utilities
Families grow and evolve, equipment often needs repair and technologies change in the blink of an eye. Why not build a home that can embrace such change? While the benefits for remodeling accrue to the home owner down the road, the builders who can tout that their homes are this flexible will have a unique advantage in the marketplace.
In most homes, the utilities — electrical, plumbing, HVAC and communication systems — are trapped behind finished interior walls. Adding a new system — or just repairing an old one — can require ripping through walls at great cost and inconvenience. The Concept Home untangles the utilities, opening up many new possibilities for the floor plan, and for new utility technologies as well.
Imagine if utilities were located in chases and raceways and between ceilings and floors. A wall could contain an access panel that makes utilities easy to reach. Data cables and wiring would be less costly to install. Adding a zone-controlled heating system to manage heating costs or adding plumbing fixtures would no longer be a reconstruction nightmare.
If the utilities aren’t woven in between every wall, non-load-bearing interior walls could also be moved far more easily. When the home owner has a new baby or heads into retirement, moving walls to create a nursery or a first-floor master bedroom would be a much less daunting task. The mess and cost of replacing wiring, pipes or ducts would be eliminated.
If this sounds all too pie-in-the-sky, you should know that some builders are already beginning to disentangle utilities. Building in vertical chases, using open web trusses and installing drop ceilings allows easy access to utilities or creates more unobstructed space for them.
PATH Moves the Industry Forward
So, how would the innovative builder incorporate these Concept Home techniques?
PATH is working hard with industry partners to answer that question. “It may seem that this new approach to building is a long way off,” says Carlos Martín of PATH, “but the advantages are so great that many innovators are already using some or all of these concepts. These builders have distinguished themselves from their competitors at all market levels and are getting big returns.” Examples include Bensonwood Homes in New Hampshire and Clever Homes in California.
To spark innovative thinking, PATH is presenting the Concept Home model at industry shows around the nation, including IBS. PATH this year is designing plans so builders can make the Concept Home a reality. PATH will also develop other models of the Concept Home that demonstrate different advanced technologies and practices. To learn more, click here.
Susan Conbere is a writer/editor with D&R International, a contractor for PATH. D&R is based in Silver Spring, Md. Reach her at 301-588-9387.
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