Print-All Page: March 6, 2006

In a victory for affordable housing and against unnecessary government regulation, the final Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standard on hexavalent chromium published in the Feb. 28 Federal Register excludes exposure to Portland cement in construction and other industries. Portland cement is a basic ingredient in concrete and mortar.

For more than a year, NAHB members and staff have met with OSHA officials, urging them to exclude Portland cement from any rulemaking because the agency’s own data showed that possible airborne exposure to the chemical in construction activities involving wet cement — such as mixing mortar, brick laying, footer cement pouring and cement finishing — was minimal.

Research has shown that it is the alkalinity and abrasiveness of wet cement, and not hexavalent chromium, that can cause dermatoses when it comes in contact with the skin, and NAHB representatives pointed out that this was already covered by OSHA regulations requiring personal protective equipment in handling the material.

OSHA was directed by the U.S. Court of Appeals to develop a rule on hexavalent chromium as the result of a lawsuit by the Public Citizen’s Health Research Group, which had been pushing for a new standard on the chemical for a decade.

In public testimony on the proposed rule on Feb. 9, 2005, NAHB also pointed out that including Portland Cement would add to the already formidable regulatory burden on the housing industry imposed by OSHA and others.

“Let me be clear that home builders not only acknowledge a legal and moral obligation to provide their employees with a safe workplace, they share the concerns of OSHA for ensuring the health and safety of all men and women employed in the residential construction industry,” said George Middleton, NAHB’s senior manager of labor safety and health. “NAHB is not an opponent of safety standards and regulations, as long as these safety regulations are technologically attainable, practical, feasible, cost-effective and have a substantial impact on improving worker safety.”

Middleton added that OSHA’s rules for construction, running to hundreds of pages, can be overwhelming to small construction firms and impose significant costs that are passed on to the home buyer.

At its fall meeting in Columbus, Ohio in 2004, the NAHB Board of Directors approved a resolution urging OSHA to exclude Portland cement from the hexavalent chromium rule.

In a discussion of its final standard, OSHA explained that it had “proposed to exclude exposures to Portland cement in the construction industry because of data indicating that airborne exposures to Cr(VI) in construction activities involving Portland cement were very low and posed little lung cancer risk. Risks from dermal exposure could be addressed through existing OSHA standards.”

The exclusion of Portland cement was expanded in the final rule to general industry and shipyards as well, where airborne exposure to the chemical is comparable to exposures in construction.

For more information, e-mail Rob Matuga at NAHB, or call him at 800-368-5242 x8507.

Floor Plans: A Swiss Cottage in New Jersey — for $4,000

Yes, we know. You cannot buy a five-bedroom, high-end, single-family home anywhere in New Jersey for $4,000. But you could 123 years ago.

And in some ways, the home offered then is not much different than what’s being built today.

The vintage home featured is a “handsome semi-Swiss suburban cottage” taken from the pages of the July 1883 issue of Manufacturer and Builder Magazine.

According to the magazine, five of these cottages were to be built in Newark and were to be “supplied with modern improvements, and built in a thoroughly first class manner” — all for an estimated cost of $4,000 each.

Designed by the New York architect, D.T. Atwood, this “suburban cottage” featured many of the bells and whistles modern buyers are looking for — an elegantly curved staircase in the main entrance area, hardwood floors, a separate parlor or living room, separate dining room, separate china closet, study, a kitchen with a walk-in pantry and private outdoor living spaces (front and back porches).

However, contemporary buyers accustomed to a house this size having two or more bathrooms would undoubtedly be surprised by the home’s single bathroom.

Even more of an eye-opener, the bathroom could only be accessed through one of the bedrooms.

In addition to indoor plumbing, other modern conveniences included cisterns, “cess-pool walls and drains,” a tin roof and “speaking tubes” — a forerunner to the intercom, maybe?

Specifications

Mason's Work

160 square yards excavation
13,500 bricks laid
250 feet drains, cistern covers, etc.
Six 4x6 B.S. sills
Cess-pool walls and drains
Two mantels, grates, etc.
One kitchen mantel
Three chamber mantels
588-square-yards of lath and plaster
13 stucco centers

Carpenter’s Work

6,000 feet of timber and scantlings
3,200 feet of rough plank
1,500 feet of vertical plank
1,600 feet novelty siding
5,000 feet of finishing pine
30 squares of metal shingles, tin and leader work
2,928-square-feet of flooring
1,000 feet 7/8-inch ceiling
500 feet of architraves
700 feet of bases
1,400 feet of molding, scroll-sawing, etc.
Stair rails and newel
Doors, sashes and blinds; hardware and nails

Plumbing

Gas piping, tank and sink
Pump, pipes and traps
Washtubs, water closet, wash bowl, bathtub and strainers
Bells and wire
Speaking tubes

Painting

450-square-yards

Labor

250 days

Editor’s Note: Labels have been added to the floor plans in this article to make them easier to read.

McGraw-Hill Launches 10,000-Web Site Construction Network

McGraw-Hill Construction, publisher of the Sweets Catalog File, has launched the “McGraw-Hill Construction Network® for products.” The comprehensive online source of building product information integrates the 100-year track record of Sweets with the McGraw-Hill Construction Network which, since its inception in 2003, has become the place to find and manage design and construction business opportunities.

“The site was designed with the architect in mind,” said Robert Ivy, FAIA, vice president, editorial director and editor-in-chief of Architecture information. “They told us what they needed and we conducted extensive research to understand how to help them work faster and smarter. Based on this interaction we know this site will provide real value for any architect who is looking for reliable, up-to-date information, in as much detail as possible. As an integrated service it will help reduce risk and improve time spent on product selection.”

“Network for products provides fast access to detailed product catalogs and information on more than 10,000 manufacturers that has been indexed and organized to enable users to research, specify and select products more efficiently. CAD details and guide specifications can be easily searched, viewed and downloaded into plans and construction documents, saving time and eliminating errors. Users can also save and share content, enabling members of design and construction teams to communicate faster and better.

“Network for products” also puts building products into context. By leveraging the editorial content of McGraw-Hill Construction’s Architectural Record, the site provides users with information on where and how products have been used. In addition, manufacturers can provide their own project galleries and case studies linked directly from their product information in the network.

With the entire content of the Sweets Catalog and Directory integrated into the “Network for products,” the product catalogs, CAD details and specifications of building product manufacturers are now available online to more than 120,000 design and construction professionals. The network provides cross references to building product manufacturers’ representatives and distributors and gives users simple tools for finding a rep or sending an RFI/RFQ. Contractors benefit as well, by having access to information on product installation and point of purchase sources.

“Connecting people, projects and products is what we are all about,” said Norbert W. Young, president of McGraw-Hill Construction. “As the newest addition to the McGraw-Hill Construction Network, ‘Network for products’ gives owners, architects, engineers, general contractors, subcontractors, building product manufacturers, suppliers and distributors a better way to work faster and smarter — all available in one place.”

‘Explosive’ Growth Period Has Created Affordable Housing Crisis in Florida County

A new study finds that 22 of the municipalities in Broward County, Fla. have housing affordability gaps of more than $100,000 between the median price of a single-family home and the family median income needed to purchase a home. The county’s homes in only two years have jumped 65% in price, the report says, compared to a 6% gain in per capita income over the last three years. An annual income of $90,720 is needed to afford a $361,100 median-priced home in the county, but 77% of the county’s households earn less than $77,000 and the median income of a double-income household is only $51,570. Projected population and job growth figures for the county show that between 2004 and 2012, about 27,000 additional work force housing units will be needed for people earning between 80% and 150% of the median income and 51,000 affordable rental housing units will be needed for households earning less than 80%. The study noted that 50% of the local labor force is employed in service sectors of the economy that pay $25,000 a year or less. (www.rismedia.com)
Rismedia (3/2/06); Beth Bresnahan

Job Growth Key Indicator for Condo Sales

With the resale market cooling and demand for condominiums seeming to be down in the Washington, D.C. area, some people have begun to wonder if the number of new condos under construction is more than the housing market can handle. “I compare today’s condo situation to what happened with office space in the late 1980s and early 1990s,” says Bernie Markstein, NAHB’s director of forecasting. “Back then, everyone had seen a shortage in office space, so they began building a ton of projects. Many of them were 60% pre-leased, and the developers expected to lease the other 40% after the building was completed. Well, what happened was that a whole bunch of buildings were completed at the same time, all of them with 40% vacancies, and there was just too much supply,” he says. However, the area’s job market remains strong, “so we may only see a flattening of the market. I don’t expect a downturn.” Stephen Fuller from George Mason University in Virginia has said that he expects 65,000 jobs to be created in the metro area each year over the next three years. A total of 8,631 new condos were sold in the Washington area last year, double the 4,039 sold in 2004. There were 25,277 new home sales in the area in 2005, an 11% increase from 2004.
(www.washingtontimes.com)
Washington Times (3/3/06); Chris Sicks

The Hottest Remodeling Trends in 2011

Stone kitchen countertops are still popular, but granite and other natural stones can be permanently stained by cooking oils and etched by common cleaners, and more home owners are becoming wary of the drawbacks, according to Vince Butler, chairman of the NAHB Remodelors™ Council. Butler said he is installing more synthetic or engineered stone countertops and seeing renewed interest in “solid surfaces” like Corian. “It may not have the eye appeal, but I think as people live with it, it may be easier to take care of,” he said. Remodelers are also shelling out, big time, for custom bathroom tile, he said. “It’s the place where people are really expressing themselves. We’ve seen some master bathrooms where they spend $20,000 just on tile, and these are not extremely expensive homes. They are middle-class homes.” (www.realestate.msn.com)
MSN Real Estate (2/26/06); Liz Pulliam Weston

Rid Your Home of ‘Popcorn’ Ceilings

The bumpy acoustic popcorn ceilings that were the latest thing in the 1950s are despised by home buyers today because they give the house a dated appearance and are considered dust traps and hard to maintain. Before removing one of these acoustic ceilings, the first thing a home owner needs to do is to determine whether it contains asbestos, which was used as a binder in many construction materials before it was banned in 1978. Chances are good that the ceiling does contain asbestos if it was built before 1979, but it’s not uncommon to find asbestos in acoustic ceilings installed in the 1980s because existing inventories were exempt from the ban. If there is an asbestos problem, the most economical solution is a new layer of non-asbestos acoustic sprayed over the top of the ceiling. However, while this will encapsulate the asbestos, it won’t update the look of the home. The other solution is to hire a certified asbestos-abatement company to remove the finish and then have the wallboard retextured and painted. Professionally removing the asbestos will cost about $3,000-$5,000 for a 15-by-20 room. It is illegal to paint an asbestos-containing acoustic ceiling, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. (www.realestatemsn.com)
MSN Real Estate (2/25/06); Ann Archer

Low Income and Hi Tech

Built to introduce the community to the green philosophy, the 2006 New American Home uses as many Earth-friendly materials as possible and is “as green as we can possibly make it,” according to its builder, Alex Hannigan. And that was one reason that architects from WCI Communities Inc, which has developed a number of green communities, were chosen to design the home. Green features of the Energy Star-rated show home include abundant natural light and ventilation, thickened insulated exterior walls to mediate temperature differentials and welcoming outdoor living spaces to foster a close relationship with the natural world. Other sustainable construction features included: a universally accessible design to minimize future renovations, insulated concrete form walls, sprayed expanding foam roof insulation, sustainable interior doors and trim, high-efficiency doors and windows, a tankless instant hot water heater, water-efficient landscape species and design, rainwater harvesting from a roof gutter system and garden mulch made from recycled construction materials. (www.fairfaxnz.co.nz/index.html)
Christchurch Press (3/1/06)

Man Coughs Up Nail 35 Years After Accident

While brushing his teeth and after experiencing tickling in his throat, an 84-year-old man in Placerville, Calif. coughed up an inch-long nail that had entered his neck in 1970 while he was mowing his grass at his home in Minnesota. At the time he was struck, he felt a slight pain and saw a small trickle of blood. “It was like a bee sting,” he said. “But I didn’t think much of it.” The next day, when he began to experience discomfort and a 105-degree temperature, he was rushed by his family to the hospital, where doctors discovered that a nail had dropped down inside his body cavity and was nestled inside his ribcage. The object was forgotten for years because it would have required major surgery to remove it and doctors expected the nail to seal itself off in his body. A few weeks ago during a routine doctor’s office visit, an x-ray showed that the nail was in his lung, and plans were made to remove it. (www.news10.net)
News 10 KXTV, ABC, Sacramento, Stockton, Modesto (2/15/06); Jason Kobely

Home Price Gains Robust in 2005, OFHEO Finds

Average home prices increased by a robust 12.95% from the fourth quarter of 2004 to the final quarter of 2005, compared to 4.3% for all goods and services on the Consumer Price Index, according to the report.

Price appreciation for the fourth quarter was 2.86%, or an annualized pace of 11.4%, slower than the rate for the entire year.

The OFHEO index includes appraisal data from homes that are refinanced, “and when the data is limited only to homes that were purchased, prices last year rose at a somewhat slower pace of 10.81%,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders. “When looking only at purchase transactions, the rate of home price appreciation peaked in last year’s second quarter and since then has clearly been moving down.”

High housing prices and rising mortgage interest rates are already beginning to cool down housing sales activity to more sustainable levels, Seiders said, and the momentum behind home values should slow further as the year progresses.

Find out in HousingEconomics.com’s Long-Term Forecast. HousingEconomics.com includes downloadable Excel tables featuring the housing starts forecast, GDP, demographics and more.

Give your economic perspective on NAHB's new economics blog, “Seiders on Housing,” an informal Internet-based forum dealing with economic issues, housing trends, survey research and other topics affecting the housing sector of the economy.

Log onto the blog at http://nahbblog.blogs.com and get direct access to NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders' expert opinions, projections and responses.

Plan to attend NAHB's Spring Construction Forecast Conference on April 27 at the National Housing Center in Washington, D.C. The conference brings together the nation's premier housing economists and finance experts for an in-depth look at the economic outlook for the housing industry.

Cement Accord Paves Way for Mexican Free Trade With U.S.

An accord signed on March 6 by the U.S. and Mexico will help to increase sorely needed supplies of Mexican cement to domestic markets by drastically lowering duties on the material, according to the nation’s home builders.

“More than 30 states reported shortages of cement in 2005. This agreement is vital to meet consumer demand, which will only grow in the coming year as the Gulf Coast rebuilding effort moves into high gear following last year’s devastating hurricane season,” said NAHB President David Pressly.

Under the terms of the agreement, which settles a 16-year trade dispute, the U.S. will reduce duties from $26 to $3 per ton, and Mexican imports will be permitted to grow to 3 million metric tons annually, up from last year's level of approximately 2 million tons. After three years, the quotas and duties will be eliminated entirely.

The accord is structured so that Florida and the Gulf region, areas facing cement shortages, will be able to significantly increase their imports of Mexican cement. The negotiated framework also provides the flexibility to allow the President to direct an additional 200,000 metric tons of cement to areas hit by natural disasters.

With domestic cement production running at full throttle last year, the U.S. still had to import 25% of its cement supply in order to meet demand. High anti-dumping tariffs in place since 1990 have limited supply from Mexico, which has excess capacity. Because of its close proximity to the U.S., it takes only four days to import cement from Mexico, compared with 40 days from Asia.

Over the past year, NAHB has held several discussions with Commerce Department officials — including Secretary Carlos Gutierrez — urging the Administration to overturn the costly tariffs and outlining how cement shortages have led to construction delays and harmed housing affordability by increasing the cost of building projects. Data was also provided on states and geographic areas that have been most affected by the shortages.

"Commerce Secretary Gutierrez heeded our concerns, and showed a willingness to work with our industry and consider the needs of American consumers," said Pressly. “Throughout the process, builders have been pushing to resolve this dispute in a manner that leads to free trade, and we are pleased that this trade agreement will ultimately lead to this favorable outcome.”

For more information, e-mail Jason Lynn at NAHB, or call him at 800-368-5242 x8307; or contact Michael Carliner, x8376.

Log onto the blog at http://nahbblog.blogs.com and get direct access to NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders' expert opinions, projections and responses.

Texan Able to Develop Land After 10 Years of Litigation

After a tough 10-year legal battle, a Texas developer has secured the right to develop most of his property as he had originally planned.

Gary Sheffield, a Fort Worth and Dallas developer, recently reached a settlement agreement with the City of Glenn Heights, which had sought to stop or significantly alter his plans to build a large master planned community there, about 20 miles south of downtown Dallas.

“This was not easy, and litigation is not for the faint of heart,” Sheffield said. “I hope other builders and developers will learn from my experience just how important it is for an individual member to have a wide range of support during complex and time-consuming litigation.”

Glenn Heights initially attempted to forestall Sheffield’s plan to build the community by imposing a moratorium on any development on his property. The city never gave Sheffield notice of the moratorium, and it did not have to under then-existing Texas law. The city then down zoned the property, reducing the number of units that could be developed on it by 50%, and Sheffield challenged this as a regulatory taking.

The city put the moratorium in place so that it could down zone the property, despite assuring Sheffield before he purchased the property on its acceptable use based on existing zoning.

Sheffield prevailed at a state trial and in an appellate court, which found that the city’s down zoning was, in fact, a regulatory taking of his property because he was deprived of his investment-backed expectations. The Supreme Court of Texas disagreed and held that the economic impact of the city’s actions, though substantial, did not rise to the level of a taking.

The imposition of a moratorium without notice, however, remained an issue. Sheffield had filed a plat to vest his development rights after the city neglected to seek a permanent moratorium when the temporary suspension expired, and the high court remanded the case on this issue.

Glenn Heights officials recognized that Sheffield’s development rights had vested and ultimately agreed to settle the case. After 10 years of costly legal wrangling, Sheffield secured the right to develop his property largely as he intended, although with fewer units in a compromise with the city.

Sheffield’s perseverance has led to changes in the property rights law in Texas. State legislators found the idea of a municipality imposing a moratorium without notice so troubling that they added a notification requirement to the law.

“This case and the legislative changes that resulted from it demonstrate how important it is to ensure that municipalities are required by law to provide proper notice for decisions that could have enormous financial consequences to an individual builder or developer,” Sheffield said.

Without this assistance and emotional support “from someone on the same side,” it would have been difficult to continue the litigation, he said.

For more information, e-mail Blake Smith at NAHB, or call him at 800-368-5242 x8583.

Suit Filed Against Tallahassee Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance

A coalition of builders and Realtors® filed suit on Feb. 28 in Florida’s Second Judicial Circuit Court in Leon County challenging the City of Tallahassee's mandatory inclusionary zoning ordinance on the grounds that it violates substantive due process and is an unlawful taking and unlawful tax.

“While inclusionary zoning was likely imposed with the best of intentions in mind, the city has effectively added a regulatory barrier that will increase the price of new home construction by tens of thousands of dollars,” said Len Tylka, the president of the Florida Home Builders Association and a West Palm Beach builder and engineer.

Tallahassee’s zoning ordinance requires 10% of new homes in a development with 50 or more single-family or multifamily homes to be sold for $159,378 — no matter what the actual market rate price for the new home might be. The ordinance identifies specific locations where mandatory inclusionary housing is to be developed, including areas with some of the highest land costs in the city.

“If land cost $100,000 per lot to develop, that only leaves $60,000 to cover the cost of building the home,” said Ed Dion, a Tallahassee remodeler and member of the Tallahassee Builders Association (TBA). “Logically, the only way to build and sell a house at $159,378 is to share the cost with the remaining 90% of market-rate home buyers in an inclusionary zoned development. And that’s when home prices escalate.”

A study by Reason Public Policy Institute, a national nonpartisan public policy organization, shows that inclusionary zoning increases the price of market-rate housing by $22,000-$44,000 per home in order to subsidize the lower-priced homes.

“Inclusionary zoning will result in an even wider gap between the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots,’” said Tallahassee Board of Realtors® Immediate Past President Penny Herman. “Lower incomes will qualify for the inclusionary zoned homes, higher incomes will qualify for the market-rate homes, but middle-income families will effectively be squeezed out of realizing the American dream of homeownership.”

With the goal of increasing its supply of affordable housing, Tallahassee is the only city within Florida to impose a mandatory inclusionary zoning ordinance.

The builders and Realtors® who have joined in the suit are among the strongest advocates for affordable housing in Tallahassee and across Florida. FHBA is one of the founding members of the Sadowski Coalition, which helped to establish Florida’s Affordable Housing Trust Funds — one of the country’s premier affordable housing programs. The trust funds, which derive funding from fees on all real estate transactions, provide the City of Tallahassee and Leon County with dollars for their affordable housing programs.

Additionally, FHBA members in Tallahassee and throughout Florida are among the most active builders of Habitat for Humanity homes, and have adopted Builders Care programs in Tallahassee and across Florida.

“I’ve been a strong advocate for affordable housing for a number of years, but increased government rules and regulations are increasing the price of homes and causing far too many people to miss out on homeownership,” said Tallahassee developer DeVoe Moore. The Florida State University's DeVoe Moore Center has been studying the correlation between increased regulatory barriers and the ability to develop affordable housing.

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit include the Tallahassee Builders Association, the Florida Home Builders Association, the Tallahassee Board of Realtors®, DeVoe Moore and Ed Dion.

Builder's Tip: Self-Centering Router Base

I recently built and wired a gazebo. I didn’t want conduit intruding on the woodwork so I buried the electrical supply in a post. That meant cutting a groove in the post for the wire — a good job for my router and a 1⁄2-inch straight bit.



	[Click for larger imager]

It would have been even easier if I’d had a self-centering router base. Because I didn’t have one, I put one together:

The pins’ shoulders rest on the top of the base, where I secured each one with a couple of drops of adhesive. As shown in the drawing, rotating the router so that the pins bear against the sides of the workpiece centers the bit as it plows its groove.

BuilderBooks.com Offers More Than 250 Books That Help You Build Your Business

BuilderBooks.com is your source for training and education products for the building industry. The official bookstore for NAHB, BuilderBooks.com offers award-winning publications, software, brochures and more available in both English and Spanish.

Go With ‘User Friendly’ Over 'Monster' Scheduling Software

You don’t need a “monster solution” to improve your scheduling efficiency, advised Dennis Bilowus of AEC Software.

Monster solutions that try to do it all, he said, are often too complex, too difficult for users to adapt to, too costly — and almost impossible to implement companywide.

User friendly scheduling software is generally a better alternative, but he cautions that with scheduling software there is no magic bullet.

At the tecHOMExpo at the 2006 International Builders’ Show in Orlando, Fla. in January, Bilowus and James Waldrop, founder and CEO of Homesphere, Inc., as well as builders John Barrows of J. Barrows, Inc. of Wainscott, N.Y. and Cheryl Holwerda of Holwerda Homes in Grand Rapids, Mich., shared tips for speeding up the building process using scheduling software.

“Our company had grown from building 60 homes per year to more than 100 homes per year,” Holwerda says. “Manually scheduling the houses using Month-at-a-Glance was not working as efficiently anymore.” What her company needed to help manage the higher rate of production, she said, was a master schedule that would provide real-time data for decision making, to be used for every home under construction.

Barrows provides construction management services, including pre-construction planning, budgeting, scheduling and construction oversight. He started his company from the back of a pickup truck 25 years ago and now provides his services for home builders and for large commercial projects. Barrows found that,as his company grew, he needed a better tool to set expectations for suppliers, trades and clients.

To reduce cycle time, expand job site communication and improve cost management, builders need to integrate field and back-office processes and be able to connect with vendors easily, Waldrop explained.

Bilowus outlined key parameters builders should use as a guide when seeking technology-based scheduling solutions. When choosing scheduling software, builders should look for:

Holwerda said her company is using technology solutions that provide job schedule reports, enable vendors to view schedules online in real time and report reasons for variances in schedules.

Barrows said the scheduling solution he uses allows everyone on his team to see the relationship among tasks, trades and clients. This helps project managers and trades to look ahead and spot conflicts and makes it easier to hold team members accountable.

Tips for Choosing, Using Scheduling Software

Clearly define your objectives before shopping.
Don’t go it alone — get input from your trade partners and from the vendors themselves.
Include everything that is going to impact your schedule.
Check up on the software company’s customer service record.
Ensure there is training tailored to builders and that it is ongoing, to accommodate employee turnover.
Investigate newer companies — you don’t want to buy from a vendor only to find them gone in a few months.
Get a product demo.
Conduct pilots before going “live,” and implement step by step.
Allow transition time.
Don’t expect a magic bullet.

NAHB’s Technology Solutions Directory — an easy-to-use directory that enables builders, remodelers, contractors and other industry professionals to find the information on software and IT solutions and services for their businesses — is now online. The directory is sponsored by the Business Management & Information Technology Committee.

Software and technology solutions providers interested in being listed can sign up for:

The Technology Solutions Directory is solely for educational and informational purposes. Nothing in the directory should be construed as policy, an endorsement, warranty or guaranty by the National Association of Home Builders of the listed software, IT service or the software/IT vendor. The National Association of Home Builders expressly disclaims any responsibility for any damages arising from the use, application or reliance on any information contained in this directory.

VirtualBoss construction scheduling software, available through BuilderBooks.com, is easy-to-use job scheduling and task management software. You can track your service and punch list items and e-mail, fax and mail work orders to an unlimited number of subcontractors, suppliers or employees.

Resources are added weekly, so bookmark www.nahb.org/biztools to go directly to these vital business management resources.

Local and state home builders associations can link directly to www.nahb.org/biztools from their Web site and give their members instant access to these resources. It will make your association's Web site the place to go for the information and guidance that members need to succeed.

NAHB’s Business of Building e/Source is your monthly electronic guide to the hot issues and emerging trends in home building business management. You’ll find practical advice, tricks of the trade and sound business guidance — all delivered monthly, straight to your desktop, in a quick and easy-to-read format.

Business of Building e/Source is available free to NAHB members and their employees.

To subscribe, visit www.nahb.org/BoB on the Members Only side of the NAHB Web site.

The NAHB University of Housing offers a variety of business management courses and professional designation programs that set builders and remodelers apart from the competition.

Pay Attention to the Different Generations of the 50+ Market


	Neil Howe, noted author and expert on generational issues, will be the keynote speaker at the 50+ housing symposium in April.

The 50+ housing market is really composed of three distinct age groups that each have different housing needs and desires, according to Neil Howe, a prominent expert on generational issues and author of the best-selling books, “Generations,” “13th Gen” and “Fourth Turning.”

Howe will be the keynote speaker at the upcoming Building for Boomers & Beyond: 50+ Housing Symposium 2006 in Phoenix, Ariz. April 24-26. During his discussion at the symposium, Howe will offer a grand tour through generations in America — with emphasis on today’s recent and emerging generations of mature home owners.

Below, he answers a few questions and gives a taste of what he will discuss at length later this month. Of note, Howe refers to today’s three distinct older generations as the G.I. generation (born 1901-1925), the silent generation (born 1925-1942) and the boomers (born 1943-1960):

What are the biggest differences among the current generations who are now in retirement? What do builders need to know about these unique generations?

The G.I. generation invented “retirement” as a one-size-fits-all reward after a lifetime of service. The silent generation took that idea and personalized it, taking retirement to extraordinary levels of affluence and luxury.

Boomers, who are facing new economic pressures — less savings and fewer safety nets, especially at the younger edge — plan to keep working longer and want to stay near family and community. They feel uncomfortable with the very word “retirement.”

What key emotional messages do these generations respond to and what motivates them as consumers?

The ideal G.I. community is big, friendly, conventional — and civic-minded. It’s also often age-segregated. After the “generation gap” of the 1970s, when their “wholesome culture” was bitterly rejected by their boomer children, the G.I.s decided they’d rather live on their own.

The silent generation responds to messages that are more sophisticated, exotic, educational and choice-oriented. They often want to be around younger people and contribute.

Boomers, who came of age during the Consciousness Revolution, are self-sufficient individualists who seek meaningful lifestyles and experiences. They care less about contributing to their community than about discovering their authentic “inner core” — the story that inspires or justifies their lives.

What are the common mistakes that marketers make when marketing to older consumers? What are things that builders should (and should not) do?

The big mistake they make about consumers in their 60s and 70s today is not recognizing them as a distinct generation.

The silent generation, the children of the Depression and World War II, are very different from the G.I.s. They don’t like to be called senior citizens. Since the 1960s, they have been energized by — and have often led — the artistic and cultural and social movements of younger boomers.

They spearheaded the divorce revolution in the 1970s when they invented the famous “midlife passage,” and a rapidly growing number — almost 300,000 — are unmarried couples. They love the exotic and unconventional, though they still have led mostly risk-averse lives.

They are not G.I.s — but they aren’t boomers, either. They are often very progressive in their views on race or gender roles.

They might want to take courses at the nearby college or be a docent at a children’s museum, but they also might be bothered by the sound of hip-hop or teenagers living next door. Most marketers are blind to this important generation. They think somehow America went directly from World War II veterans to postwar boomers.

Marketers often get boomers wrong by overrating their materialism and penchant for fun and risk — often implied with terms like “Zoomers” — and by underrating their strong attachment to their families and local neighborhoods, as well as their spiritualism — of either the new age or evangelical variety — along with their serious quest to experience and capture what is classic, valued and enduring in life.

This has vast implications for new housing, from style and room design to choice of materials.

How do these generations differ in their attitudes toward family, retirement, health, leisure, finances and risk?

G.I.s dramatically lowered the retirement age, upheld family conventions and have looked to Big Government to cure their health problems and insure them against risk.

Members of the silent generation, who are retiring at a historically young age, want to stay healthy via new technology, physician choice and plenty of expert information. They pretend to take risks, but have always been the best insured — and economically rewarded — of all generations. Many have tried to reconnect with their grown Generation X and boomer children.

According to all of the survey data, boomers are about to trigger a rapid rise in the retirement age — mainly because they simply can’t afford to retire any time soon. They have taken more economic and family risks than the silent generation, and their wealth and income distribution is much more spread out, yet most are experiencing a stronger relationship with their coming-of-age millennial generation children. These grown-up “trophy kids” will be a major presence in the lives of boomers throughout their old age.

What impact do you think the boomers will have on housing in the coming decades?

A few big trends: From the first wave born in the mid-1940s to the last born around 1960, boomers will be less affluent on average and be more “spread out” economically upon reaching their mid-60s. This will be reflected in more value-conscious housing choices for the average elder — yet still plenty of opportunities for the super-luxury set.

Boomers will contribute to the development of “Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities,” or NORCs, as they will want to stay near their local neighborhoods and near their grown kids. Because most will be working after their “post-family” home shift, many will also want to stay near their workplaces — though digital networks will free many affluent boomers, allowing them to work in wilderness locales.

Boomer retirement communities will be less planned. Boomers won’t go to nursing facilities, those facilities will come to them.

Many, of course, will want to be around cultural activities, universities and schools, restaurants and urban rituals. They will be less civic and sociable, less attracted by large clubhouses and busy group schedules. They will want ownership and personal control over their stuff.

Most will want plenty of untamed space — or at least access to it. They will care deeply about the myth and story underlying their community.

Just as G.I.s, deep in old age, still retained a deep interest in politics and energized such powerful benefit lobbies as AARP, boomers deep in old age will retain a deep interest in the culture — and will see themselves as shaping the culture for the benefit of younger generations.

Even hospices will advertise “themes.” Midlife Gen Xers will make fun of them, but boomers won’t care.

Neil Howe’s keynote address at Building for Boomers & Beyond: 50+ Housing Symposium in Phoenix will be on Tuesday, April 25, at 8:00 a.m.

Attend the executive session, limited to 25 persons, of the Building for Boomers & Beyond: 50+ Housing Symposium for an opportunity to network with other CEOs, presidents, vice presidents and leaders in the 50+ housing industry.

Neil Howe will discuss what will drive the active adult buyers of tomorrow and share his special insights on the impact of these generations on the housing industry.

Michael Carliner, NAHB’s staff vice president for economics, will provide an economic forecast for the housing industry and, more specifically, the 50+ market.

Building for Boomers & Beyond: 50+ Housing Symposium, the premier educational and networking event for industry professionals who serve the burgeoning 50+ market, will be held April 24-26 in Phoenix.

For more information or to register for the symposium or the exectutive session, visit www.nahb.org/build4boomers.

Capitalize on the niches, needs and opportunities of this rapidly growing market by learning their preferences. To view or purchase this publication online, click here, or call 800-223-2665.

Is Your Digital Home Future Proof? — Part 2

The second article about the promise — and challenge — of building and selling “digital homes.”

In this article on making your new digital home projects “future proof,” we will discuss the challenges of networking, your best choices for HDTV connectivity, the latest trends in wireless and what to do if you’re technologically challenged.

One of the technical issues that stands in the way of the fully networked vision for home living is Quality of Service (QoS). The technologies you use — and how you install them — affect QoS for each technology and the overall QoS of the home.

HDTV: When a high-definition television (HDTV) signal passes through coax, the builder should only worry about bending the radius of the cable too much and connectors. Coax degrades the signal if bent too sharply.

However, when an HDTV signal passes through ethernet, bandwidth comes into play and can affect video quality and QoS.

HDTV signals can take 19 megabits of bandwidth. But many of today’s networks are 100baseT (100 megabits/second) running through Cat-5 cable.

Quite possibly, overcrowding. Video and audio are isochronous — the data must flow continuously. Ethernet was designed for synchronous data steams. Synchronous means that signals and data will get to where they’re supposed to be — but not necessarily on time.

Consumers are demanding more and more Internet bandwidth. Some, in fact, will soon get 20 or even as much as 100 megabits of bandwidth from their cable or telephone company.

So, with everything sharing 100 megabits of bandwidth, there is a chance the video will freeze — in other words, poor video QoS.

The Digital Living Network Alliance (www.dlna.org) — an alliance of technology companies that are working to establish an interoperable network of personal computers, consumer electronics (CE) and mobile devices in the home that home owners can enjoy and builders can deliver — specifies some protocols to help manage bandwidth issues. But managing bandwidth can only achieve so much QoS.

Wise builders should consider incorporating the next generation of ethernet — 1000baseT which provides 1 gigabyte of raw bandwidth. To be truly effective, 1000baseT should run over a tighter tolerance cable called Cat-5e or Cat-6.

Some STB (set top box) makers can send video room-to-room over existing coax instead of Cat-5 or 6, so there is no need for new cables. Scientific Atlanta and Motorola both offer a STB with built-in DVR that can send recorded video to another STB, but they use different technical approaches. That means less flexibility for the builder because both ends of the technology must come from the same vendor.

What about wireless? Unfortunately for wireless, today’s systems do not have the bandwidth to handle HDTV video streams. But a few things are about to change.

WiFi: One is a pending standard called IEEE 802.11n. This form of WiFi offers a more robust link with about twice the bandwidth (effectively about 100 megabits/second).

This type of WiFi could be used for some HDTV situations, but the most reliable link will still be wires. WiFi, in general, will remain more useful for situations that don’t need isochronous data links — such as networking PCs.

Ultra-Wideband: Another pending technology is ultra-wideband (UWB). UWB has a reliably high bandwidth link, but for very short distances (say 30 feet).

Some manufacturers are planning on using UWB to send HDTV video to wall-mounted flat screen TVs. UWB solves many problems because normal digital video cables for HDTV are bulky, particularly for longer cable lengths.

ZigBee™: A third form of wireless is called ZigBee™ (www.zigbee.org) — a low-power, low-cost, but also low-bandwidth, form of wireless. Companies are building ZigBee™ into light switches, thermostats, drapery controllers, alarms and just about everything else imaginable.

For home control features, expect to see more of this form of wireless in the near future.

Another issue slowing down the digital home is complexity. You practically need to be an IT manager to know how to set up some of these products.

A company called Dedicated Devices, for example, has a low-cost product that distributes music, photos and some video (though not HDTV) over ethernet. The company sells almost exclusively to new home developments.

Most people today turn to professional installers. So do many of the companies that make digital home products. Most of these companies exhibit at a show called CEDIA (Custom Electronics Design and Installation Association — www.cedia.org). Talking to these types of companies can give you a reasonable picture of today’s situation and where the industry is going.

DLNA is trying to make everything plug-and-play, but much work remains. Eventually the digital home will be more affordable and easier to set up. Two-way digital cable-ready products (today’s are just one-way), DLNA 2.0 products (2.0 is being worked on), and other changes will tempt more consumers to give it a try.

Remember when there used to be only one power plug outlet per room? — Will just one ethernet jack per room be enough?

Gary Sasaki is the president of Silicon Valley, Calif.-based DIGDIA, which provides strategic analysis and consulting of digital media industries. For more information, visit www.digdia.com for a glossary of more than 1,000 digital home terms, industry reports and links to dozens of related organizations and publications.

This article excerpted from the fall issue of Building Women, published by NAHB's Women's Council.

To read the first article in this series, which appeared Feb. 27 in Nation's Building News, click here.

Diversifying: What You Need to Do When Opportunity Knocks

After reading the first article in this series, you decided you still want to diversify into commercial construction — but not spread yourself too thin. You determined that you could overcome and thrive in a construction environment that differs tactically and strategically from residential construction and you want to take advantage of some of the opportunities that are out there.

Now, we will explore a systematic, step-by-step process that will help you assess whether you are properly prepared to make the transition into commercial construction and develop an effective strategy for being competitive.

SWOT is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Strengths and weaknesses are internal and can be controlled within your company.

Opportunities and threats are external. It’s important that contractors aggressively seek opportunities, but they need to check them out before leaping. Not every potential opportunity will fit your company’s capabilities

In order to make a sound decision to diversify, you must first have a clear understanding of your current business situation. Start with a brainstorming session with all your key employees and advisors to define the company’s SWOT. List all your company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats during the session.

Once you have completed the SWOT list, go back and remove any suggestions that don’t fit. Some items may simply be duplicates. Others might not be as important as you think they are. For example, 10 years of construction experience, if your competitors all have similar experience, is not strong enough to set you apart and isn’t worth mentioning (in this exercise). Whenever you and your competitors have equivalent experience, neither of you has a competitive advantage.

The next round of self assessment is more challenging because it forces you to look at your company strategically.

No analysis would be complete without considering the competition, but you can’t ignore other key factors — political, economic, environmental, legal and technological — that will affect your success.

Here’s an example. A local private university announces plans to build several new dormitories. This may seem like a great opportunity because you’ve built several high-rise apartments and the necessary skills appear to be transferable. But, then you learn that a competitor has built all of the other dorms on campus and the university is not required to take public bids on this project. Unless your company has something significantly unique to offer the university, your competitor has the advantage.

The critical shortage of skilled mechanics is a huge threat. But if your company has a significant number of skilled workers who are happy and highly motivated, you have probably minimized the threat.

However, if you ignore this threat, you may stop doing the things that minimized the risk it poses for your company and suddenly find your company under siege.

Strengths and weaknesses focus on you and your company and therefore should be approached differently than opportunities and threats.

Weaknesses: Quite generally, you can handle or overcome weaknesses in one of two ways. First, you can avoid projects that require strengths in areas where you are weak.

The second option you have is to eliminate the weakness. If one of your weaknesses is a lack of superintendents with commercial experience, for example, you can eliminate that weakness or turn it into a strength by hiring experienced commercial superintendents.

Strengths: The most difficult assessment to make is identifying your strengths. This requires a bit of soul searching.

In reality, few company strengths actually translate into a competitive advantage because unless they create an advantage over your competitors, they merely are a ticket to the dance — essentially a requirement.

If you can’t do something significantly different or better than your competition, it’s not a strength. Usually, companies have only one or two things that give them a true competitive advantage.

Once you have paired down your SWOT assessment to its most important, essential elements, you are prepared to focus on your options.

Do this by focusing on the remaining opportunities one at a time. Under each opportunity, list all of the strengths that offer you an advantage. Next, make a list of all the necessary skills and resources — the requirements needed — for you to pursue that opportunity successfully.

Once you have completed this list, determine which skills and resources you already possess. Those that you don’t have should be listed under weaknesses.

If you have any weaknesses, then you must determine how many there are and how difficult it will be for you to acquire the necessary skills and resources to overcome them. If it’s too difficult to pull together what you need, then pass on the opportunity.

Finally, you should examine the threats to make sure that none of them will negatively impact the opportunity. If they do, then you must determine whether you can eliminate the threat or at least reduce it to an acceptable level.

Repeat this process for each opportunity on your list. Once you do, you can evaluate which opportunities offer the greatest potential for your company and what’s required to pursue them. All this is before you have made a decision to diversity into commercial construction.

If you end up identifying one or more opportunities where your company can possess a competitive advantage, then perhaps you should seriously consider diversifying into commercial construction.

If you can’t identify a realistic opportunity, then you probably should focus more on your current residential business.

This doesn’t mean you can’t or shouldn’t diversify into commercial construction, it just means you must work harder to uncover a viable opportunity to pursue.

Also, this process isn’t like playing poker. You can’t bluff your way to a winning pot. If you don’t have the winning hand, you will usually lose.

There are many outstanding opportunities in the commercial market, but it’s highly competitive. The companies that do their homework are usually rewarded with success.

Ted Garrison is president of Garrison Associates and author of Strategic Planning for Contractors. As a consultant, author and speaker, he works with businesses in the construction industry to grow their business by improving profit margins and increasing productivity. For more information, e-mail Garrison.

To read the first article in this series, which appeared Feb. 27 in Nation's Building News, click here.

“Moving to Commercial Construction,” available through BuilderBooks.com, offers the general contractor, subcontractor and designer several step-by-step methods that will make the move from residential to commercial building a successful one.

Speedier Building Permitting Increases Local Tax Revenue

Communities with a more efficient building permit process can gain millions of dollars in tax revenues and significantly bolster their economic development, according to a report released last month by the American Institute of Architects (AIA).

“Within the last five to 10 years, there has been a substantial increase in delays in building permit approvals,” said Kermit Baker, the AIA’s chief economist. “Architects have frontline experience with these delays, and the AIA commissioned this study to shed light on this problematic situation that works against the best interests of businesses and communities.”

Conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, the study focuses on nonresidential projects that accounted for $295 billion in new investment in 2004, according to the Department of Commerce. For that year, the department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that new investment in privately owned structures totaled $960 billion, or 8% of GDP; residential structures accounted for $665 billion of this amount.

“Inefficient permitting processes are equivalent to a drain on economic development,” said Linden Smith, managing director for PricewaterhouseCoopers. “Project delays lead to higher costs that either will be passed through to occupants or will discourage new construction. Less new construction, by reducing the total supply of buildings in a community, will tend to lead to higher rents for everyone.

“Conversely,” he said, “a municipality with an efficient and predictable permitting process will attract investment by reducing the risk of scheduling delays and cost overruns. All else equal, investment dollars will be drawn to these municipalities.”

Prior to the recent U.S. Conference of Mayors, the report was sent to 1,000 mayors, local building permit officers, city council members and local municipal and county officials.

The AIA says that its report is the first step in encouraging local governments to invest in programs and technology that will create state-of-the-art building departments that are more agile and better equipped to expedite the building permit approval process.

Non-Residential Sector on an Up Trend in 2005

Total construction climbed 10% to $651.4 billion last year, according to McGraw-Hill Construction, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies. This was close to the 11% increase reported for 2004, and well above 2%-5% annual growth in 2001-2003.

The company’s Dodge Index declined slightly at the end of the year, dropping from 201 in November to 200 in December, but was still up from the overall 2005 average of 196.

"Higher materials prices appeared to dampen the non-residential sector at the outset of 2005, as developers deferred and redesigned projects to deal with rising costs," said Robert A. Murray, vice president of economic affairs for McGraw-Hill Construction. "At the same time, market fundamentals such as occupancies and rents improved, and this helped non-residential building to regain an upward trend as the year progressed.”

Non-residential building increased 5% in 2005 to $171.9 billion, with much of the growth coming from institutional structures. School construction, which had been losing momentum during the three previous years, rose 8%.

"There's still a substantial need for more classroom space, both new and renovated, and school construction is not being dampened by tight fiscal conditions to the same extent as what occurred a few years ago," Murray said.

Construction of healthcare facilities jumped 18% last year to a record volume. Ground was broken on 42 hospital projects valued at $75 million or more, compared to 22 in 2004.

Spending on public building construction improved 9% last year following a weak 2004, while transportation terminals were up 12%. There were major airline terminal projects started last year in Indianapolis ($270 million), New York ($200 million) and San Jose, Calif. ($125 million).

Among institutional structures, two registered declines: amusement-related projects, down 3%; and churches, down 11%.

Commercial construction in 2005 was mixed. Supported by the expansionary efforts of major retailers, store construction advanced 4%, the third consecutive yearly gain. Hotel construction jumped 22%, helped by rising occupancies and room rates.

While the office market in 2005 showed improving fundamentals, with vacancy rates receding, a smaller number of very large projects were started. Work was started on only nine office projects valued at $75 million or more, compared to 19 in 2004.

The manufacturing building category in 2005 grew 5% in dollar volume, helped by the start of three very large semiconductor plants.

	12 Months 2005	12 Months 2004	% Change
Nonresidential Building	$171,851	$163,396	5%
Residential Building	$378,354	$332,489	14%
Nonbuilding	$101,166	$94,517	7%
Total Construction	$651,371	$590,402	10%

Enter the Best in American Living Awards Competition

Entries are being accepted for the 2006 Best in American Living Awards (BALA), the foremost residential design competition in the country. Builders, interior designers, architects, developers and marketing and real estate professionals are invited to enter.

The competition includes 41 categories — from single-family attached and detached in a variety of sizes to rental developments and custom homes plus categories for interior design, communities and neighborhoods, affordable housing, smart growth and others.

Homes completed or for which the first model opened between May 1, 2005 and July 15, 2006 are eligible for this year’s competition.

Several categories in the competition are limited to homes built for sale. Check the BALA/Housing Zone Web pages for details.

Winning entries will also be posted on the Professional Builder Web site, HousingZone.com, for up to one year after the announcement.

For additional information and to download a BALA entry form, click here, or contact Judy Brociek, Professional Builder, at 630-288-8184 or Michelle Persinger Matuga, NAHB, at 800-368-5242 x8343.

A total of 92 award winners in 41 categories were chosen from more than 390 entries in last year's competition. Winners were featured in the January 2006 issue of Professional Builder. To view the winners as posted in an e-book on the Professional Builder Web site, click here. One 2005 winner is pictured below.

2005 BALA Best in Region and Best One-of-a-Kind Custom Home: Thompson Custom Homes, Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Homestore Changing Its Name to ‘Move’

Homestore, Inc. has announced that it will be changing its name to Move, Inc. to coincide with an expanded commitment to offering consumers comprehensive real estate listings, decision support tools and access to qualified move-related service providers. This enhanced consumer focus will enable Move to create even more effective advertising venues for a broader range of advertisers.

Move, Inc. will have three consumer offerings: Realtor.com, Move and Welcome Wagon. The new name unifies the company's strategy of providing a platform for connecting consumers with Realtors®, home builders, rental property owners and other move-related advertisers before, during and after a move.

Homestore's offering, HomeBuilder.com, is the official new home Web site of NAHB.

Along with the new brand, this spring the company will launch an all new real estate search engine site, Move.com, as well as additional products and features designed to provide the best consumer content available. Consistent with that goal, Homestore has acquired Moving.com, a best-in-class online provider of consumer moving tools and access to qualified moving services.

Upon full launch of the new Move.com Web site, the company's NASDAQ stock symbol will change from "HOMS" to "MOVE."

Companies Specifically Ask for My Designation

Just the HCCP. I have an MBA. I was formerly a Realtor® in Massachusetts, but I gave that up about 10 years ago when I went into asset management.

I certainly believe it has helped, but no client has directly said to me that it is the reason why they have engaged me.

How has your designation tangibly benefited your career? How have you promoted designations among your peers? Your home builders association?

I have been steadily engaged over the last three-plus years as a consultant almost strictly in the affordable housing area. Having the HCCP is a designation of excellence in the affordable housing area.

I do know of companies that call me looking for compliance professionals, and they do specifically ask for individuals with the HCCP.

I have been associated with builders for more than 10 years. I was asked by my employer at the time to assist a fine group of professionals to write the first HCCP exam and have been on the board ever since.

A designation shows your own commitment to improving your skills while showing your customers your commitment to the profession.

To learn more about the HCCP designation and to begin the road to receiving this or one of the 13 other NAHB professional designations, visit www.nahb.org/designations.

Education Calendar

Whether you’re new to the industry, hope to make your next career move or want to improve your company’s bottom line, The NAHB University of Housing can assist you in your educational pursuits.

Visit www.nahb.org/education for a comprehensive listing of courses throughout the country. Be sure to visit often in order to view the most up-to-date information in your area.

Make your connection to the latest housing industry news and information with www.nahb.org — the official public and members-only Web site of NAHB.

Log in today to register for educational seminars, meetings and networking events; find important economic and housing data; and learn the latest developments in NAHB’s efforts to promote housing. It’s all available 24 hours a day at www.nahb.org. Just click the "Log In" button to get started.

Once you log in, personalize the site to reflect your interests. Simply go to the My NAHB>My Profile page and click the “Edit Content Preferences” link. To learn more about how you can customize My NAHB — including how to customize the links that appear on the Home page ― visit the How to Use www.nahb.org section.

Green Certification Launched in Central New Mexico

Based on NAHB’s Model Green Home Building Guidelines, the program will provide home buyers with assurance that their new home incorporates environmentally efficient, water-conserving, cost-effective construction techniques.

“We’re very excited to be able to start this program in time for the conference,” said Steve Hale of Hale & Sun Construction Inc., a custom builder and infill developer in Albuquerque who spearheaded the project. “I hope it will help inspire other builders attending the conference to launch programs at their own associations.”

The program has three components: education, verification and marketing, Hale said. Builders and developers submitting their projects for review are awarded points based on the home’s insulating qualities, the materials used in construction, conservation programs and energy use. The more points, the higher the level: Bronze, Silver or Gold.

The results are verified by the association, which plans to hire an administrator for the program, with a volunteer committee reviewing the projects that are submitted. The association will pay for the program by charging participating companies a $150 annual fee and an additional per-project fee of $200 for a custom home and $75 for each house in a production builder’s development. The association is also planning a green building subdivision designation.

The creators of the certification wanted to ensure that non-member builders can also participate in the program to make it more palatable to city and county officials. But to encourage association membership, non-members pay double the fee. ‘We want to make it more cost-effective for interested builders to join the association,” Hale said.

The fees collected will be used to pay for education and marketing. Hale wants to make sure that every builder and developer knows about the program and how it works — and that area consumers know about it, too.

“Once a builder is working with the model guidelines, I don’t want there to be more barriers. I want to make the program easy to participate in because the guidelines themselves are tough,” Hale said. Meanwhile, the education program can help boost consumer demand for participating builders and developers.

The association has already signed on its first program sponsor: the Public Service Company of New Mexico, the utility supplying electricity and natural gas to most households in the state.

Association leaders planned to meet last week with elected officials in Albuquerque to gain support for taking the voluntary program statewide, he said. “The mayor (Martin J. Chavez) is pretty excited,” Hale said, and is especially looking forward to the Green Building Conference, when he will deliver the closing remarks March 14.

Preregistration is now closed for the Green Building Conference and the pre-conference Certified Graduate Builder course, “Green Building for Building Professionals,” is full.

Registration is available onsite for the Saturday, March 11 golf tournament at the new Sandia Golf Club, for the National Green Building Awards gala dinner Sunday, March 12, and for the seminars and exhibit hall Monday and Tuesday, March 13-14.

Tightening Up Homes Tightens Energy Bills

Tight construction is a critical feature of the homes built by EnergyValue Housing Award (EVHA) winners, who develop effective techniques through testing and trial and error.

The air tightness of award entries is substantiated by a blower door test in which the home is pressurized or depressurized with a large fan fitted into a doorway to a test pressure, usually 50 Pascals. Measuring the fan flow needed to maintain test pressure determines the amount of air flowing out of or into the house through crevices in its exterior. While a typical new home registers six or more air changes per hour at test pressure, the 2006 EnergyValue Housing Award winning homes averaged less thanthree.

The blower door test also helps builders determine where leakage is occurring and where to expand air sealing efforts.

Aspen Homes of Colorado, a 2006 EVHA Gold Winner, uses smoke sticks during a blower door test to help visualize airflow and find leakage. According to Rob Sabin, director of research and development for Aspen, a blower door test is “absolutely vital to determine the unique areas that need attention” for tighter construction.

“When trying to build a tight home, you can't just rely on one step in the process,” said Sabin. His company has achieved its high standard of air sealing by working closely with the insulating contractor, drywall crew and in-house personnel.

In Aspen Home’s system, the insulation crew seals penetrations to the exterior and foam seals the rim joist and around electrical boxes and attic access doors. The drywall crew, in turn, applies construction adhesive at the top and bottom plate before attaching drywall. Finally, company employees ensure that any miscellaneous openings such as the areas around pre-hung doors are sealed.

Sabin estimates that Aspen Homes’ air sealing package, including third-party blower door testing, costs $500-$1,000, including labor and materials.

Once a home is built tightly, it is a good idea to provide some method of mechanical ventilation, which does not need to be complicated or costly. One of the most cost-effective ways to ventilate homes is to provide a passive air intake duct (typically 4- or 6-inch plastic pipe with damper) to the return side of the central air handler to periodically bring fresh air into the home with a time-based controller.

Applications for the 2007 EnergyValue Housing Awards are now available. For more information about the awards program or to apply, click here.

Michigan Development Wins Workforce Housing Award

Recognizing ingenuity in the development, construction and marketing of affordable workforce housing, NAHB honored five communities with its Innovation in Workforce Housing Awards at the International Builders’ Show in Orlando, Fla. in January. In an effort to bring attention to outstanding examples of workforce housing, Nation’s Building News will showcase the winners of the award in a series of articles. The first development in the series is East Village in Lansing, Mich.

Being developed by Abbey Homes in conjunction with Burton Katzman, East Village is a redevelopment project on a 25-acre site that had sat vacant for three decades where there was once a boys’ training school.

The $28 million project was financed through private investment and $2.1 million in brownfield redevelopment funds coming from tax increments financing (TIF) and brownfield revenue bonds issued by the Lansing Brownfields Redevelopment Authority.

“We are very pleased that we could provide affordable housing and create a community that fits perfectly within the existing neighborhood,” said Scott Auvenshine, chief operating officer of Abbey Homes. “East Village is the largest new housing development in Lansing in the last 30 years, but it blends very well with the existing architecture of the surrounding area.”

“We could not have done this without the help and support of the City of Lansing,” Auvenshine said. Looking to redevelop the site, the city has been an active partner in the workforce housing development.

“I am very pleased to recognize this year’s award winners,” said Bobby Lunceford, who won a workforce housing award a year ago for his work with Cobb Housing Inc. in Atlanta. “I know from first-hand experience the challenges of providing housing for America’s hard-working men and women.”

“Land costs are high, the regulatory hurdles are significant and the time to market can be long and arduous,” he added. “But this is important work. We’ve got to meet the housing needs of our police officers, our teachers, firefighters, nurses and the millions of people across the country in the retail and service industries.”

For more information, e-mail Blake Smith at NAHB, or call him at 800-368-5242 x8583.

Superintendent Training Program Expands

Home Builders Institute, the workforce development arm of NAHB, has been expanding its Residential Construction Superintendent (RCS) designation courses across the country as home builders associations and companies offer the program with increasing frequency.

The California Building Industry Foundation (CBIF) has received significant support for the RCS eight-course curriculum from builder D.R. Horton, which recently made RCS certification mandatory for all of its field personnel throughout the state.

“We want our project superintendents to be professional and accredited, for their own self-worth as well as our training regimen” said Tom Noon, the company’s chief operating officer. To date, 63 D.R. Horton employees have graduated from the program in Sacramento and Costa Mesa.

Geared to home builders in need of field personnel with an understanding of all aspects of the construction process, the RCS designation covers the day-to-day responsibilities of site superintendents and includes instruction on general project management, codes and quality control.

The RCS has registered growing popularity in Florida, where the Florida Home Builders Association (FHBA) has been offering the entire curriculum during its annual Southeast Building Conference (SEBC), coordinated by Suzanne Cook, the association’s director of education & training. The courses are also being offered around the state by several local builders associations and a growing number of major builders, including Westfield Homes/Standard Pacific, which will be building more than 1,500 single-family homes in Tampa and Sarasota over the coming year.

“I scoped out the program by taking the classes myself at the last SEBC,” said Robert Clouse, a senior area manager for Westfield. “I quickly realized that this program would be a valuable addition to the training we already provide our construction managers.” The series is being offered to the company’s 27 construction managers.

FHBA Past President Paul Mashburn of Winter Park, who teaches the majority of the RCS courses in Florida, called the employee delegation from Westfield “a very special group, anxious to learn ways that they could improve their knowledge and performance.”

“The training gives our construction managers a broader knowledge of the overall construction process,” said Clouse. “Just as important, it builds loyalty to our company, which decreases turnover and increases productivity.”

Continuing to expand the scope of the RCS designation, HBI has partnered with NAHB’s Concrete Home Building Council (CHBC) to create three pilot Concrete Specialization Courses that will be held early this spring: “Best Practices for Concrete Pavers and Segmental Retaining Walls;” “Concrete Mix Designs, Construction Guidelines and Troubleshooting;” and “Handling Moisture Behind Brick Veneers to Back-up Walls.” The courses will be available nationwide after the pilots are concluded.

HBI will also be launching an Advanced RCS track, with the first three courses ready this summer and three more completed by year’s end. Building on material covered in the RCS designation curriculum, the courses will expand on topics identified by NAHB members as being important to the field supervisor position.

For more information on the RCS designation courses or a schedule of courses, click here; or e-mail Joseph Krinock, or call him at 800-795-7955 x8928.

National Energy Saving Sweepstakes Launched

Lighting control manufacturer Lutron Electronics last month announced the launch of its “Energy Saving Sweepstakes,” which will run in the United States and Canada through May 1.

The grand-prize winner will receive $15,000 toward their next 10 years worth of energy bills. In addition, Lutron will award a first-prize winner $1,500 to buy Lutron lighting controls and other energy-saving products, and second-prize winners will receive a Maestro IR™ remote control dimmer.

With energy prices on the rise, the sweepstakes is a great opportunity to create awareness about the energy savings benefits provided by lighting controls. Setting lights to lower levels greatly reduces electricity consumption and extends the life of light bulbs, the manufacturer says.

Statistics compiled by Lutron Electronics show that dimming a traditional incandescent bulb by just 10% saves 10% of electricity and doubles its lifespan.

Consumers can find entry forms at participating home centers, hardware stores, distributors, lighting showrooms or by clicking here.

This feature is solely for educational and informational purposes. Nothing on this page should be construed as policy, an endorsement, warranty or guaranty by the National Association of Home Builders of the featured product or the product manufacturer. The National Association of Home Builders expressly disclaims any responsibility for any damages arising from the use, application or reliance on any information contained on this page.

'Demising Wall' — What's Up With That?

(The following came to me via e-mail recently. It was a little wordy for a verbatim reprint, so I chopped it back a bit.)

I just finished reading your book (“Cracks, Sags and Dimwits — Lessons to Build On"). It's an excellent how-to-avoid-or-succeed guide for many different professions. Its lessons are easily adapted to life in general, not just to the work or professional environment.

I agree with you on “reentrant.” What’s up with that? On the other hand, what’s up with a “demising wall” that I keep seeing on plans? All of us in code-land have heard builders use that term forever, but there doesn’t seem to be a definition even in Webster’s.

Tim DeVries
Commercial Plans Examiner

Accolades aside (thank you for those kind words), you have piqued my curiosity, Tim. I too have heard “demising wall” and just assumed that it was a real term. However, if not, you have come to the right man to get to the bottom of this long-perpetuated cauldron of linguistic gobbledygook.

2. a) Death b) A cessation of existence or activity c) A loss of position or status

Shocking! Not a single hint of walls or separation. Brings to mind a recent fracas involving a builder, an attorney and a chaplain.

FRAMER PRYENBANG (shouting to some other guys on his framing crew): “Hey guys! Come help me lift this demising wall I just framed.”

LAYWER LOCKJAW (stiffly walking onto the site wearing suit and tie, toting a briefcase.): “Demising wall — did someone say there is a demising wall on the premises?”

FRAMER PRYENBANG: “Yeah, there’s one right here. I’m just about to lift it into place.”

LAWYER LOCKJAW: “I’m afraid you can’t lift that wall, sir. If it is a demising wall, it has just changed ownership. I have a last will and testament in my possession indicating said demising wall shall become the property of the residence at 123 Fruitloop Court, two houses south of here, at precisely this hour on this appointed day. You and your crew are hereby ordered to carry that demising wall to its new owner.”

PASTOR PITCHGRAVE (rushing onto the scene, black robes fluttering): “Not so fast, ye ambulance chaser! That demising wall shan’t be goin’ anywhere but to meet its maker. It’s dead, don’t you know. Why, with all those nails and claw hammers a-bangin’. And the power saws — mercy sakes alive, the power saws! Pryenbang, have your backhoe man dig a hole in the backyard. This demising wall, she’s a-goin’ to the big house in the sky.”

Maybe my spelling is bad and the real word is dimising, not demising. It wouldn’t be the first time our industry perpetuated bad grammar or spelling. For example, an electrician I know uses a lot of Leviton brand products. However, he pronounces it “Levington.” What’s up with that? There is no “ng” in Leviton. Just to be sure, I called the good folks at Leviton and asked how they pronounce the name of their company. They managed, once gaining control of their rollicking laughter, to assure me that the proper enunciation (or is it “pronunciation?”) is Lev-i-ton. Now armed with this critical piece of information, I had a little discussion with my electrician buddy. “Larry, you know it’s pronounced Lev-i-ton, don’t you?”

“Yeah, sure, everbuddy knows how it’s pernounced. Now, d’you mind making yourself useful and handing me that box of Levington duplex testicles over there?”

The term usually shows up on architectural plans, so to be sure that Webster didn’t somehow miss the architectural boat, I e-mailed my friend Bill Kreager at Mithun Architects in Seattle.

Bill is a word man. Before answering the “demising” question, he too referenced my book, calling it “pithy and good”. Pithy? What’s up with that? Pithy is the word I use to describe a too-old apple. Back to Webster I went: Pithy: a) The continuous central strand of spongy tissue in the stems of most vascular plants. b) The essential part: core. Okay, I can live with definition “b”. But since most people think of pithy as “punky” or “spongy,” I’ll probably refrain from using it in its complimentary meaning.

Getting back to the hard-hitting lesson at hand, here is a paraphrased version of what Bill found out for me:

If demise means death, then a demising wall would be that wall in a columbarium (columbarium?) that separates one urn of ashes from another. Or perhaps “convey” refers to crossing over the “demising wall,” sort of a structural River Styx? (Gotta love Bill. Anyone who can work “columbarium” into a joke is a guy I don’t mind hanging out with.)

Anyway, we have consulted, here at Mithun, our 1993 “Dictionary of Architecture and Construction, Second Edition,” edited by Cyril M. Harris. Between “demirilievo” (my spell checker did not recognize that word) and “demographic,” there is no reference to “demising wall.”

Therefore we must fall back upon the common jargon that uses “demising wall” as an equal term to “party wall,” which is defined by Mr. Harris as: “A wall used jointly by two parties under easement agreement, erected upon a line dividing two parcels of land, each of which is a separate real estate entity; a common wall.”

Thank you, Bill. And here I thought a demising wall was simply any old interior wall.

As I wrote this column, I kept wondering, would anyone really care about these linguistic fancies? But then I recalled one of my favorite books, “Eats Shoots and Leaves,” the international best seller about punctuation (what in the heck is up with that?) by Lynne Truss, and reassured myself, that, yes, people are interested in words. Good thing. Wouldn’t want to write any pithy articles.

Tim Garrison of ConstructionCalc.com, is a professional engineer, author, and software producer for the building industry. Check out his new book, "Cracks, Sags, and Dimwits — Lessons To Build On," available at www.lulu.com, Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Nation's Building News Online: March 6, 2006

Portland Cement Excluded From New OSHA Standard