Nation's Building News Online: April 16, 2007

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In a Down Housing Market, Green Demand Exceeds Supply

With housing production continuing to run cool as builders work down their unsold inventories of homes, green building and remodeling is one corner of the marketplace where demand is riding higher than the available supply, participants in an NAHB teleconference said on April 16.

Recent surveys by McGraw-Hill Construction among green home buyers and home owners who have undertaken remodeling jobs find a strong sentiment among consumers that there “are not enough green builders out there and demand is exceeding the homes available,” with the shortfall particularly pronounced in the East, said Harvey Bernstein, the company’s vice president of industry analytics, alliances and strategic initiatives.

Bernstein added that green housing is a differentiator from traditional homes and “something still in demand” even during the current market correction.

Energy-efficiency is now a primary concern of housing consumers, said Gopal Ahluwalia, NAHB’s vice president of research, as the cost of energy remains high and prospective buyers are worried about how they will pay to heat and cool homes that are 50% larger than 30 years ago and growing in volume with the popularity of high ceilings.

Environmental concerns are prompting a small majority of consumers to consider the alternative of green building, Ahluwalia said, but survey and focus group research makes it “loud and clear” that buyers are willing to spend a little bit more to improve energy efficiency because this is an issue that “hits the pocketbook.”

For Michael Strong, CGR, CAPS whose firm, Brothers Strong, Inc. has been remodeling homes in the Houston area for 17 years, energy efficiency has become a given and a baseline that his customers have come to expect, and he is expanding his business by educating home owners about the health benefits of building green.

Green remodeling jobs that promote a healthier home include properly sized and vented exhaust fans, the addition of fans to the laundry room, zero or low-VOC paint and the use of formaldehyde-free carpet and plywood, “getting obnoxious chemicals out of the home,” he said.

Jobs emphasizing better energy efficiency include dual-flush toilets, tankless water heaters, HVAC systems with at least a 17 SEER rating, furnaces with a 90+ rating, fluorescent lighting and Energy Star-rated appliances, Strong said. On top of those products come lower operating costs from sealing ducts with mastic, not tape; radiant barrier decking; double-pane, low-E windows; properly sealed homes; balanced attic air intake; and exhaust and spray foam insulation.

And lower maintenance is provided by fiber cement siding, 40-year shingles, engineered wood framing and physical termite barriers.

Home Owners Are Getting It

The good news, he said, is that “home owners are getting it. Typically, in the old days when we talked about energy efficiency, people thought about one system at a time and would have thought about replacing all of the windows or all the insulation,” he said. “Now they are willing to look at it one room at a time. When they are remodeling the kitchen, they want to make it as energy-efficient as possible and also as healthy as possible. They don’t worry that they can’t affect change in the rest of the house.”

When dealing with clients on green building projects, Strong advised against talking down to them or overloading them with technical data. “Keep it simple and avoid lots of ‘geek talk.’” Consumers, he added, “know more about energy efficiency than about ‘healthy homes,’ but they are starving for that information and they are open to it.”

Like remodelers, home owners are more likely to find information on green products from manufacturers than retailers or trade contractors.

According to McGraw Hill Construction, prospective buyers are hearing about green homes most by word of mouth (28%) and from television shows (20%), said Bernstein. Although builders see themselves leading this innovative market, only 10% of the consumers surveyed cited builders as an information source.

Green Home Buyer Satisfaction Is ‘Phenomenal’

Word-of-mouth communication is being driven to a great extent by a “phenomenal” 85% satisfaction level among green home buyers, Bernstein said.

One hundred percent of the green home buyers surveyed by McGraw Hill identified lower utility, maintenance and operating costs as an incentive for purchasing a green home, he said, and as a motivating factor, energy costs were more important in the East than in other regions of the country.

Home buyers are also willing to pay more for a home with certain green features, Bernstein said, or $17,000, to be exact, over an average-costing $292,000 home.

Of the home owners who had signed up for remodeling jobs, 39% used a green product, he said, and of those, almost half (47%) involved new or replacement windows, followed by HVAC (44%).

While there are currently no available figures on how much green might increase the resale value of a home, Bernstein said, based on evidence in the commercial market, “green homes will have higher resale values going forward.” Green in a commercial building can increase its value by 7.5%, increase its occupancy by 3.5% and decrease its operating costs by 8% to 9%, he said.

While green may look like the way to go up in a down market, Strong cautioned that “taking advantage of green opportunity is not something you do overnight. It requires an across-the-board-assessment of your building practices.”

Going green involves a long-term, strategic decision, Strong said, and involves “examining products through a new lens” and “educating your trade partners.”

“You have an opportunity to diversify in a down market,” he said, “but you can’t change it in 90 days. It will take a while to gear up.”

Design the Crucial Factor in Effective Green Building

Instead of worrying about offbeat construction materials and techniques, home builders interested in pursuing green home building opportunities should start by considering basic designs — many of which have been around for ages — that will promote the peak performance of the house, Peter Pfeiffer, of Barley & Pfeiffer Architects in Austin, Texas, told the NAHB National Green Building Conference in St. Louis last month.

“This is not about bamboo floors and geothermal heat pumps,” Pfeiffer said, “but the first decisions we make even before we begin building. Let’s make some smart design decisions first….Green building is less about finding materials and more about the appropriateness of the design.”

The first principle of green building, he said, is making sure that the building relates well to its site. “Orienting the house correctly can save more than a photovoltaic system on the roof,” he said.

From the outset, green builders should also be working with their clients to educate and manage their expectations. For instance, ask a middle-aged client who wants the master bedroom downstairs to avoid a flight of stairs if they really expect to be living in the house when they are 75. Because if they don’t, it makes more sense to locate all of the bedrooms upstairs so that the first floor doesn’t need to be air conditioned at night, cutting energy bills in half.

Persuade your client that they want to avoid an air conditioning system that has the capacity to cool the house down to 72 degrees on the relatively few occasions when they have 25 people over because overcapacity can cause mold to grow within the ducts and elsewhere in the home, leading to poor indoor air quality and possible health problems.

Explain that excessively large homes may not be as comfortable to live in or that a 12-foot ceiling will use one-third more energy to heat and cool. And try to get away from the traditional way of looking at the value of a home on a cost-per-square-foot basis. “The industry has started judging homes on price per square foot to the point of absurdity,” Pfeiffer said. “When you look at the cost of a sport coat, do you consider how much it costs per square inch?”

“In today’s market,” he added, “people are looking for something that’s better thought-out and better performing.”

In thinking through a project before it gets going, builders should look for energy conservation first before they pursue energy production. “Energy conservation provides the most bang for the buck,” he said, “and it is a lot less expensive than solar collectors.”

Orientation of the home is extremely important and often overlooked. Streets should travel east and west as much as possible so that the majority of the building lots can have either a north — or south — facing front and rear.

Where air conditioning is used extensively throughout the year, the home should be oriented to avoid exposure to the afternoon sun, and windows facing west should be minimized. Dark roofs are also undesirable because they absorb the heat of the sun.

Pfeiffer presented a long list of basic recommendations for improving indoor energy efficiency and comfort. Among them:

• “The placement of air conditioning and heating equipment shouldn’t be an afterthought.” Locating it next to the master bath and kitchen can reduce duct runs. With proper windows and shading, most houses should require no more than one ton of cooling capacity for every 650 square feet of living area; “850 square feet/ton is now very attainable and should be the goal of a well-designed and built residence.”
  
  
• Use overhangs to shade windows on the east, south and especially the west from the sun. Double-pane “low-E” windows are not a substitute for proper shading and solar control. Available through Ball State University’s Center for Energy Research, Education and Service, the Sun Angle Calculator enables builders to determine what size overhang they need. Overhangs help keep the sun off of paint jobs, and keep windows cleaner because they don’t get wet during rain storms. “Houses with small overhangs don’t last,” he said. Doors and windows will last four times longer when water is kept off of them.
  
  
• A radiant barrier on the underside of the roof, such as LP’s “Tech Shield,” will substantially reduce heat gain through the roof — reducing air conditioning bills, enhancing occupant comfort and extending the weeks in a year a home doesn’t need air conditioning. Contrary to myth, radiant barriers do not lead to the deterioration of roof shingles. “Radiant barriers do need to be installed in conjunction with an air space and will not provide benefit where in direct contact with another building material.” Sealed attics and radiant barriers also make it less of a problem to run air conditioning ducts in the attic. “However, it is always best to run ducts in a conditioned or semi-conditioned space, such as ceiling furr downs or in an unvented attic.”
  
  
• “Ventilating an attic can cause moisture and humidity problems in areas of high humidity — and lead to higher energy bills. Sealing the attic and ventilating a continuous air space immediately below the roof decking, not the attic, is better.”
  
  
• To keep humidity from infiltrating the wall cavity, install a moisture and vapor retarder on the warm, or more humid, side of the wall. “In the North, this is the inside surface (unless you are in an area where air conditioning is used a lot of the year); in the southern United States this is the outside surface of exterior walls….” Typically, when you are air conditioning a house, walls dry ‘out’ to the interior because the a/c system draws moisture out of the air. Spray foam insulation is particularly good in areas where significant air conditioning and heating loads exist because it is a safe vapor retarder that works appropriately in the summer and the winter.”
  
  
• Look for siding that sheds water to minimize the water the cladding absorbs. Masonry and stucco absorb water; and the sun heating up a wet wall will drive moisture right into the house.
  
  
• 30# ASTM building felt in conjunction with a commercial-grade building wrap that is well taped makes for a good weather barrier system. “Remember, you want to create a raincoat underneath the wall cladding because houses aren’t perfect and cracks will occur that let things in that you still want to keep out of the house.”
  
  
• Do not use vapor barriers on the inside surface of walls — including vinyl wall coverings, in buildings where air conditioning is used for a significant part of the year. “Improperly placed vapor barriers can trap moisture in walls — leading to serious mold problems.”
  
  
• “Go easy on the amount of recessed cans (even the so-called ‘air-tight’ ones) that puncture the thermal envelope of the building. They are counterproductive to reducing infiltration of outside air. Try to restrict unnecessary light switches and electric boxes on exterior walls — they, too, puncture the thermal envelope.”
  
  
• A vented crawl space can create more moisture and humidity problems than it solves. “We don’t recommend venting them unless there is a known source of ground water under the building that cannot be controlled otherwise.”
  
  
• “You have to build an air-tight house.”
  
  
• To improve indoor air quality, “don’t pollute the home in the first place rather than diluting the pollution.” Use low-VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) latex paints on the interior. “Avoid high-sheen or glossy wall paint on the interior surface or exterior walls, where it could create a vapor barrier on the wrong side of the wall.” Air out carpeting for a day or two before installation. Detach or separate the garage from the house; in addition to the car, fertilizer, insecticides and other chemicals stored there can create fumes. “Sheetrock is not a vapor barrier. At least use foam insulation.”
  
  
• Avoid chemical treatments for termites and other insects. “They don’t last, lead to occupant health problems and pollute the underlying ground water. Consider sand barriers or stainless steel screen barriers such as TermiMesh in and around the foundation for termite control.” Also, the frame of the structure can be sprayed with Timbor, a natural brine solution that makes the entire frame insect-resistant.
  
  
• “Install outside venting exhaust fans in all bathrooms, kitchens and other rooms where there may be a lot of internal moisture generation. BUT be careful not to draw so much air out that you create a negative pressure in the home or building because that will exacerbate the infiltration of unwanted air.”
  
  
• “Keeping humidity levels low is an important part of controlling indoor air quality. Front-loading clothes washers impart less humidity into a home because they are sealed during operation. Indoor air humidity should be kept at 40% to 50%."
  
  
• “Leaky ducts rob energy efficiency and are a bigger problem than low-efficiency air conditioners. They can cause depressurization of a home, inviting outside air and humidity into the home from unknown and unwanted sources, leading to serious indoor air quality problems and possibly mold.”
  
  
• Fluorescent lamps — especially the thin T2, T5 and T8 types and the new compact fluorescents — provide superior light quality and provide a wide range of color correctness without the heat of incandescent and halogen lamps. They also last longer.
  
  
• “Proper day lighting, especially indirect daylight from high windows, can make for substantial energy savings and an enhanced indoor environment. (Clerestory windows do this well; and if operable, can be used to naturally siphon heat out of the space below in the spring and fall.)
  
  
• “Avoid oversized (75-gallon and larger) water heaters. They generally don’t produce heat as efficiently as smaller ones because they are exempt from the federal energy conservation guidelines. A good high output 50-gallon gas unit will produce the same amount of hot water, enough for most large homes with oversized master bath tubs, more efficiently. A simple backflow prevention valve on the water line feeding the water heater can save significant energy, and keep the cold tap water from becoming undesirably warm.”

Pfeiffer advised his audience that he is more used to working in the South and that other strategies, materials and methods may be more appropriate for other localities.

A good ongoing source of information on green building, he said, is Environmental Building News.

For more information on NAHB’s green building resources, e-mail Calli Schmidt, or call her at 800-368-5242 x8132.

Design Matters. Register Now for the BALA Design Institute

In a competitive market, design can be the difference.

At the NAHB/BALA Design Institute for Builders, the only design conference specifically for building industry professionals, you'll learn the latest in residential housing design trends from the industry's top professionals, tour beautiful award-winning homes and communities that display the best in cutting-edge architectural design, and learn how to profitably apply these design ideas to the homes you build.

The Design Institute will be held June 25-27 in Bellevue, Wash. (near Seattle)

To register and for more information, visit www.nahb.org/designinstitute.

Make Sure Your HBA Is Committed to Membership Day

This year, membership analysts predict that NAHB’s upcoming National Membership Day on Tuesday, May 22 could bring in more than 10,000 new members. During the day, more prizes will be awarded to successful recruiters than ever before, thanks to Whirlpool, NAHB’s exclusive membership sponsor.

Members of participating local home builders associations that participate are eligible to win a Chill and Grill Travel Cooler, receive double Spike credits during the month of May and become eligible to rank in national membership competitions for recruitment, retention and participation.

To be eligible for these incentives, members must belong to a local association that:

• Has completed the “Commit to Call” and faxed it to NAHB by Friday, May 4. Free temporary tattoos are available to those who have completed and faxed the “Commit to Call.”
  
  
• Calls between noon and 5:00 p.m. EST on Tuesday, May 22 to report new member pledge totals for the month of May.

Currently, more than 200 local HBAs are registered to participate in NAHB’s annual membership drive.

To determine if your HBA is registered and you are eligible for extra credits and prizes, visit the “Commit to Call” tracker link, which is maintained and updated regularly by the NAHB Membership Team.

“We do all we can to help members grow and shape the council to become the network they want it to be,” said Elaine Sherwood, of the Home Builders Assocation of Greater Southwest Illinois and its remodelers council. “We facilitate the member-get-a-member activities as best we can. Our members do the rest and they wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“National Membership Day is a perfect time to reward members for recruiting newcomers into the council,” she said.

National Membership Day Webcast

The theme this year, “Leaders of the Pack,” evokes motorcycle-oriented excitement and will be a prominent part of the day’s Webcast, which will be broadcast live from the National Housing Center in Washington, D.C. from 2:00-5:00 p.m. ET.

Members can access the Webcast on the NAHB Web site, www.nahb.org.

Whirlpool will be awarding  the National Membership Day top recruiter a Gladiator™ Garageworks Chillerator, the only Energy Star®-rated refrigerator designed to handle the temperature extremes of the garage environment.

Individual recruiters who sign up three or more builder or associate members; six new council members; or a combination equaling six new member Spike credits will be eligible to win a Grill and Chill Travel Cooler.

New this year, prizes will be awarded for retention, as well as recruitment. All members who earn six retention credits in May will be automatically entered into a drawing for one of two KitchenAid Stand Mixers.

If your association is not registered to participate, take the “Commit to Call” form, or forward this article with a personal message, to your local EO and let them know you want to participate and compete.

For more information, visit www.nahb.org/membershipday, or call 800-368-5242 x8440.

‘Buy Now’ Advertising Assistance Nears $1 Million. Apply Now.

If your local association is currently engaged in an ongoing advertising campaign in print, radio or television outlets, or if you are planning such a campaign, have your association apply for a “Buy Now” matching advertising assistance grant from NAHB. HBAs from around the country have already applied and have begun to receive their assistance funds. 

To date, 51 local associations have applied for advertising assistance grants from the $1 million to be awarded during the first phase of the program, and $997,443 has been approved. The total cost of their campaigns is $3.5 million. 

Another $2 million will be made available if the advertising assistance program is successful, and HBAs are encouraged to apply now.

NAHB launched the multi-million dollar grant program last month to assist local home builders associations in an effort to bolster home sales in markets hit hard by the current housing downturn and help offset the cost of local ad campaigns.

The NAHB “buy now” ad assistance program will provide grants to qualifying HBAs in three different categories:

• HBAs conducting ad campaigns in the top 10 media markets would receive assistance equaling up to one-third of the total cost of the campaign, with a maximum NAHB contribution of $75,000. In other words, an HBA conducting a campaign costing a total of $225,000 could receive a $75,000 contribution from NAHB and cover the remaining $150,000.
  
  
• HBAs with more than 250 members operating in areas outside of the top 10 major media markets would qualify for matching grants up to a maximum of $40,000 and be required to pay for at least half the cost of the campaign.
  
  
• HBAs with 250 or fewer members would qualify for grants of up to $5,000.

To qualify for grants, the ads must deliver a “buy now” message, be placed in 2007 and conducted in markets that have experienced a major decline in home sales and housing production.

To learn more about the program, eligibility considerations and requirements, click here (www.nahb.org/buynowapplication), or call Niki Clark at 800-368-5242 x806l.

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Each issue is filled with valuable news and information on every aspect of the home building industry — business and builders' tips; the latest materials prices and mortgage interest rates; new technologies; cutting-edge design; state and federal regulations and how they affect the industy; and more. Information your entire company needs to stay ahead of your competitors.

Forward this issue to your employees and trade partners and ask them to subscribe.

Nation's Building News, it's free to them — invaluable to you.

Don't delay, have your employees subscribe today. To subscribe, go to www.nahb.org/nbn.

NAHB Kit Gives Builders Back-to-Basics Tips in Cooling Market

With the current cooling of the nation’s housing market expected to persist into the middle of the year, NAHB has developed a comprehensive online toolkit geared to providing association members with information that will help them prosper in today’s changing business environment.

To access the “Back to Basics” toolkit, you must be an NAHB member and have a login to www.nahb.org. To create a login, go to www.nahb.org/login or click on the log-in button on the main menu bar.

For assistance, call the NAHB Member Service Center at 800-368-5242.

D.R. Horton 2nd-Quarter Net Sales Orders Decline

D.R. Horton, the nation’s largest home builder, reported that its sales orders in the most recent quarter fell 37%, led by even steeper declines in California and the Southwest. Horton’s founder and chairman, Donald R. Horton, said that conditions for selling homes “continue to be challenging in most of our markets,” as the supply of unsold new and existing homes remains high. “We continue to sell more homes than any other builder,” he said, “even though the spring selling season has not gotten off to its usual strong start.” The Fort Worth-based company said that net sales orders for the first quarter of 2007 totaled 9,983 homes, down from 15,771 a year ago. Orders plunged 59% in California to 1,107 from 2,697 a year earlier; they fell 39% in the Southwest and 21% in the Northeast, the smallest regional decline. “It appeared demand had stabilized, but this throws that into question,” said NAHB economist Bernard Markstein. As a result of problems in the subprime mortgage market, NAHB recently trimmed its 2007 construction forecast to 1.45 million starts. That forecast hinges on the belief that the housing market will show signs of improvement this summer and that problems in the subprime market won’t spread. Markstein said that there is often a tendency to become overly pessimistic after seeing a series of negative reports. He said the current weakness and rich incentives from builders create an opportunity for buyers that might last only three to six months. “We’re always saying this is the best time to buy,” he said. “Well, this really is the best time.” (www.ap.org)
Associated Press Newswires (4/10/07); David Koenig

Housing Slowdown Hits Close to Home

The housing slump in the Kansas City area is reverberating from building sites to corporate offices, with layoffs announced by subprime lender NovaStar Financial, but the statistics so far have not been alarming. The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City estimates that there are 51,800 construction jobs in the area, virtually unchanged from January 2006. About half involve residential work. “A year ago, it was up 10%, so it’s no longer contributing to the metropolitan area as a whole” in terms of driving additional growth, said Chad Wilkerson, a regional economist for the Fed. Moody’s Economy.com also anticipates that growth in housing-related employment in the area will slow down significantly this year, from 6% to 1%. Those numbers include construction workers, building suppliers, landscapers, architects, engineers, bankers and real estate agents. “It is important to keep in mind that the Kansas City housing market did not see the kind of expansion that we witnessed in some areas of the coasts,” said Moody analyst Magi Kirilova. “Therefore, the corresponding slowdown will not be as pronounced, either. While strictly construction payrolls will be impacted the most, the housing-related sector as a whole will see an aggregate slowdown in growth.” Kirilova added that a subtler impact of the slowdown may be seen in other parts of the local economy that benefited from the recent housing boom, when people were buying and furnishing new homes, or refinancing and using the extra cash to make other purchases. NAHB estimates that buyers of new homes on average spend $8,500 on furnishings. (www.kansascity.com)
Kansas City Star (4/10/07); Kevin Collison

Prices Out of Reach for Thousands

Even though housing affordability has fared better in the Coachella Valley and the Palm Springs area of California than in the state as a whole, only about one-quarter of the households living there have the income to qualify for a median-priced home, down from 48% in 1993, as the result of steadily rising housing prices. “Five years ago, I was buying land around here at $40,000 to $50,000 an acre,” said Rudy Herrera, a partner in Palm Desert-based home builder Family Development, which has several valley subdivisions. “Today, that same land is more like $200,000 to $250,000 an acre.” With individuals having little direct control over home prices, the valley business community is seeking ways to make houses more affordable by raising worker wages, and trying to attract higher-paying industries. Diana Berchem, a former nurse recruiter at Eisenhower Medical Center, said that the 253-bed hospital, which employs about 2,000 people, would be interested in forming a consortium to address affordable housing issues for all types of workers. She said that there had been situations in which candidates rejected job offers because of the high price of homes. She also shared stories of newly hired employees from other parts of the country who couldn’t sell their homes, strapping them with a double mortgage — or mortgage plus their current rent. To stay afloat, she said, some employees were working full-time at one hospital and also working on a per-diem basis at another. (www.thedesertsun.com)
Desert Sun (4/15/07); Lou Hirsh

Mortgage Mod Squad: Lenders Get Flexible to Help Prevent Foreclosures

With large numbers of home owners falling behind on mortgage payments, lenders across the country are seeking ways to keep delinquent customers out of foreclosure. Texas-based EMC Mortgage, which services about 500,000 loans nationwide with $78 billion in outstanding balances, has a roving 50-person team of Mod Squad problem solvers who are expert in making changes to loan requirements that will permit the borrowers to remain in their houses, pay down their loans and avoid foreclosure. Rather than waiting for home owners to contact them when they are in a jam, the team is reaching out to borrowers, working with local consumer and credit-counseling organizations, and holding loan-modification educational meetings for borrowers in cities where delinquencies are rising. Loan modification is one approach that mortgage servicers can use to reduce foreclosures. Other techniques include: repayment plans in which unpaid balances are reduced over time through small, regular add-ons to borrowers’ monthly payments; and forbearance agreements under which principal and interest payments are reduced or even suspended for a period of time. Once the borrowers have their finances under control, the regular payments resume, along with gradual reimbursements of balances in arrears. (www.washingtonpost.com)
Washington Post (4/14/07); Kenneth R. Harney

Relocations Get Harder

Gone are the days when companies could move employees and new hires around like puppets on strings. Now, the sluggish housing market is creating hassles for employers and employees who are struggling to move and to sell homes in what has quickly turned into a buyer’s market. Forty-six percent of companies say recruiting new employees is becoming more difficult as the housing market turns tepid, according to a 2006 survey by Prudential Relocation. Three in 10 of those who turned down a relocation did so because of housing and mortgage concerns, according to a 2006 survey by Atlas World Group. That decision can come at a price: more than half of the companies surveyed had an employee decline a relocation, and 35% of the employers said that turning down a move hinders an employee’s career. At Nissan North America, getting employees to move has also brought some hurdles. The auto giant recently moved its headquarters to Nashville and tried to get about 1,300 employees to transfer from the Los Angeles area. Nissan had hoped that about half of the current staffers would move, and succeeded in getting 43%. The company offered a number of incentives, including identifying lenders that would help ease the process. (www.app.com)
Asbury Park Press (4/16/07): Stephanie Armour, Gannett News Service

Bay Area Housing Prices Tick Up

The median sale price of a home in the San Francisco Bay Area was $639,000 in March, up 3.1% from February’s $620,000 median and 2.1% higher than a year earlier, according to DataQuick Information Systems. A total of 8,317 new and resale houses and condominiums were sold in March, a 31.9% increase from the 6,305 homes sold in February, but down 19.6% from the 10,343 homes sold in March of 2006. An increase in sales from February to March is normal because more people think about buying a home once springtime rolls around, according to DataQuick. “We are seeing a lot more interest among buyers (starting in February) for homes compared to last year,” said Karen Manuel, a Realtor® with Alameda-based Kane & Associates. “There are fewer sales, but the sales prices are higher because there is less inventory. My sense is that last year buyers wanted to see what happened. A year later, the bubble did not burst and prices are still holding steady or going up a bit.” Linnette Edwards, associate broker with the Orinda-based office of Prudential California Realty, said houses in communities such as the Oakland and Berkeley hills are selling well in part because they have access to public transportation and are close to San Francisco. (www.origin.insidebayarea.com)
Inside Bay Area (4/13/07); Eve Mitchell

Subprime Woes Undermine Builder Confidence in April

Deepening problems in the subprime mortgage market have taken a toll on builder confidence this month, according to the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI), which was released on April 16. The index for April declined three points, pushing builder confidence back to its December level.

“The tightening of mortgage lending standards in connection with the subprime crisis has shaken the confidence of both consumers and builders, as reflected in this report,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders. “Indeed, the unfolding effects of this crisis have compelled us to trim NAHB’s forecasts of home sales and housing production for both 2007 and 2008,” he said. “While we still expect to see some improvements in housing market activity beginning later this year, the downside risks and uncertainties surrounding that forecast are considerable.”

Derived from a monthly survey that NAHB has been conducting for more than 20 years, the NAHB/Wells Fargo HMI gauges builder perceptions of current single-family home sales, sales expectations for the next six months and the traffic of prospective home buyers. Scores for each component are then used to calculate a seasonally adjusted index where any number over 50 indicates that more builders view sales conditions as good than poor.

All three component indexes registered declines in April. The index gauging current single-family home sales fell three points to 33, sales expectations for the next six months declined six points to 44 and prospective buyer traffic was down by a single point, to 27.

The index was down this month in all four regions of the country: the Northeast down one point to 38, the Midwest declining five points to 22, the South down three points to 37 and the West falling two points to 35.

“The subprime shakeout clearly is a serious matter for the single-family housing market,” noted NAHB President Brian Catalde. “Builders in the field are reporting adverse effects on both sales and cancellations at this time, and it remains to be seen how serious these effects will be as we move through the spring home buying season.”

How Deep Is the Housing Correction? Attend Construction Forecast Conference

Will housing demand outweigh affordability hurdles, inventory overhangs and the retreat of investors? Where are home prices headed?

Get the answers to these and other questions at the Construction Forecast Conference — Spring 2007 on April 26 in Washington, D.C.

Panels of nationally recognized experts will discuss economic trends, government policies, developments in the housing industry and the results from NAHB's recent surveys at the day-long conference.

For more information and to register, click here.

Can't Attend in Person? Webcast of Conference Also Available

The conference is also available via Webcast. For Webcast information, visit www.nahb.org/cfcwebcast. 

Want to Know Your State’s Starts Forecast for 2008?

Find out in HousingEconomic.com’s State Starts Forecast (sample). The starts forecast includes downloadable Excel tables of total, single-family and multifamily starts by region and state.

To learn more, visit www.housingeconomics.com.

NAHB Kit Gives Builders Back-to-Basics Tips in Cooling Market

With the current cooling of the nation’s housing market expected to persist into the middle of the year, NAHB has developed a comprehensive online toolkit geared to providing association members with information that will help them prosper in today’s changing business environment.

To access the “Back to Basics” toolkit, you must be an NAHB member and have a login to www.nahb.org. To create a login, go to www.nahb.org/login or click on the log-in button on the main menu bar.

For assistance, call the NAHB Member Service Center at 800-368-5242.

Eye on the Economy: Subprime Mess Weighs on Housing

Growth of real gross domestic product (GDP) was 2.5% in the last quarter of 2006, better than the preliminary 2.2% estimate but still a below-trend pace. Indeed, subpar growth was registered during the final three quarters of last year, and available information points toward another tepid performance in the first quarter of this year. We’re currently estimating 2.0%.

The dramatic housing correction has been the major drag on GDP growth since early last year, and another major decline in residential fixed investment will weigh heavily on first-quarter economic growth as well.

The economy now is also faced with an unexpected weakening of business spending on capital equipment and software, a component of the economy that started to contract late last year.

NAHB’s forecast shows somewhat stronger GDP growth in the second half of this year, and we’re counting on better performances from housing and business fixed investment to generate that pattern. However, it’s fair to say that the chances for a second-half rebound seem to be slipping and that the probability of recession later this year has risen — we now put it at 25%.

The Labor Market Still Is Throwing Off Relatively Healthy Signals

Payroll employment growth has been remarkably well maintained in the face of the marked slowdown in GDP growth since early last year, and the unemployment rate actually has continued to gravitate downward.

Employment growth averaged a highly respectable 152,000 per month in the first quarter and the unemployment rate slipped back to a cyclical low of 4.4% in March.

The divergence of output growth and labor market conditions could reflect underestimation of the economy’s strength in the GDP accounts or a slowdown in growth of labor productivity (output per hour).

In this regard it is obvious that productivity in housing production has slipped quite a bit. But the key to the economic riddle of surprisingly robust labor markets may very well be normal lags in labor demand by businesses behind shifts in demand for economic output.

If that’s the answer, it’s only a matter of time before the GDP slowdown results in slower employment growth and a higher unemployment rate. That’s the pattern in NAHB’s forecast for the U.S. economy and the housing sector over the balance of the year.

Core Inflation Still is Running on the High Side

Measures of core consumer price inflation (excluding prices of food and energy) have remained above the upper ends of the Federal Reserve’s apparent “tolerance ranges,” despite below-trend economic growth since early last year. The statement issued at the conclusion of the March 20-21 meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) focused heavily on the inflation issue, and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke reinforced that message in his March 28 testimony before the congressional Joint Economic Committee.

Ironically, the housing components of the core consumer price measures have been the primary sources of upward inflation pressure — despite the dramatic downswing in home sales, housing production and house price appreciation. That’s because the demand for rental apartments has strengthened as home buying has weakened, pushing up market rents and pushing up the large imputed owners’ equivalent rent (OER) components in the process.

Without this large (and perverse) pressure, both the core Consumer Price Index and the core price index for Personal Consumption Expenditures would have remained within the Fed’s apparent tolerance ranges.

An Inflation-Wary Fed Remains on Hold, At Least for Now

Recent Fed statements have continued to stress the risks of inflation to the U.S. economy, a mantra of any responsible central bank.

Indeed, a tight labor market and rising unit labor costs give a legitimate reasons for the Fed to fret, and rising energy costs also weigh on that side — since some “leakage” into the core is inevitable over time. The Fed, however, will hold the line on monetary policy as long as the labor market is tight, even if GDP growth remains well below prevailing estimates of trend.

It’s highly likely that the labor market will weaken (with a lag), and a higher unemployment rate will clear the way for some Fed easing. Furthermore, core inflation is likely to recede as the year progresses, a view expressed by the Fed on many occasions.

In this regard, the Fed expects the OER components to slow as the affordability of home buying improves, as rental demand recedes, and as rent inflation slows.

NAHB’s forecast continues to show a quarter-point cut in the Fed’s target for the federal funds rate at the conclusion of the June 27-28 FOMC meeting.

If core inflation recedes by then and the Fed doesn’t cut the nominal funds rate, the real funds rate will rise and endanger an economic expansion that promises to be weak at that time — a situation that would subject our central bank to heavy criticism from many quarters, including the Congress.

Long-Term Treasury and Prime Mortgage Rates Hold in a Narrow Range

The subprime mortgage market debacle prompted a flight to quality in financial markets, a flight that has favored the Treasury securities market.

Following some upward pressure earlier in the year, the 10-year Treasury rate is once again hovering in the lower part of the range that’s prevailed since late last fall. Furthermore, the spread between the rate on prime fixed-rate mortgages and the 10-year Treasury rate has held firm, taking the mortgage rate below 6.2%.

Both the Treasury yield curve and the prime mortgage yield curve (fully indexed) are inverted at this time, and that situation may not hold for long. NAHB’s forecast shows slight increases in long-term Treasury and prime mortgage rates over the balance of the year, a process that will take these rates to the upper ends of recent ranges and help to flatten yield curves in both markets.

Subprime Mortgage Mess Weighs on Single-Family and Condo Markets

The subprime mortgage debacle has prompted firmer lending standards not only in the subprime market but also in the so-called Alt-A market — and possibly also in the quantitatively dominant prime market.

NAHB surveyed more than 400 single-family home builders in March in order to get a handle on the early impacts of the subprime meltdown on home sales. One-third of the builders in our survey said that tightening lending standards had taken a toll on their home sales in the early part of 2007. Of those impacted, the median loss was an estimated 10% of sales volume.

Our survey also showed that larger builders, as a group, had been more dependent on subprime mortgage financing than smaller companies in 2006, and relatively high proportions of the larger companies said that tighter mortgage lending standards had taken a toll on their sales volume early this year.

Two-thirds of builders in a supplementary sample of very large companies — in the Builder 200 — said they have finance subsidiaries that offered subprime loans to their buyers last year, and those without finance subs generally referred subprime borrowers to mortgage bankers, mortgage brokers or commercial banks.

Not surprisingly, a large majority of companies in this sample said that tightening mortgage lending standards had taken a significant toll on their sales volume early this year.

Housing Forecasts Reduced — A Work in Process

The subprime-related tightening of mortgage lending standards has prompted significant downward revisions to NAHB’s forecasts of home sales for the balance of this year and in 2008. Furthermore, a rising tide of subprime and Alt-A adjustable-rate loans made in 2005-2006 will be adding to an already excessive inventory overhang during the forecast period as monthly payments adjust upward and foreclosures climb.

We’re still forecasting a gradual recovery of housing production — beginning around the middle of this year — although projected housing starts are well below our estimates of the sustainable trend level of production.

In these terms, the major “correction” process that began early last year will extend at least through 2008.

It’s also fair to say that the range of uncertainty around NAHB’s recently revised baseline (most probable) housing forecast is quite wide. Indeed, the key downside risks to the overall economic outlook now reside in the mortgage and housing markets — a point made on March 28 by Fed Chairman Bernanke in testimony before Congress.

NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders analyzes the economy from the point of view of the housing market every other week in the free e-newsletter, “Eye on the Economy.” The preceding is a reissue of his April 11 edition. To subscribe to “Eye on the Economy,” click here.

How Deep Is the Housing Correction? Attend Construction Forecast Conference

Will housing demand outweigh affordability hurdles, inventory overhangs and the retreat of investors? Where are home prices headed?

Get the answers to these and other questions at the Construction Forecast Conference — Spring 2007 on April 26 in Washington, D.C.

Panels of nationally recognized experts will discuss economic trends, government policies, developments in the housing industry and the results from NAHB's recent surveys at the day-long conference.

For more information and to register, click here.

Can't Attend in Person? Webcast of Conference Also Available

The conference is also available via Webcast. For Webcast information, visit www.nahb.org/cfcwebcast. 

Want to Know Your State’s Starts Forecast for 2008?

Find out in HousingEconomic.com’s State Starts Forecast (sample). The starts forecast includes downloadable Excel tables of total, single-family and multifamily starts by region and state.

To learn more, visit www.housingeconomics.com.

NAHB Kit Gives Builders Back-to-Basics Tips in Cooling Market

With the current cooling of the nation’s housing market expected to persist into the middle of the year, NAHB has developed a comprehensive online toolkit geared to providing association members with information that will help them prosper in today’s changing business environment.

To access the “Back to Basics” toolkit, you must be an NAHB member and have a login to www.nahb.org. To create a login, go to www.nahb.org/login or click on the log-in button on the main menu bar.

For assistance, call the NAHB Member Service Center at 800-368-5242.

How Deep a Correction? Attend Construction Forecast Conference

Will housing demand outweigh affordability hurdles, inventory overhangs and the retreat of investors? Where are home prices headed?

Get the answers to these and other questions at the Construction Forecast Conference — Spring 2007 on Thursday, April 26 in Washington, D.C.

Panels of nationally recognized experts will discuss economic trends, government policies, developments in the housing industry and the results from NAHB's recent surveys at the day-long conference.

For more information and to register, click here.

Can't Attend in Person? Webcast of Conference Also Available

The conference is also available via Webcast. For Webcast information, visit www.nahb.org/cfcwebcast. 

Want to Know Your State’s Starts Forecast for 2008?

Find out in HousingEconomic.com’s State Starts Forecast (sample). The starts forecast includes downloadable Excel tables of total, single-family and multifamily starts by region and state.

To learn more, visit www.housingeconomics.com.

NAHB Kit Gives Builders Back-to-Basics Tips in Cooling Market

With the current cooling of the nation’s housing market expected to persist into the middle of the year, NAHB has developed a comprehensive online toolkit geared to providing association members with information that will help them prosper in today’s changing business environment.

To access the “Back to Basics” toolkit, you must be an NAHB member and have a login to www.nahb.org. To create a login, go to www.nahb.org/login or click on the log-in button on the main menu bar.

For assistance, call the NAHB Member Service Center at 800-368-5242.

Useful Links to Monitor Economic and Housing Trends

The following are links to useful information from government agencies and NAHB that will enable you to monitor the housing market.

To access the latest information available, simply click the links.

• U.S. Census Bureau Construction Price Indexes
  
  
• NAHB's Housing Forecast
  Housing starts, sales and interest rate projections through 2007.
  
  
• Latest Home Mortgage Interest Rates
  Contains current and historical data on fixed and adjustable mortgage rates. Updated weekly.
  
  
• Historical Facts, Figures and Trends
  Includes new home starts and sales, average and median home prices, homeownership rates, characteristics of new homes and more.
  
  
• Characteristics of New Housing
  Highlights the latest data on new-home characteristics released by the U.S. Census Department. Includes links to the complete Census report and other trends researched by NAHB.
  
  Additional breakouts of this data and other trends researched by NAHB are available at www.nahb.org/constructionstats under “Selected Characteristics of New Housing” (dated 6/13/2006).
  
  
• Housing Starts
  Updated monthly and based on a seasonally adjusted annual rate.
  
  
• New and Existing Home Sales
  Updated monthly and based on a seasonally adjusted annual rate.
  
  
• New and Existing Single-Family Median Home Prices
  Updated monthly.
  
  
• Home Price Index
  The index measures average home appreciation in more than 250 metropolitan markets. Updated quarterly.
  
  

• Metro Home Building Permits
  Local and state data on housing construction rates. Updated monthly.
  
  
• Employment Trends for Metro/State Markets
  Provides metro and state employment data nationwide. Updated monthly.
  
  
• Local Economic Impact of Housing
  Shows how building 100 homes benefits a typical metropolitan area.
  
  
• Home Building’s Direct Impact on the Economy
  
  
• Housing’s Contribution to Gross State Product
  Measures how much housing contributes to the economic output of each state.
  
  
• Housing Market Statistics from HousingEconomics.com
  Full array of statistical categories available to NAHB members, a limited number available to non-members.
  
  
• In-Depth Analysis from HousingEconomics.com
  Full array of analysis of factors affecting housing and the impact on the industry available to NAHB members, a limited number available to non-members.

How Deep Is the Housing Correction? Attend Construction Forecast Conference on April 26

Will housing demand outweigh affordability hurdles, inventory overhangs and the retreat of investors? Where are home prices headed?

Get the answers to these and other questions at the Construction Forecast Conference — Spring 2007 on Thursday, April 26 in Washington, D.C.

Panels of nationally recognized experts will discuss economic trends, government policies, developments in the housing industry and the results from NAHB's recent surveys at the day-long conference.

For more information and to register, click here.

Can't Attend in Person? Webcast of Conference Also Available

The conference is also available via Webcast. For Webcast information, visit www.nahb.org/cfcwebcast. 

Want to Know Your State’s Starts Forecast for 2008?

Find out in HousingEconomic.com’s State Starts Forecast (sample). The starts forecast includes downloadable Excel tables of total, single-family and multifamily starts by region and state.

To learn more, visit www.housingeconomics.com.

NAHB Kit Gives Builders Back-to-Basics Tips in Cooling Market

With the current cooling of the nation’s housing market expected to persist into the middle of the year, NAHB has developed a comprehensive online toolkit geared to providing association members with information that will help them prosper in today’s changing business environment.

To access the “Back to Basics” toolkit, you must be an NAHB member and have a login to www.nahb.org. To create a login, go to www.nahb.org/login or click on the log-in button on the main menu bar.

For assistance, call the NAHB Member Service Center at 800-368-5242.

Builders' Tip: Building a Blueprint Table on the Job Site

	Click for larger image.

Like most builders, I’ve had to spread out the working drawings for a project on the ground, over a sawdust-covered subfloor or across the hood of the truck.

I finally got fed up with having to look at drawings this way a few years ago. Now I build a simple job-site blueprint table that saves time, frustration and a lot of wind-torn pages.

• As shown in the drawing, the table is a hunk of plywood large enough to accommodate the drawings.
  
  
• I affix it to a couple of convenient studs with an 8d nail through each corner, about 4 feet above the floor.
  
  
• Then I swing the bottom end up to about 30° below level and secure it with a couple of 2x4 kickers.
  
  
• Some 2x scraps as weights and a 1x ledger at the bottom of the table keep the prints from falling off.

I leave the blueprint table in place until the drywallers show up to do their thing.

— Will Ruttencutter, Coshocton, Ohio

Tips & Techniques provided by Fine Homebuilding.
©2005 The Taunton Press

To request a reprint of this feature, e-mail Christina Glennon at Fine Homebuilding.

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.

To view these publications online, click here, or call 800-223-2665.

Free NAHB Kit Gives Builders Back-to-Basics Tips in Cooling Market

With the current cooling of the nation’s housing market expected to persist next year, NAHB has developed a comprehensive online toolkit geared to providing association members with information that will help them prosper in today’s changing business environment.

To access the “Back to Basics” toolkit, you must be an NAHB member and have a login to www.nahb.org. To create a login, go to www.nahb.org/login or click on the log-in button on the main menu bar on the NAHB Web site.

For assistance, call the NAHB Member Service Center at 800-368-5242.

Customer Satisfaction Suffers From Poor Communication

Scott Sedam, president of True North Development, says that one of his associates likes to greet hotel desk clerks and others he meets in his travels with the observation that, “I’ll bet you have communication problems here.”

The matter-of-fact declaration establishes instant rapport and people are often taken aback by the insight. But Sedam says that what may seem like a Kreskin trick is actually no magic. In any company or corporation, he explains, “miscommunication is the default option.” That’s why it’s so important to make improving communication a goal for your business, says Sedam, a business management trainer and quality consultant to the home building industry.

Prerequisite to Customer Satisfaction

Averting miscommunication and disconnects at the front end of your business is a prerequisite to lasting customer satisfaction at the back end, Sedam says.

Focus on purchasing and estimating, operations, design and sales, and other critical communication points, he advises. “You can’t leave communication as an ad hoc system,” he says. “Behind each and every interface with a customer lies internal communication, systems and structures” that can ensure satisfaction or guarantee complaints.

Poor or missing communication not only causes mistakes, it can slow production, he adds.

Steve McGee, a consultant in the areas of trade contractor and employee performance improvement with Unify International, says that one study of a builder found that construction superintendents are spending more than a third of their time decoding start and options packages. This is at a time when they are supervising more homes under construction than ever, facing more inspections, overseeing more options, participating in more buyer/builder meetings and training less qualified workers.

Builders and remodelers have been taking a number of steps to improve both their internal communication and their communication with customers, including structured meetings, practices related to scheduling, and software development and use.

NAHB members can read more about these and other innovative home building business management practices by going online to www.nahb.org/biztools.

‘Customer Service for Home Builders’ Available at BuilderBooks.com

“Customer Service for Home Builders,” available through BuilderBooks.com, gives builders the tools they need to revitalize their customer service program.

“Customer Service for Home Builders” focuses on teaching builders how to start managing customers’ experiences instead of just reacting to issues that customers raise. It also includes forms, checklists, documents and a resource guide.

To view or purchase this publication online, click here, or call 800-223-2665.

Boomers Meet Baseball and Modern Art in Denver

	Explore the Denver Art Museum during "Denver Day Out" at the 50+ housing symposium from May 30 to June 1.

Taking advantage of its location in Denver, the Building for Boomers & Beyond: 50+ Housing Symposium 2007 will be featuring several extracurricular events at some of the city’s most unique and enjoyable spots.

Special events include:

• Colorado Rockies Baseball Game and Pre-Game Picnic
  Tuesday, May 29
  5:30 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
  $55 per person
  Join your fellow symposium attendees for a night of fun at Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies baseball team. Start off the evening with a pre-game picnic featuring traditional ballpark fare and a cold brewski. Then kick back and watch the Colorado Rockies take on 2006 World Series champions, the St. Louis Cardinals.
  Register for this event when you register for the symposium.
  
  
• Denver Day Out
  Thursday, May 31
  10:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
  $80 per person
  Spouses and others not attending the symposium’s educational sessions can spend the day on a walking tour of some nearby Denver sights — starting with a tour of the U.S. Mint at Denver. A lunch of contemporary cuisine at Palettes Restaurant is followed by Tom “Doctor Colorado” Noel in a lively and entertaining presentation of "A Liquid History and Water Hole Guide." Spend the rest of the afternoon exploring the Denver Art Museum, including Daniel Libeskind’s new Frederic C. Hamilton wing.
  Register for this event when you register for the symposium.
  
  
• The Best of 50+ Housing Awards Gala
  Thursday, May 31
  5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Cocktail Reception
  7:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. Dinner and Awards
  Symposium Full Registrants: $75 for NAHB members, $90 for non-members (exclusive pricing for symposium full registrants)
  Non-Symposium Registrants and Spouse Registrants: $125 for NAHB members, $140 for non-members
  Get tickets!
  Join the celebration of the finest work in the 50+ industry! Experience this exclusive showcase of the best active adult communities, apartments, CCRCs and assisted living communities, as well as the best marketing materials to promote them. A special presentation will honor the ICONs of the Industry — 50+ Housing Council members who have made a lasting impact on the industry.
  
  The awards gala is a tribute to the 50+ housing industry and is open to all, but advance reservations are required for this event, which is sure to sell out.

Other optional activities include three all-day housing tours on Wednesday, May 30. Choose from active adult, service-enriched and transit-oriented development.

Advance registration for the Building for Boomers & Beyond: 50+ Housing Symposium ends May 11. After that, attendees must register on site.

For more information, contact the University of Housing Office of the Registrar at 800-368-5242 x8338 or registrar@nahb.com.

Find Out What the 55+ Market Wants

“Boomers on the Horizon: Housing Preferences of the 55+ Market,” available through BuilderBooks.com, can help you better build and market homes to this age group.

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.

Survey: Consumers Won’t Pay for Lead-Dust Testing

Despite overwhelming awareness of lead dust's health risks, most consumers would refuse to pay for tests that identify a safe level of lead dust after remodeling work, according to a national survey. Commissioned by NAHB Remodelers, the findings raise concerns that future regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requiring mandatory lead clearance testing in pre-1978 homes may cause more problems than it solves.

"Ideally, every home owner would pay for this test, but clearly the vast majority does not believe the cost justifies the results despite living in at-risk homes," said NAHB Remodelers Chair Mike Nagel, CGR, CAPS, a remodeler from Chicago. "The EPA must encourage home owners to work with trained professionals, and adding what may be substandard costs to remodeling projects could cause home owners to do it themselves, hire unlicensed contractors, or worse, do nothing."

The research firm TNS surveyed 1,001 residents of owner-occupied homes built before 1978 — the last year lead paint was used in construction.

	From the "Lead Paint Safety" brochure from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Overall, 94% of the home owners surveyed indicated that they were aware that lead dust from older homes can cause health problems. When asked about hiring a third-party company to test for lead dust after a remodeling project, 81% of those planning to hire a professional within the next two years said they would not pay the estimated $200 per room to ensure a safe lead dust level.

Of those with “do-it-yourself” or DIY projects, 80% said they would not pay for this test either.

The $200 cost assumed an urban or suburban residence with easy access to a lead dust testing facility.

Additionally, households with pregnant women or children under six years old were reluctant to take on the additional cost. Of those planning to hire a professional, only 25% said they would pay for the third-party test while a third of DIYers said they would pay.

The EPA recently proposed a new rule to regulate renovation activities by contractors in pre-1978 homes — the rule would not apply to DIY home owners.

Practical Methods to Avoid Creating Potential Lead Dust

NAHB continues to emphasize the practical methods that the EPA recommends to avoid creating potential lead dust:

• Mist surfaces with water before sanding or scraping.
• Cover the area under construction with durable protective sheeting such as a plastic or poly tarp. Use barriers to keep dust contained to the immediate work area.
• Use an exhaust fan venting from the work area to help remove dust and other pollutants.
• Use an appropriate waste disposal method for any paints containing lead.

For more information on lead safety, call the EPA at 800-484-LEAD (5323), or visit www.epa.gov/lead.

NAHB Has ‘Remodeling Month’ Resources for You

May is “National Home Remodeling Month,” and if you or your local remodelers council are looking for new marketing ideas or ways to increase remodeling awareness, take advantage of the resources available from the NAHB Remodelers to promote it.

The council has developed a "National Remodeling Month Kit" that includes easily customizable press releases and articles and offers plenty of marketing ideas to help promote remodeling throughout May.

In addition, the kit includes at step-by-step guide to lead you through the campaign.

The materials available in the kit include the following press materials:

• Launch Release
• NAHB Remodelers Fact Sheet
• Aging-in-Place Fact Sheet
• Green Remodeling Fact Sheet
• Remodeling Industry Fact Sheet

Consumer and industry articles, consumer information and marketing tools are also included in the toolkit.

For more information, or for ideas to promote and plan events for “Remodeling Month” in May, e-mail Jim Lapides at NAHB,  call him at 800-368-5242 x8451, or visit www.nahb.org/remodelingmonth. (This link and the materials in the National Home Remodeling Month toolkit are available to NAHB Remodelers only.)

Concrete Tour Mixes Plant Visits, Latest Trends

The latest advances in concrete construction, production, materials and design will be showcased at the 2007 Concrete Home Building Council Concrete Technologies Tour in Minneapolis.

The tour will be held on Sunday through Tuesday, May 6-8.

The tour will feature educational programs, networking and behind-the-scenes tours of six cement-based building materials and manufacturing facilities. 

Plants on Tour

The plants on the tour include:

• Molin Concrete Products Company
  Molin, with more than 100 years in the prestressed/precast concrete industry, provides design, manufacturing and installation services for such products as hollow core planks, precast foundation walls and precast/prestressed beams, columns, structural wall panels and stadia.
  
  
• Schwing America, Inc.
  Schwing manufactures a broad line of truck- and trailer-mounted concrete pumps that allows its customers to grow with the company. Schwing also provides an array of innovative products for ready-mix producers.
  
  
• Becker Architectural Concrete
  Becker Architectural Concrete brings together the disciplines of quality concrete construction with the limitless possibilities of color, texture and form to give designers and builders the creativity and strength of concrete.
  
  
• Holcim (U.S.) Inc.
  Holcim (U.S.) is one of the largest suppliers of Portland and blended cements and related mineral components in the country. The company offers an extensive line of cements and related construction materials, as well as technical support.
  
  
• Anchor Block Company
  Anchor Block Company manufactures concrete blocks, autoclave-cured decorative masonry units, pavers and retaining walls in a vast array of textures and colors.
  
  
• Cemstone
  Cemstone, a family-owned and operated business founded in 1927, delivers quality concrete for everything from residential driveways, to walls in homes built with Insulating Concrete Forms technology to high profile commercial projects. The company supports concrete batch plants, contractor supply stores, state-of-the-art concrete pumping trucks, a concrete block plant and 18 aggregate mines.

The three-day event also includes an optional golf tournament and several receptions.

To Register

Online advanced registration is available until close of business Friday, April 20.

For more information and to register, visit www.nahb.org/concretetour.

Attend the Modular and Panel Plant Tour May 20-22

Go behind the scenes of the modular and panelized home building industries at the 2007 Modular and Panel Plant Tour in Roanoke, Va. on May 20-22.

Tour six plants and network with modular and panelized professionals from across the country.

Factories on tour Nationwide Custom Homes, Mod-U-Kraf Homes, Timber Truss Housing, Metwood Building Systems, West Window Corporation and Martinsville Speedway.

For more information, or to register, visit www.nahb.org/PlantTour.

‘Concrete at Home’ Available at BuilderBooks.com

“Concrete at Home,” available through BuilderBooks.com, offers tips on incorporating concrete architectural elements such as counters, sinks, columns and water pieces into a project.

To view or purchase this publication online, click here, or call 800-223-2665.

Attend the Modular and Panel Plant Tour May 20-22

The 2007 Modular and Panel Plant Tour, a behind-the-scenes look at modular and panelized home building industries, will be held May 20-22 in Roanoke, Va.

The tour, by NAHB's Bulding Systems Council, will feature educational programs, networking and tours of eight plants.

Plants on Tour

The plants on the tour include:

• West Window Corporation
• Nationwide Custom Homes
• Mod-U-Kraf Homes
• Timber Truss Housing
• Metwood Building Solutions
• American Standard Building Systems, Inc.

Also on the tour is Martinsville Speedway, a half-mile racetrack with 800-foot straights and 12-degree banking that is home to NASCAR Nextel Cup racing

For more information, or to register, visit www.nahb.org/PlantTour.

Sign Up for Free Storm Water Compliance Audio Seminar

	A standard silt fence provides temporary sediment control on the building site. (Credit: NAHB, "Storm Water Permitting")

Storm water remains on the EPA’s priority list for permit enforcement, and noncompliance can result in costly fines or stop-work orders. 

To familiarize NAHB members with permit requirements, The NAHB University of Housing is offering a free audio conference, “60 Minutes to Storm Water Permit Compliance,” featuring compliance experts including an EPA inspector. The conference is free to NAHB members and their employees.

The conference will be held beginning 3:00 p.m. EDT, Wednesday, May 23.

Conference participants include:

• Johnny Combs, president of Paradigm Engineering, a leading storm water management firm, will discuss actions that builders can take to improve their compliance and reduce their risk of unscheduled inspections.
  
  
• Everett Spencer, EPA inspector from Region 6, will discuss the inspection process from the agency’s perspective and strategies builders can follow when an inspector arrives.
  
  
• Thomas Ward, assistant staff vice president of litigation at NAHB, will discuss legal implications and strategies.
  
  
• Marolyn Parson, director of NAHB’s Water and Wetlands Policy Department, will moderate the program.  

Each expert will give a presentation, after which NAHB members will have an opportunity to ask questions. In addition, members can submit questions to NAHB prior to the seminar, which the speakers will use to guide their discussion of the issues.  

To Register

For information or to register for the free audio conference, "60 Minutes to Storm Water Permit Compliance," click here. Members must register by Friday, May 18, to participate.

For additional information, or to submit questions to the panel, e-mail Parson at NAHB, or call her 800-368-5242 x8147.

Continuing Education Designation Credits

CGA, CGB, CGR and GMB professional designation holders will receive continuing education credit for the conference. For more information, call the Designation Hotline at 800-368-5242 x8154.

'Storm Water Permitting: A Guide for Builders and Developers' Available at BuilderBooks.com — 10% Discount If Ordered by May 31

“Storm Water Permitting: A Guide for Builders and Developers,” available through BuilderBooks.com, provides a starting point for builders and developers to use in locating and understanding storm water permitting requirements.

The publication has been prepared to help builders comply with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's storm water requirements, and includes information on state permitting programs and more than 50 of the most commonly used Best Management Practices.

Also included are tips on compliance, including how to handle visits from inspectors.

To view or purchase this guide online, click here, or call 800-223-2665.

Purchase by May 31 and Get 10% Discount

Order online by May 31 and receive a 10% discount. Simply enter promotion code SWP10 on the check-out page.

Design Matters. Register Now for the Design Institute

In a competitive market, design can be the difference.

At the NAHB/BALA Design Institute for Builders, the only design conference specifically for building industry professionals, you'll learn the latest in residential housing design trends from the industry's top professionals, tour beautiful award-winning homes and communities that display the best in cutting-edge architectural design, and learn how to profitably apply these design ideas to the homes you build.

The Design Institute will be held June 25-77 in Bellevue, Wash. (near Seattle)

To register and for more information, visit www.nahb.org/designinstitute.

Education Calendar

April 26	Construction Forecast Conference — Spring 2007	Washington, D.C.
May 6-8	Concrete Home Building Council Concrete Technologies Tour	Minneapolis, Minn.
May 20-22	2007 Building Systems Councils Plant Tour	Roanoke, Va.
May 23	Audio Conference: 60 Minutes to Storm Water Permit Compliance
May 30-June 1	Building for Boomers & Beyond: 50+ Housing Symposium	Denver, Colo.
June 25-27	NAHB/BALA Design Institute for Builders	Bellvue, Wash.
Aug. 7-11	Executive Officers Council Seminar	Long Beach, Calif.
Oct. 12-14	National Conference on Membership	Charlotte, N.C.
Oct. 24	Construction Forecast Conference — Fall 2007	Washington, D.C.
Oct. 26-28	2007 Custom Builders Symposium	Naples, Fla.
Oct. 28-31	Building Systems Councils SHOWCASE 2007	Hilton Head, S.C.
Nov. 6-10	State and Local Government Affairs Conference	Austin, Texas

Learn More About The NAHB University of Housing

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.

NAHB Kit Gives Builders Back-to-Basics Tips in Cooling Market

With the current cooling of the nation’s housing market expected to persist into the middle of the year, NAHB has developed a comprehensive online toolkit geared to providing association members with information that will help them prosper in today’s changing business environment.

To access the “Back to Basics” toolkit, you must be an NAHB member and have a login to www.nahb.org. To create a login, go to www.nahb.org/login or click on the log-in button on the main menu bar on the NAHB Web site.

For assistance, call the NAHB Member Service Center at 800-368-5242.

Builders Encouraged to Adapt Concept Home Plans

The Partnership for Advancing Housing Technology (PATH) wants to hear from builders, remodelers, architects and consumers about their experiences building a Concept Home or borrowing a few of its components.

For Concept Home plans, either as a PDF or as CAD drawings, click here.

The Concept Home resulted from PATH studies showing that the homes being built today are inflexible, with systems tangled behind interior walls and embedded in structural elements.

The Concept Home emphasizes the flexibility of systems to meet the specific needs of the home owner and to make it more efficient to build and maintain.

A national prototype of the home is being built in Omaha, Neb. by general contractor Fernando Pages Ruiz. The various stages of its construction and the specific materials and products going into the home are being chronicled on the PATH site and on the builder’s blog.

PATH recently reported that the home in Omaha was fully enclosed. Follansbee installed the metal roof provided by the Metal Roofing Alliance. Besides being durable and long-lasting, the metal roof was pre-painted with UV reflective paint to help prevent energy loss. Milgard's double-hung windows were also recently installed. To cut heating and cooling costs, the windows were coated with UV protection and filled with argon gas.

Ruiz’s company, Brighton Construction, based in Lincoln, broke ground on the 2,000-square-foot demonstration home last October. Relying heavily on product donations, it is expected to be appraised at $205,000 and purchased with a $95,000 mortgage.

Ribbon-cutting ceremonies to celebrate the home’s completion are scheduled for June 6.

Energy-Efficiency Tax Breaks Extended for Homes, Buildings

Through recently extended provisions in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, home builders, commercial builders and commercial building owners can lower their energy costs and their federal tax liability by constructing highly-efficient properties and making energy-saving improvements to existing buildings, according to the Tax Incentives Assistance Project (TIAP).

Federal tax incentives also are available to business purchasers of hybrid vehicles.

TIAP is sponsored by a coalition of public interest nonprofit groups, government agencies and other organizations in the energy efficiency field and is designed to give consumers and businesses information on federal income tax incentives for energy-efficient products and technologies.

Through 2008, owners or tenants can receive a federal tax deduction of up to $1.80 a square foot for cutting by at least half the annual heating, cooling, ventilation, water heating and interior lighting costs of new or renovated buildings that meet the national ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2001. (Only buildings covered by the scope of the ASHRAE standard are eligible.) For government properties, building designers can claim the tax deduction.

Lesser deductions, of $.60 per square foot, are available for less sweeping energy-efficiency measures — specifically for improvements to only one of three building systems — the building envelope, the lighting system or the heating and cooling system. To claim the deduction, the owner or tenant must reduce their total energy use by 16.66% (or one-third of the higher 50% goal). If the owner or tenant makes energy-efficiency improvements of 16.66% to two of the three systems, an $.80 per square foot tax deduction is available.

Also available through December 2008 are federal tax credits for builders of site-built or manufactured homes. A $2,000 credit is available for each qualifying home in the year it is sold.

Site-built homes must be certified to use at least 50% less energy than a comparable home that complies with the standards provided in the 2003 International Energy Conservation Code, including supplements, and uses a SEER 13 air conditioner.  Builders of manufactured homes that are certified to save 30%, or that qualify for the Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR Homes program, can receive a tax credit of $1,000 per home.

Qualifying homes feature a range of innovative design and construction methods that increase energy efficiency, such as better-insulated foundations, walls and ceilings; high-efficiency windows; well-sealed framing and air ducts; and high-efficiency heating and cooling systems.

In addition, through December 31, 2009, buyers and lessees of all weights of hybrid vehicles — light-, medium- and heavy-duty — can receive federal tax credits based on the weight class of the vehicle, its fuel economy relative to a comparable conventional vehicle and the vehicle’s incremental cost. The vehicle must also meet a threshold value of “maximum available power,” a measure of the percentage of total vehicle power available from its rechargeable energy storage system.

For full details on the tax provisions, click here.

‘Green Building Products’ Available at BuilderBooks.com

“Green Building Products: The GreenSpec Guide to Residential Building Materials,” available through BuilderBooks.com, provides descriptions and manufacturer contact information for more than 1,400 environmentally preferable products and materials — from age-fiber panels to zero-VOC paints.

To view or purchase this publication online, click here, or call 800-223-2665.

Green Standard Census Committee Appointed

NAHB and the International Code Council (ICC) announced last week that the members to the consensus committee on the National Green Building Standard have been appointed by the NAHB Research Center Executive Standards Committee.

The committee is representing the industry in its efforts to develop and publish an American National Standards Institute (ANSI)-approved standard on residential green building. The collaboration between the two groups, announced at the International Builders' Show in Orlando, Fla. in February, is aimed at bringing uniformity to sustainable building practices.

The consensus committee is made up of more than 40 groups representing a broad spectrum of the industry. Its purpose is to review the working draft of the national standard based on NAHB's Model Green Home Building Guidelines and to develop an ICC/NAHB National Green Building Standard. Unlike the guidelines, which are intended to be used in the construction of one- and two-family homes, the new standard will be applicable to all new home construction, including multifamily units and remodeling.

"The creation of the National Green Building Standard is a huge step forward for the industry," said Ray Tonjes, chairman of the NAHB Green Building Subcommittee and an Austin, Texas home builder. "We are proud to work with ICC to produce a voluntary national standard that will take into account regional differences and allow for flexibility, while increasing the efficiency and quality of homes in America."

Both organizations have been actively involved in efforts to advance green building practices within the industry.

In response to its members' requests for clearer guidance on green building practices, NAHB developed the Model Green Home Building Guidelines in 2005; they are now a nationally recognized certification tool. The guidelines currently provide the basis for more than 15 state and local voluntary green building programs around the country.

ICC has been promoting green building practices through its family of International Codes, which set minimum standards for energy efficiency for the construction industry.

"ICC member participation on the National Green Building Standard Committee will ensure that green homes of the future are also safe homes," said Code Council Board President Wally Bailey. "ICC is committed to green building and participating in activities that will assure green building practices are sustainable and safe."

"The collaboration between our two organizations demonstrates our strong commitment to sustainable building practices and the creation of a national standard for green building," said Eric Borsting, chairman of the NAHB Construction Codes and Standards Committee. "We look forward to the publication of a strong ANSI standard that represents the needs of the industry and the growth of green building initiatives."

The NAHB Research Center, which oversaw the development of NAHB's guidelines and is an ANSI-accredited standards developer, will serve as the secretariat for the new standard.

"The Code Council's support for green building, especially teaming with NAHB to develop a standard for green homes, demonstrates our corporate commitment to respect the environment," said ICC CEO Rick Weiland. "Green technology plays an important role in our collective future, not just in the United States but around the world."

For the full list of members of the Consensus Committee, click here.

‘Green Building Products’ Available at BuilderBooks.com

“Green Building Products: The GreenSpec Guide to Residential Building Materials,” available through BuilderBooks.com, provides descriptions and manufacturer contact information for more than 1,400 environmentally preferable products and materials — from age-fiber panels to zero-VOC paints.

To view or purchase this publication online, click here, or call 800-223-2665.

Polar Bears Could Lead to ESA Climate Change Regulation

As the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service considers whether to list the polar bear as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, NAHB last week sent the agency a letter urging it not to overstep its bounds by using the ESA as a tool to fight global warming.

In taking no position on whether to support or oppose the listing of the polar bear, NAHB’s comments reflected the association’s belief that the ESA is not the proper vehicle for addressing climate change.

“Protection for the polar bear, if listed as threatened (as proposed), must be limited to those protections that fall within the boundaries set by the ESA,” NAHB stated. “Listing the polar bear due to the predicted habitat destruction and/or modification of polar sea ice as a result of climate change is unwarranted and unwise.”

The Fish and Wildlife Service has stated that polar bear critical habitat is “not determinable at this time,” since the mammal resides almost exclusively on polar sea ice.

The issue has far-reaching consequences. If the Fish and Wildlife Service chooses to identify climate change as the principal threat to polar bear habitat, it might take an expansive interpretation of the law to rule that actions that take place hundreds of miles from where the polar bear lives have an impact on its habitat.

In other words, as NAHB clearly stated in its letter to the agency, petitioners of the listing are using it as “the basis to compel the State of California to place restrictions on residential development because of the presumed effects of climate change on polar bear habitat. NAHB is extremely concerned that the Service may overstep its bounds.”

NAHB urged the Fish and Wildlife Service to proceed cautiously in developing rules for polar bears. In deciding whether or not to list the polar bear as a threatened species, NAHB urged federal regulators to “properly limit the scope to that which is conferred by the statute.”

For more information, e-mail Calli Schmidt at NAHB or call her at 800-368-5242 x8132.

NCBC 2008 Awards of Excellence Open for Entries

The National Commercial Builders Council (NCBC) is accepting applications for its 2008 Awards of Excellence program, which recognizes achievements in the national commercial building industry for design (remodeling and new construction), market appeal, energy efficiency, challenges faced during building and overall success of projects that are either built or renovated.

The deadline for entries is August 1.

The National Commercial Builders Council sponsors the Awards of Excellence program to bring recognition to commercial building projects that range from less than 5,000 to more than 100,000 square feet. Projects must have been completed after Dec. 31, 2004 and may be entered in commercial, industrial, institutional, medical, mixed-use commercial/retail, recreational, retail and new for 2008 — green building.

One or several projects can be entered in this competition. Projects may be submitted by the builder, developer, architect or contractor of the project.

The six divisions in which a project can be entered include:

• Small-scale projects less than 5,000 square feet
• Projects 5,001 to 10,000 square feet
• Projects 10,001 to 40,000 square feet
• Projects 40,001 to 75,000 square feet
• Projects 75,001 to 100,000 square feet
• Projects more than 100,000 square feet

A panel of building industry professionals will consider entrants for Project of the Year, Grand, Merit and Chairman’s awards in all categories.

Winners will be notified by mail no later than Nov. 1.

A public announcement will follow at NAHB’s International Builders’ Show, Feb. 13-16, 2008, in Orlando, Fla. Recognition includes a desk obelisk; a photo of your project on display with the other winners at the International Builders’ Show; acknowledgment in Commercial Builder magazine; and the opportunity to participate in educational sessions at the Builders Show.

In addition, some winners may be featured in future issues of Commercial Builder magazine.

For more details on eligibility and entrance requirements, click here; or e-mail Nick Lashinsky at NAHB.

June 1 Deadline Nears for Livable Communities Awards

The June 1 deadline is fast approaching for NAHB and AARP’s new Livable Communities Awards recognizing builders, remodelers and developers for creative and unique homes and community projects that improve the daily comfort, ease and safety of their residents and highlight the critical elements needed for a livable community.

AARP CEO Bill Novelli announced the award during an address to the NAHB Board of Directors during February’s International Builders’ Show in Orlando, Fla.

“Whether you’re a toddler, a teen with a backpack, a dad cooking dinner or a great grandparent using a walker, insightful home and community design can greatly improve your day,” said Novelli. “We hope this award will give building professionals an incentive to explore and employ new design approaches.”

The award will be presented annually to the three professional groups for projects that incorporate such aspects as:

• Design elements that accommodate the needs of all residents with all levels of physical ability — from children through grandparents
  
  
• Easy access to community services and features such as retail, restaurants, medical, social and cultural activities, as well as viable transportation options
  
  
• Improved energy efficiency and enhanced site design
  
  
• Better communication with key stakeholders

“I expect NAHB members to respond very enthusiastically to this award, which is backed by two strong organizations,” said NAHB CEO Jerry Howard. “For those who are building a leading-edge home or community, this is an opportunity to show the world that your product is the best in the business.”

The Livable Communities Awards will honor winners in each of the three industry sectors: builders, developers and remodelers. Sponsors will declare winners for both a large project and small project in each category. Size will define large and small builder and developer projects. Cost will determine remodelers’ categories.

NAHB and AARP seek applicants that reflect the full diversity of the home building industry: single-family and multifamily builders and remodelers, developers of large and small communities, for-profit and nonprofit, family-run and corporate entities. Winning projects must have been completed and opened or eligible for occupancy between Jan. 1, 2005 and June 1, 2007.

A panel of expert judges appointed by NAHB and AARP will review the applications and select the finalists.  Judging criteria vary from category to category, but points will be awarded based on: universal design features; ease of maintenance and energy efficiency; exterior design and landscaping/site design; incorporation of livable community design features; and stakeholder involvement. Winners will be reviewed to determine that they are good corporate citizens and in full compliance with all applicable laws and regulations at the federal, state and local level.

Winners will be announced in the 2008 January-February issue of AARP The Magazine, the largest circulation magazine in America. For more information, click here; or e-mail Blake Smith at NAHB, or call him at 800-368-5242 x8583.

AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization that helps people 50+ have independence, choice and control in ways that are beneficial and affordable to them and society as a whole.

Builders Spread the Word About Home Building Careers

The Home Builders Institute (HBI) and Junior Achievement (JA) Worldwide™ are working in partnership to spread the word among the nation’s high school students about the wide range of home building careers open to them in the residential construction industry.

Combining their areas of expertise, HBI has merged its industry-specific career awareness supplement, “Business Ventures in the Residential Construction Industry” with JA’s “Success Skills” work readiness program, and home builders associations are providing volunteers to meet with the more than seven million K-12 students in JA’s extensive classroom network.

“Our partnership with JA Hawaii has been a win-win experience,” said Karen Nakamura, executive director of the Building Industry Association of Hawaii. “JA Hawaii provided a syllabus with detailed criteria that maximized the effectiveness of our members when they presented their personal experiences in housing. We are grateful for the opportunity to share our industry with students.”

Currently, a total of 10 HBAs from Connecticut to Hawaii are taking advantage of the JA partnership and providing member volunteers to speak with students about the industry’s employment opportunities.

“The volunteers we’ve received have been enthusiastic, eager and excellent speakers,” said M. Steven Grant, president of Junior Achievement of Hawaii. “They are wonderful mentors and role models for Junior Achievement in our local schools. The BIA of Hawaii is such a well-run, organized and efficient association, we couldn’t ask for a better partner.”

For more information on the partnership or career services activities, e-mail Deanna Lewis at HBI, or call her at 800-795-7955 x 8927.

Home Builders Institute Offers New Program to Teach Hispanic Adults English

Sed de Saber™-Construction Edition is an easy-to-use, take-home learning tool created exclusively for the construction industry by the Home Builders Institute to improve communication, quality and safety on the job site.

The product, now available at www.seddesaberconstruction.com, uses proven LeapFrog technology to allow workers to listen, record and play back their pronunciation of more than 500 vocabulary words and 340 phrases. Participants who practice 30 minutes each day will complete the program in just four months. Learning at home, on their own time, also eliminates scheduling conflicts.

Sed de Saber™-Construction Edition was developed by a team of subject matter experts assembled through HBI — including superintendents, craft skills experts, remodelers and builders — to ensure that the information is relevant to today’s home building workforce. To address worker safety issues related to the language barrier, HBI created a seventh book based entirely on the NAHB-OSHA Job Site Safety Handbook.

NAHB members can purchase the learning system, all seven books and a skills assessment to chart employee progress for $395 per kit. The non-member price is $495. Order today and empower your workers to learn English at www.seddesaberconstruction.com.

Sound-Reducing Gypsum Boards Are Thin and Easy

National Gypsum earlier this month introduced Gold Bond® SoundBreak™ Gypsum Board, a cost-effective, acoustically enhanced panel that answers the growing demand for a product that reduces the transmission of airborne sound between living spaces within apartments, condominiums, townhouses and other buildings.

Using the new gypsum board results in wall partitions with high-rated sound transmission class (STC) ratings, helping to eliminate typical noises from adjacent rooms such as normal or loud conversation, a baby crying, a dog barking or the sounds of kitchen appliances. Because the board is thinner than traditionally built high-rated STC partitions, it provides more useable floor space.

In addition to its superior sound dampening, the 5/8-inch thick board is as easy to finish and decorate as regular gypsum board.

“SoundBreak installs and finishes like traditional gypsum board,” said Chris Pinckney, product manager of gypsum systems for National Gypsum. “It’s an alternative to existing sound-dampening solutions like double and staggered stud walls and sound clips or channels that can be difficult to install.”

The board can be used as a single-layer application or as a component of multi-layered wall assemblies where there is a concern about sound transmission between rooms or dwelling units. It is available in four-foot wide sheets that are 8, 9, 10 and 12 feet in length.

Though SoundBreak cannot be used as a substitute for 5/8-inch Type X board in a fire-rated assembly, it can be used as an additional layer in all UL fire-rate assemblies without compromising the fire rating. For example, upgrading a UL U465 with an additional layer of SoundBreak can increase its STC rating by seven to 10 points.

All SoundBreak Gypsum Board designs have been tested by Riverbank Acoustical Laboratories or the National Research Center of Canada using full-scale ASTM E90 test procedures.

Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., National Gypsum is a member of the National Council of the Housing Industry — The Supplier 100 of NAHB.