Nation's Building News Online: July 2, 2007Print All Articles Text Version |
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Immigration Bill Dead for Now, But Reforms Still NeededThe Senate last Thursday effectively ended consideration of immigration reform for the foreseeable future. Though the Senate failed to keep the legislation alive, NAHB urged lawmakers not to abandon efforts to overhaul the nation’s immigration laws. “The nation’s home builders strongly support comprehensive immigration reform that would protect our borders; provide a process by which immigrants can legally enter the country to work to meet the labor demands of a growing economy; and create an enforcement system that is fair, efficient and workable for all U.S. employers,” said Jerry Howard, executive vice president and CEO of NAHB. Senate bill S. 1639, the Secure Borders, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Reform Act of 2007, was shelved indefinitely when lawmakers were unable to muster the 60 votes necessary to cut off debate and proceed to a final vote. The motion failed on a 46 to 53 ballot. Prior to the decisive vote, senators were in the process of debating 27 amendments to the bill that were divided nearly evenly between both political parties. NAHB successfully pushed for the introduction of an amendment to clarify areas of critical concern to home builders, including enforcement and verification provisions. Offered by Sens. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.), the bipartisan amendment would have enabled small business owners to play a constructive role in the enforcement of new laws. Highlighting the importance of this issue to the housing community, NAHB wrote letters to all 100 senators, arranged for builders to visit scores of Senate offices and, through BuilderLink, mobilized the association’s national grassroots members. In addition, on June 26 NAHB ran a full page advertisement in USA Today stating the association’s position. In an open letter, NAHB urged all Americans to call their U.S. senators and ask them to support the bipartisan Grassley-Baucus-Obama amendment, noting that it “helps make the new immigration rules much more workable for small businesses and the nation’s home builders.” A similar open letter ad to the U.S. Senate ran the same day in Roll Call, urging senators to support the amendment. Ultimately, senators never voted on the Grassley-Baucus-Obama amendment because the Senate failed to move forward with the bill. “Though it appears that immigration reform is dead for the time being, we hope to continue working with members of Congress to craft immigration policy that protects our borders without placing an unfair burden on small business owners,” said Howard. For more information, e-mail Michael Strauss at NAHB, or call him at 800-368-5242 x8252. Study Finds Wide Range of Estimated 2007 New Home PricesOn a state basis, there are no bigger differences in median new home prices in the country than between Hawaii, where an owner-occupied home built this year will cost $544,000, and Mississippi, where the price will be about a quarter of that amount, or $135,000, according to estimates by NAHB Housing Economics researchers Paul Emrath and Fei Liu. Looking at median new home prices for 2007 in 354 metropolitan areas, the special study finds an even greater range — from a low of $86,000 in Charleston, W.Va. to a high of $849,000 in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif. The two locations differ by a factor of 10 in their home prices. Following Hawaii, the states with the highest estimated medians for 2007 are California ($518,836) and states along the East Coast: New Jersey ($469,293), Virginia ($463,566) and Maryland ($435,528). Following Mississippi, the states with the lowest home prices are Arkansas ($137,516), Louisiana ($147,310), Alabama ($154,433) and West Virginia ($164,661). The ability to make reasonable projections about this year’s home prices has been made possible by the Census Bureau, which at the request of NAHB has begun to tabulate its American Community Survey (ACS) question on house value by the age of the structure. This provides information about the value of recently built homes down to the individual state and metropolitan area levels for all areas with populations of 65,000 or more. Because the data are a couple of years old by the time they are released, and the margin of error is high in some smaller metro areas, other sources of data are figured into the equation as well to arrive at the price estimates, including building permits, other Census surveys and the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight. The median and average home values computed from the ACS “are based on all recently built owner-occupied homes, including any multifamily condominiums,” the NAHB economists write in their report. “The values recorded in the ACS are owners’ estimates of the values of their homes. Although not perfectly accurate, several studies suggest that owners’ estimates provide reasonably good approximations.” While several checks were imposed at each stage of the process to screen out implausible results, the economists point out that the price estimates are subject to possible error from several different sources. Significant variations in metropolitan area prices popped up even within the same state, the study found. For example, Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, Conn. has a median new home price estimate of $268,682 for 2007, ranking 105 on the list of metro areas, while the median new home price estimate is $837,559 for Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Conn., at a ranking of 2. Approximately 83% of the total U.S. population lives in the metro areas analyzed in the report. The largest share of the population in the metropolitan areas (33%) lives in areas with median new home prices between $200,000 and $300,000, followed by 16% living in areas with median prices between $400,000 and $500,000. About 11% lives where the median exceeds $500,000. After San Jose, Calif. and Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk in Connecticut, areas that are home to the 11% of the metro population that will have to pay more than an estimated $500,000 for a median-priced home this year are:
Almost $1 Million Available in ‘Buy Now’ Grant Funds, Apply Now
NAHB is encouraging HBAs that have not yet received or been approved to receive grant money to apply today. To date, 117 HBAs in 36 states have received or been approved to receive more than $2 million in NAHB advertising assistance. Including the matching funds that the HBAs contributed, the total value of their advertising campaigns is more than $6.1 million. The NAHB “Buy Now” Advertising Assistance Program provides grants to qualifying HBAs in three categories:
To Apply To learn more about the program, eligibility considerations and requirements, click here, or call Niki Clark at NAHB at 800-368-5242 x806l. To view a list of the HBAs that have received or been approved for grants, and their grant level categories, click here. A $135 Million Home, But If You Have to Ask…The premier listing of Joshua Saslove’s company — the 95-acre Hala Ranch built northwest of downtown Aspen, Colo. in 1991 for the family of Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the former ambassador to the U.S. from Saudi Arabia and the home’s only, occasional occupant — is the most expensive single-family residential property on the market in the nation, with a price tag of $135 million. Of the 1,000 requests he has received to tour the house since last October when it went on sale, Saslove, along with lawyers for the prince who review every call, have granted just 11 of them. Non-billionaires need not apply, and Saslove believes that Hala will almost certainly be a new owner’s second, third or fourth home. At 56,000 square feet, Hala is bigger than the White House, with a staff of 12. It has 15 bathrooms, 16 baths, a private barbershop and beauty shop just off the master suite and enough space for a party of 450 people. Dark, gleaming wood beams, all with notched construction and not a single nailhead showing, pale plaster walls and television screens dominate the décor. It is not a house for a family that putters in the kitchen, which is in the basement, the province of professional chefs. (www.nytimes.com)
Fewer Low-Income Residents Are OwnersThe number of low-income families obtaining mortgages to buy houses in the District of Columbia has plummeted during the past decade as property values have soared and the city has attracted more affluent residents, according to a new study from the Urban Institute. Ten years ago, 17% of District home buyers were low-income, defined as a family of four with an income of $45,000 or less in current dollars. In 2005, the most recent year for which data were available, that rate had slipped to just over 4%. The general decline in low-income home buyers is the result of the “rapid increases in prices that we saw starting in 2000, increases that were much faster than anyone’s increase in income,” said Peter A. Tatian, a senior research associate with the Urban Institute. “There was a lot of interest in people buying homes in the District, and the higher-income folks started crowding out the lower-income buyers.” The study also contains data showing a rise in the share of Hispanic and Asian home buyers and a decline in African American and white buyers. (www.washingtonpost.com)
Area Suburbs See Rise in ForeclosuresHome repossessions are cropping up almost everywhere in the Washington, D.C. region, regularly occurring on suburban streets unaccustomed to hard times. In Montgomery County, Md., the foreclosure rate has tripled in a year. In Fairfax County, Va., it has quadrupled. In Loudon County, Va. it has increased tenfold. Foreclosures normally come amid economic downturns, when people lose manufacturing jobs or when regions are devastated by natural disaster. The surge in foreclosures during relatively good times can be traced to risky, so-called subprime mortgage loans made to people who stretched too far to purchase homes in an inflated real estate market. In many cases, lenders loosened credit rules for home buyers with bad credit, who made no downpayment or who didn’t earn enough money to qualify for traditional loans. The lenders charged them higher interest rates, which made the loans more expensive. Bolivian immigrants Marcelo Ortetga, a dump truck driver, and his wife, Jenny, who cleans houses, bought a brick-front colonial in Herndon, Va. for $549,000 in February 2006. The payments are $4,200 a month, which grew unbearable as residential construction work slowed and Ortega’s income dropped. The couple tried to sell the house, the value has fallen to $499,000 and they can’t refinance without paying a steep prepayment penalty. (www.washingtonpost.com)
In Ice-Cold Housing Market, Assessment Disputes Heat UpWith the residential real estate market slumping in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, there has been a sharp rise in questions and challenges over 2007 tax assessments. This spring, Ramsey County fielded 998 inquiries about residential valuations, compared with 470 in 2006. In Hennepin County, queries about the suburban assessments increased 32%. Overall, the March 2007 statements — for taxes payable next year — showed residential market values flat in the state’s two most populous counties. Single-family homes in Ramsey County declined less than two-tenths of one percent when improvements were not included. Hennepin County saw residential property values increase 4%. Unimproved single-family homes in Minneapolis increased 1% in value. A state survey of Minnesota counties shows that, overall, residential property values grew more slowly in 2006, with a few communities seeing small dips. For the most part, “we were getting smaller increases,” said House legislative analyst Steve Hinze. But he said that any softening in home market values this year won’t be realized on tax statements until 2008, if then. (www.startribune.com)
Farewell to the Traditional Balcony?Many of today’s architects — world-class innovators such as Helmut Jahn, Richard Meier and Jean Nouvel — are creating balcony-free towers, most with floor-to-ceiling glass windows and some with redesigned outdoor spaces that are tucked into the sides of structures to camouflage their appearance, make them cozier and provide protection against gusts. Some luxury buildings under construction tout an ultramodern, highly engineered floor-to-ceiling glass wall that slides away to open up to the living room and bring in the outdoors. “The balcony has always had great appeal,” said Hani Rashid, a principal of the New York architecture firm Asymptote. “What’s changed is that if you look around at all the older buildings with balconies, they end up being bike storage and planters.” Recent improvements in glass manufacturing and smart-home technology have dramatically improved soundproofing; waterproofing; and anti-reflection, anti-glare, mechanical and privacy issues. This has made the transparent material more appealing for residential use, giving architects more freedom to design condominium and rental apartment high-rises with sleek, clean lines. (www.washingtonpost.com)
Suites All Around; Spacious Master Bedrooms Aren’t Just for Heads of Households AnymoreOf 60 designers, architects and other industry experts surveyed by NAHB in February, about 62% said demand for two master bedroom suites in high-end new houses — those 4,000 square feet or larger — would increase by 2015. The demand is being fueled by the needs and wants of baby boomers who have the disposable incomes to customize their homes. Many of them are caring for elderly, sometimes ailing, parents. Others just want to give their guests or adolescent children privacy. Bozzuto Homes in Greenbelt, Md. is offering dual suites in a number of its plans at Woodbrook on Charles, a community of 28 townhouses and single-family houses in Baltimore County. Pennsylvania-based Toll Brothers offers dual master suites in many of its attached homes and townhomes. There is also a trend toward some form of living space in the home that meets the need for multi-generational living. One reason is that there are more immigrant families, who are less likely to let their aging parents spend their last days in nursing homes. Another reason is that there are more dual-income households with child-care needs. An extra master bedroom can add $10,000 to $20,000 to the cost of a house, according to Jeff Mezger, chief executive of Los Angeles-based KB Home. Tony Letke, senior vice president of Mueller Homes in Sykesville, Md., said it can add up to $40,000 to the price of a house, depending on square footage and amenities. (www.washingtonpost.com)
Affordable Housing Trust Fund Bill Introduced in HouseIntroduction of a bill on June 28 by House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) to establish a National Housing Trust Fund for the creation of affordable housing opportunities for low-income people has received the support of the nation’s home builders. “NAHB’s members are acutely aware of the significant and urgent unmet housing needs throughout the country, and welcome your initiative to marshal additional resources to improve housing opportunities and conditions in America’s communities,” Joseph Stanton, the association’s senior staff vice president for government affairs, wrote to Frank. “In conjunction with efforts to revitalize the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), we believe the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund can greatly improve housing opportunities for those that need it most.” Co-sponsored by Reps. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Gary Miller (R-Calif.), John McHugh (R-N.Y.) and Jim Ramstad (R-Minn.), the bi-partisan National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act of 2007, H.R. 2895, aims to use the trust fund to produce, rehabilitate and preserve 1.5 million units of affordable housing over the next 10 years. Stanton told Frank that NAHB is interested in working with him to ensure the legislation has:
To read the legislation, click here and enter H.R. 2895 ini the box at the center of the page. For more information, e-mail Scott Meyer at NAHB, or call him at 800-368-5242 x8144. House Debates Extending Terrorism Risk InsuranceMarking the beginning of what is expected to be a long debate, the House Financial Services Committee held a hearing on June 21 on extension of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) beyond its current expiration date at the end of this year. The legislation was initially enacted in 2002 to provide a federal backstop for insurance companies in the event of a major terrorist attack after many insurers started excluding terrorism events from their policies following 9/11. The measure was extended for two years in 2005. During the hearing, Assistant Treasury Secretary for Financial Institutions David Nason indicated that the Administration wants a two- to three-year extension of TRIA and is opposed to the longer extension and program expansion that would be provided by H.R. 2761, the Terrorism Risk Insurance Revision and Extension Act of 2007 (TRIREA), which was introduced by Rep. Mike Capuano (D-Mass.) and House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.). The House bill includes the following provisions:
Since the 9/11 attacks, NAHB has strongly advocated legislation to provide secondary insurance coverage for acts of terrorism, and will continue to monitor this issue as it moves through Congress to ensure that the critical insurance needs of the association’s members are addressed. To read the legislation, click here and enter H.R. 2761 in the box at the center of the page. For more information, e-mail Michael Strauss at NAHB, or call him at 800-368-5242 x8252. New Home Sales Continue on Downward Path in MayIn a continuation of the current market correction, sales of new single-family homes slipped 1.6% in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 915,000 units, which was 15.8% below the pace of a year earlier, according to figures released by the U.S. Commerce Department on June 26. “Builders are continuing to offer incentives in order to shore up sales and work down their inventories as home buyer demand remains slack,” said NAHB President Brian Catalde. “The gradual decline in new-home sales is still underway, and we expect this trend to continue as the market approaches the bottom,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders. “We expect home sales to stabilize before the end of the year, followed by a systematic multi-year recovery beginning in 2008.” The inventory of new homes for sale edged down 1.1% in May to 536,000 units, equivalent to a 7.1 months’ supply at the May sales pace compared to 7.0 months in April. Completed homes for sale comprised 33% of the inventory; units still under construction represented almost 51% and units for-sale that were permitted but not yet started represented 16% of the inventory level. Completed homes were on the market a median 5.7 months in May, down from 5.9 months in April. Regionally, new-home sales in May were down 11.0% in the Northeast, 7.3% in the South and 1.9% in the West. Sales for the month were up by 30.8% in the Midwest.
Want to Know the Housing Forecast for the Top 100 Metros? Find out in HousingEconomic.com’s 2007-2008 Metro Forecast (free preview). Get the metro forecast with in-depth analysis, overviews and downloadable Excel tables. 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 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. For assistance, call the NAHB Member Service Center at 800-368-5242. Housing Affordability Improves Some in First QuarterThe metropolitan areas encompassing Indianapolis-Carmel, Ind. and Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio-Pa. were tied for the most affordable major U.S. housing market in this year's first quarter, according to the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI), which was released on June 28. Meanwhile, lower home prices and mortgage interest rates helped boost housing affordability across the nation. "The latest HOI shows that about 44% of new and existing homes that were sold in the United States during this year's first quarter were affordable to families earning the national median income," said NAHB President Brian Catalde. "This is up from 41.6% of homes sold in the final quarter of 2006, and is likely the result of lower house prices as well as the very favorable financing conditions that existed at the beginning of this year." "The national weighted interest rate on prime quality fixed- and adjustable-rate home mortgages, which is used in calculating the HOI, slipped to 6.4% in the first quarter of this year, down from 6.52% in the final quarter of 2006 and the lowest level since the first quarter of 2006, when it was gauged at 6.39%," said NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders. "Meanwhile, following a strong nationwide surge that started in early 2004 and continued through mid-2006, overall home prices weakened for three consecutive quarters leading up to and including the period encompassing January through March of 2007,” Seiders said. “Together, these factors improved the typical family's ability to purchase a home," he said, "although tightening of lending standards in the subprime component of the mortgage market certainly affected more marginal credit risks as the first quarter drew to a close." In the nation's most affordable major housing markets of Indianapolis and Youngstown, 89% of new and existing homes that were sold during the first quarter of this year were affordable to families earning those areas' respective median household incomes of $63,800 and $51,400. The median sales price of all Indianapolis homes sold in that time frame was $116,000 and the median sales price of all Youngstown-area homes sold was just $78,000. Also near the top of the list for affordable major metros in the first quarter was Dayton, Ohio, followed by Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich., and Grand Rapids-Wyoming, Mich. Midwestern metros also dominated the list of the most affordable smaller housing markets with fewer than 500,000 people. Kokomo, Ind. was at the top of the list, followed by Lansing-East Lansing, Mich.; Lima, Ohio; Saginaw-Saginaw Township North, Mich.; and Bay City, Mich., in that order. Once again at the bottom of the affordability scale was Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif., where just 3% of homes sold in the first quarter were affordable to families earning the metro's median household income of $61,700. The median price of all homes sold in that area was $525,000. As usual, Los Angeles shared the bottom of the affordability scale with other major California metros, including Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, the second least affordable; San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, the fourth least affordable; and Modesto as the fifth least affordable large housing markets in the nation. The third least affordable major metro, New-York-White Plains-Wayne, N.Y.-N.J., was the only non-California location in the bottom five. All five of the least affordable small cities with populations under 500,000 were located in California during the first quarter, with Salinas at the very bottom of the chart followed by Merced, Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Goleta, Napa and San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles.
Want to Know the Housing Forecast for the Top 100 Metros? Find out in HousingEconomic.com’s 2007-2008 Metro Forecast (free preview). Get the metro forecast with in-depth analysis, overviews and downloadable Excel tables. 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 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. For assistance, call the NAHB Member Service Center at 800-368-5242. S&P Housing Price Index Down for 17th Straight Month in AprilA closely watched monthly index of existing single-family housing prices by Standard & Poor’s declined in April for the 17th consecutive month since December 2005 and showed that no region of the country has escaped the downturn. An annual decline of 2.7% brought the 10-city composite in the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices to its lowest level since 1991. The indices also include a 20-city composite that was started in 2001. “A review of the decline in home price returns on a regional level shows no region is immune to the weakening price returns,” said Robert J. Shiller, chief economist at MacroMarkets LLC. “While regional economic fundamentals may be keeping cities like Portland (Ore.), Seattle and Charlotte (N.C.) in positive territory, they have not curbed their diminishing returns,” Shiller said. “For example, Seattle reported annual returns of 9.6% this month compared to the 17.8% reported for April last year. In addition, Miami has crossed into negative territory this month, with a 1.0% annual decline.” Detroit was at the top of the 20-city list for weakening housing prices, with a 9.3% decline over the 12-month period through this April. San Diego and Washington, D.C. were next in line, with price declines of 6.7% and 5.7%, respectively. Four cities — Atlanta, Boston, Dallas and Denver — saw both monthly price increases in April and some modest strengthening in their annual rates of return. Whether or not this signals the beginnings of a recovery in these markets will become more apparent with a few more months of index data.
Want to Know the Housing Forecast for the Top 100 Metros? Find out in HousingEconomic.com’s 2007-2008 Metro Forecast (free preview). Get the metro forecast with in-depth analysis, overviews and downloadable Excel tables. 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 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. For assistance, call the NAHB Member Service Center at 800-368-5242. Extent of Lending Pullback Damage for Housing UnclearThe ripple effects of recent problems in the subprime market could shave the downturn in housing production by an additional 10% to 15%, according to John V. Duca, a senior economist for the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. However, “several questions remain unanswered about the ramifications of the pullback in nonprime lending — regarding home construction, foreclosures and home prices,” Duca said in a question and answer conversation appearing on the bank’s Web site. “Unwinding the dramatic rise in nonprime mortgages could have a noticeable effect on home construction beyond what we’ve seen through the first quarter,” he said. “Some industry analysts speculate that the lending pullback could slow home building another 10% to 15%. At this point, though, it’s hard to gauge the full impact. With nonprime lending at nearly 40% last year, the effect could be even greater.” For one thing, he said, it is difficult to forecast how much foreclosure rates could rise down the road because price trends have changed dramatically and a decline in documentation has added uncertainty about the debt service burdens of many nonprime borrowers. Last year, subprime and Alt-A loans accounted for 40% of mortgage originations, he said, and many of those were made without the income documentation normally required to get a conforming loan. Alt-A mortgages go to buyers who don’t qualify for low-risk conforming loans because their credit score is too low, the payment-to-income ratio is too high or, in some cases, the income is not documented. According to Credit Suisse, Duca said, subprime loans with low or no documentation rose from 30% in 2001 to 60% in 2006. On the Alt-A side, the share of those mortgages rose from 66% to 81%. “Subprime mortgage problems are concentrated among borrowers who don’t have fixed-rate mortgages,” he said. “The vast majority of subprime loans have teaser interest rates. After two to three years, many reset at higher rates and borrowers in some cases also begin making principal payments. This resetting can trigger a dramatic rise in mortgage payments, which many borrowers are unprepared to make.” Although flat or declining house price appreciation in most parts of the country has made it more difficult for subprime borrowers to tap into their home equity when they run into trouble repaying their loans, Duca indicated that a growing economy will provide at least a partial solution to the foreclosure problem. “By keeping inflation under control,” he said, “the Fed hopes to sustain the current economic expansion, which should enable many, but not all, of today’s households and lenders to work through their mortgage quality problems.”
Want to Know the Housing Forecast for the Top 100 Metros? Find out in HousingEconomic.com’s 2007-2008 Metro Forecast (free preview). Get the metro forecast with in-depth analysis, overviews and downloadable Excel tables. 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 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. For assistance, call the NAHB Member Service Center at 800-368-5242. Housing Slump Seen Beginning to Pinch Consumer Spending, JobsThe U.S. economy is not in a recession, but with the housing correction stumbling into a second leg as a result of the emergence of subprime market woes earlier this year, economists at the UCLA Anderson Forecast are now saying that the economy is “certainly close” to recessionary conditions. In its second quarterly report of 2007, the Anderson Forecast predicts that real growth in the gross domestic product will be 1.8% for the year, “roughly on par with the near-recessionary environment of 2002,” when real GDP advanced at 1.6%. The forecast calls for “the housing-induced sluggishness in the U.S. economy to last into early 2008,” followed by a return to around 3% GDP growth by mid-year. In the meantime, weakness in the real estate sector is expected to hold payroll job growth in California to less than 1% for the next five quarters and dampen consumer spending across the country. In his report, UCLA Anderson Forecast Senior Economist David Shulman notes that if the current forecast is accurate, then the period from the second quarter of 2006 through the first quarter of 2008 will mark an unusually long period of below-trend growth by historical standards. Shulman also concludes that the Federal Reserve won’t be providing any monetary policy help in the form of an interest rate cut until the fourth quarter of this year as it continues to follow an informal policy of inflation targeting that dates back to the mid-1990s. The housing recovery will be relatively flat, resembling an “L” rather than the customary “V,” he says, because of subprime market tribulations. With housing and consumption both “down,” the strength of the national economy lies in developments in the rest of the world, according to the forecast. “The global economy is booming,” Shulman writes. “Indeed, it is the strength of the global economy that is powering the stock market to new highs (and) it is no accident that the Wall Street rally is being led by the giant global corporations who are benefiting most from the worldwide expansion.”
Want to Know the Housing Forecast for the Top 100 Metros? Find out in HousingEconomic.com’s 2007-2008 Metro Forecast (free preview). Get the metro forecast with in-depth analysis, overviews and downloadable Excel tables. 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 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. For assistance, call the NAHB Member Service Center at 800-368-5242. Useful Links to Monitor Economic and Housing TrendsThe 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.
Want to Know the Housing Forecast for the Top 100 Metros? Find out in HousingEconomic.com’s 2007-2008 Metro Forecast (free preview). Get the metro forecast with in-depth analysis, overviews and downloadable Excel tables. 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 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. For assistance, call the NAHB Member Service Center at 800-368-5242. Builders’ Tip: Using a Biscuit Joiner to Patch Wood Flooring
The difficult part of patching a strip floor is making a clean, square cut in one piece of flooring without cutting into any adjacent pieces. Most folks drill holes along a line and then chisel out the cut. I have discovered a faster and easier way to replace or repair a piece of wood strip flooring. It doesn’t involve drilling holes, and it only requires a minimum of chiseling. As shown in the accompanying diagram, I use a biscuit joiner to make the cuts. I have found that this method is much quicker and more accurate than the drill and chisel method. Here’s how to use a biscuit cutter for the job:
— David Hornstein, Lexington, Mass. Tips & Techniques provided by Fine Homebuilding.
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. Hot Spot Training Stops Creaky Bedroom Floors in FloridaResponding to a recurring service issue for home builders in Florida, National Housing Quality (NHQ) Certified trade contractor SelectBuild Integrated Construction Services has incorporated hot spot training to reduce warranty calls on squeaky floors in second-floor bedrooms. As recently reported in Quality Matters, the official e-newsletter of the NAHB Research Center's National Housing Quality Program, preventing the squeaks in the first place is the best solution, since correcting the problem in existing homes is difficult and expensive. As part of its corporate-wide quality assurance program, SelectBuild sought to modify any field installation processes that may have contributed to post-closing floor-squeaking concerns raised by the customers of builders in the region. Movement of a wood framing member against a metal structural hanger is a common cause of a noticeable floor squeak. In this case, floor trusses set in buckets with glue were identified as the cause of the noise. In the state’s hot weather, the glue cracks and separates, eventually causing the floor to creak. To resolve the issue, SelectBuild found that wrapping the end of the wood trusses with paper instead of glue will significantly reduce floor creaking after occupancy of the home owner. The correction process was described for work crews with the use of hot spot training, which incorporates a graphic tool that depicts the right and the wrong way of performing certain routine field construction tasks. Typically presented in both English and Spanish, the visual cues of hot spot training are helpful in overcoming language barriers on the job site. To see the graphically oriented “hot spot” training sheet used to implement this simple process, click here. For more information, e-mail Jeff Taggart of the NHQ Certified Trade Contractors Program. ‘Benchmark Your Business’ Takes Business to a New LevelJack H. Willenbrock’s book, “Benchmark Your Business, Guidelines for Success,” available through BuilderBooks.com, helps home builders, developers and trade contractors take business to a new, profitable level. “Benchmark Your Business” is a step-by-step assessment manual that enables readers to assess their business management and operational systems by comparing managerial proficiencies to construction output quickly and efficiently. This user-friendly manual provides readers with new insight into the leadership and management practices being operated in their home building firm — knowledge essential for creating the best roadmap for future growth. By the completion of the assessment manual, users will have benchmarked these systems:
Go to NAHB's Business Management Tools Web pages (available to members only) for instant access to more than 300 timesaving, moneymaking and cost-cutting business resources to help you run your business more profitably. Get guidance on accounting and financial management, business strategy, computers and information technology, customer service, human resources and more. Resources are added weekly, so bookmark www.nahb.org/biztools to go directly to these vital business management resources. Local and state home builders associations can link directly to www.nahb.org/biztools from their Web site and give their members instant access to these resources. It will make your HBA's Web site the place to go for the information and guidance that members need to succeed. New 50-Plus Research Available Online for Members
The 50+ Housing Council's “Profile of the 50+ Housing Market” is complete and available exclusively to council members at www.nahb.org/50plusresearch. To date, the research has been cited in more than 20 news articles, including in the Chicago Tribune and USA Today. The final chapter of the research, "New Construction for the 50+ Market," examines the projected numbers for new 55+ construction in 2007 and the basic characteristics of new construction, such as square footage, number of bedrooms and bathrooms and the kinds of recreational amenities offered. Some highlights:
If you don't have an NAHB login and password, call NAHB’s Member Services at 800-368-5242 x0 to obtain one. EPA Launches Active Aging 'Healthy Communities' AwardsThe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced an award program to recognize outstanding community planning and strategies that support active aging. The Building Healthy Communities for Active Aging awards will be presented to communities that demonstrate the best and most inclusive overall approach to implementing smart growth and active aging at the neighborhood, municipality, county and regional levels. Two types of awards will be offered:
Smart growth development practices support national environmental goals by preserving open spaces and parkland and protecting critical habitat; improving transportation choices, including walking, bicycling and transit, which reduce automobile emissions; promoting brownfield redevelopment; and reducing impervious surfaces, which improves water quality. Applicants must be public-sector entities and coordinate with their local Area Agency on Aging. Public-sector entities include all levels of elected governments, from city councils to state legislatures and their subdivisions such as planning departments and other executive branch divisions. Applications are due Oct. 17. Winners will be announced at the New Partners for Smart Growth: Building Safe, Healthy and Livable Communities Conference in Washington, D.C. in February. For applications, award guidelines and entry rules, visit www.epa.gov/aging/bhc/awards. For more information, e-mail aging.info@epa.gov. New Rules Proposed for Tax Credit Utility AllowancesWithin a week of each other, the Internal Revenue Service and Department of Housing and Urban Development both acted favorably on NAHB recommendations for setting utility allowances in the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program. The LIHTC program limits gross rents — including utilities, with the exception of telephone and cable TV service. In the typical case where the tenant pays some utilities, a “utility allowance” is subtracted from the net rent going to the property owner. These allowances have become problematic in some locations where they have been unrealistically high and volatile. Current IRS regulations provide few options beyond using the same allowances local Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) use for the Section 8 program, which often are based on older properties. Over a period of years, NAHB has been working with the IRS to revise its regulations, and with HUD to provide PHAs with help in calculating utility allowances that more accurately reflect costs. After several letters from NAHB, HUD made its new spreadsheet model for calculating utility allowances available on its Web site on June 13: (www.huduser.org/resources/utilmodel.html). The HUD model calculates different allowances, depending on when the project was built. If adopted by PHAs, it should produce lower allowances for many newer LIHTC properties. Then, on June 18, the IRS issued new proposed regulations for LIHTC utility allowances. The IRS proposal included several changes recommended by NAHB, including:
For more information, or to provide input to NAHB comments, e-mail Carmel McGuire or call her at 800-266-8350 x8207. Remodelers Take Recruitment 'Road Show' to Colorado
Three Colorado remodelers councils representing the Home Builders Association of Metro Denver, Housing and Building Association of Colorado Springs and Home Builders Association of Northern Colorado hosted the event on June 25-26 in Denver. More than 80 prospective members attended.
During the first day of the road show, NAHB Remodelers leadership met with their local counterparts to discuss the strengths, challenges and areas of opportunity that they would present to prospects the following day.
In a separate discussion, Alan Hanbury, Jr., CGR, CAPS, detailed the difference between markups and margins and gave information on how to crunch numbers to make a business succeed.
Jennifer Proctor, of Dal Tile and Stone in Colorado Springs, took Nagel’s offer. How Road Shows Work
The first road show was held at the Northeast Florida Home Builders Association in March 2006. That was followed by a road show hosted by the Wichita Area Builders Association, Kans. in October.
A local remodelers council must apply to have a road show hosted in its region. The council must be established and have support from its HBA The remodelers council of the Home Builders Association of Greater Cleveland will host a road show on Oct. 29-30 and the Home Builders and Remodelers Association of New Hampshire will host a show on Nov. 5-6.
Take Builders Survey About Systems, Attitudes, TrendsThe Concrete Home Builders Council (CBHC) and the Portland Cement Association (PCA) are conducting a home builder survey to determine what types of products and systems are being used in homes currently being built so that they can develop targeted, focused programs that better serve the residential building community. The online survey will track changing attitudes, perceptions and trends in the industry and takes about 10 minutes to complete. To Take the Survey To take the survey, click here. Free Survey Results and iPod Drawing Respondents will be entered into a drawing for one of three 4GB iPod nanos, valued at more than $189 each. Respondents will also be given a free copy of the results once they are compiled. Respondents will be asked to fill out contact information at the end of the survey to be entered into the drawing for the iPod nano and to receive the survey results. The contact information will be used for drawing and copy-of-the-results purposes only. The deadline for survey submissions is July 25. For more inforation about the Portland Cement Association, visit www.cement.org. Enter the 2007 Brick in Home Building Competition by July 31Enter the Brick in Home Building Awards, which showcase the finest work in clay face and paving brick from residential builders and architects around the country. Conducted by the Brick Industry Association, entries are due by Tuesday, July 31. Entries can be submitted in one or more of the following categories:
For more information about the award, including eligibility, submission requirements and judging, visit www.gobrick.com/HomeBuildingAwards. To enter, click here.
Apply for 2008 Commerical Building Awards of Excellence
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:
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, e-mail Nick Lashinsky at NAHB, or call him at 800-368-5242 x8455. Education Calendar
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 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. More Challenges Ahead on ICC Wall Bracing RequirementsDuring the recently completed International Code Council's (ICC) code amendment cycle, building officials voted in improvements to the wall bracing requirements for houses to resist wind and seismic loads, which have been one of the most contested items in the code, but some interests are already at work on other proposals involving this issue that could be detrimental to home builders. Among the approved changes to Section R602.10 and R602.11 on wall bracing made to the ICC’s 2007 supplement to its family of model codes:
Much of this effort has been devoted to revising the required wall bracing amounts in Table R602.10.1 to reflect new shear wall test data, to split the requirements for wind and seismic loading and to reflect the concerns of the seismic community with the behavior of houses in earthquakes and particularly with the performance of drywall finishes. In addition, there is pressure from some product representatives and the seismic community to introduce more engineering-based provisions — including increased foundation and footing requirements — particularly for interior braced walls, as well as uplift hold-down requirements and limits on cripple wall construction. These efforts could lead to code proposals for the 2007 to 2008 and subsequent code development cycles that would substantially increase the wall bracing amounts and other requirements. These provisions could potentially limit builder and designer flexibility and substantially increase the cost of building a home. NAHB is represented on the ICC Ad-Hoc Committee and in the BSSC Task Group and NAHB staff members continue to closely monitor the issues related to this section and to strongly advocate provisions that are cost-effective and reflect the excellent performance of conventional wood-framed construction under normal circumstances and in wind and seismic events. For more information, e-mail Gary Ehrlich at NAHB, or call him at 800-368-5242 x8545. Orders Brisk for Free Green Building Guidelines BookWhether to promote their own local green building programs or to pave the way for the creation of a program in the future, 109 local home builders associations responded to NAHB’s offer to send complimentary copies of the Model Green Home Building Guidelines to their offices this month. Created to help associations launch voluntary green building certification programs, the guidelines have now been reprinted for the second time in support of developing and launching NAHB’s National Green Building Program, an initiative that was approved by the association’s board of directors in June. The national program will allow NAHB to maintain a leadership position in green building and advocate effectively for cost-effective, market-driven green building in communities around the country. Existing HBA-affiliated programs that are at least as stringent as what is promulgated by the model guidelines will be invited to join the national network. As part of the budget allocation for the new program, the NAHB board authorized reprinting the guidelines book, which includes residential green building educational information and a checklist for certifying homes. “In short, the guidelines allow builders to make decisions that positively impact energy efficiency, resource conservation and indoor environmental quality throughout the entire design and construction process,” said Ray Tonjes, chairman of the NAHB Green Building Subcommittee. “Green means doing the right thing for the builder, the home owner and most importantly, the environment.” NAHB originally ordered 10,000 copies of the guidelines books to be printed, but increased the number to 13,000 due to the high demand. About 9,000 guidelines books will be mailed to HBAs across the county that requested them. The guideline books are packed in boxes of 22 and will be mailed directly from the printer to associations for delivery in early July. Smaller orders of the guidelines books will be available to both associations and NAHB members beginning this month. For more information, e-mail Calli Schmidt at NAHB, or call her at 800-368-5242 x8132. Riverside Provides Incentives to California Green BuildersThe City of Riverside last month became the first community in California to provide incentives to builders who utilize the voluntary California Green Builder program as a way to meet the city’s “Clean and Green” requirements, the California Building Industry Association (CBIA) reported recently. Recognized by a number of communities, including Palm Springs, Palm Desert and Cathedral City, the California Green Builder program (CGB) was developed by CBIA’s technical and research affiliate, the Building Industry Institute (BII), to provide a measurable, environmentally friendly and cost-effective green building program primarily for production home builders. Riverside's decision is another indication of the success of voluntary, market-driven green building programs, said NAHB President Brian Catlade. The program provides a number of environmental benefits:
And cities benefit by adopting an established program that saves energy and water, helps them meet their recycling mandates, and since compliance is guaranteed by independent third-party inspectors, city building officials don’t have to spend extra resources inspecting each home for compliance,” Rivinius said. “There’s clearly a growing interest in building ‘green,’ and CGB builders provide environmentally friendly homes that don’t add tens of thousands of dollars to the cost of the home, as can be the case with homes built to meet some rigidly designed alternative programs,” he said. In addition, there are often incentives to builders, such as tax and utility rebates and expedited processing, which can save thousands of dollars. The City of Riverside has agreed to provide expedited processing to CGB for plan checking and inspections and is the first city in the state to tie incentives directly to CGB homes. Without incentives or rebates, building to CGB standards can cost home buyers up to $6,000 per home, which is why Rivinius stressed the need for communities to adopt voluntary green building programs instead of imposing even more costly mandates in the state with the lowest housing affordability in the nation. To date, more than 1,100 CGB homes have been built and there are nearly 4,000 more homes in the pipeline, with several other major builders considering joining. More than 1,400 homes have been added to the program so far this year alone. Homes are currently available in the Sacramento area, Stockton, San Jose, Bakersfield, the Santa Clarita Valley, Victorville, San Diego and San Luis Obispo. For more information about the program and links to participating builders, click here (www.cagreenbuilder.com).
‘Profit from Green Building’ Available at BuilderBooks.com “Profit from Building Green — Award-Winning Tips to Build Energy Efficient Homes,” available through BuilderBooks.com, showcases what energy-conscious award-winning builders are doing, provides innovative energy-efficient features and covers successful techniques for building this niche market. To view or purchase this publication online, click here, or call 800-223-2665. Software Provides Data on 230 Building ProductsThe most recent edition of ToolBase E-News from the NAHB Research Center announces the availability of a new version of software for the selection of cost-effective, environmentally preferable building products. Developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the BEES (Building for Environmental and Economic Sustainability) software is based on consensus standards and designed to be practical, flexible and transparent. Aimed at designers, builders and product manufactures, the new Version 4.0 of the Window-based support software includes actual environmental and economic performance data for 230 building products. BEES measures the environmental performance of building products by using a lifecycle assessment approach, including raw material acquisition, manufacture, transportation, installation, use, and recycling and waste management. The costs of initial investment, replacement, operation, maintenance and repair, and disposal are used to measure the economic performance of the products. Biobased products are now also included in the performance data. BEES has been supported in part by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmentally Preferable Purchasing program, which encourages executive governmental agencies to reduce the environmental burdens associated with the more than $230 billion in products and services they buy each year, including building products. BEES 4.0 runs on Windows 95 and needs at least 60 MB of available disk space. To download a free copy of BEES, click here. Or order a free BEES 4.0 compact disc and printed manual from the EPA Pollution Prevention Information Clearinghouse by e-mailing ppic@epa.gov or by calling 202-566-0799. Mushrooms the Secret Ingredient in Organic InsulationA recent graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y. has developed an environmentally friendly organic insulation that he hopes will provide an alternative to conventional foam insulation in developing nations where usable housing is scarce and generally hard to obtain, or in disaster areas where temporary housing is essential. Eben Bayer’s combination of water, flour, minerals and mushroom spores offers a more cost-effective and environmentally friendly alternative to conventional polystyrene and polyurethane foam blends that require petroleum for production and are not biodegradable. Bayer completed double majors in mechanical engineering and product design and innovation, and he is the son of a successful farmer in South Royalton, Vt. His knowledge of the Earth and fungal growth led him to develop a novel method of bonding insulating minerals using the mycelium growth stage of pleurotus ostreatus mushroom cells. “The insulation is created by pouring a mixture of insulating particles, hydrogen peroxide, starch and water into a panel mold,” Bayer says. “Mushroom cells are then injected into the mold, where they digest the starch, producing a tightly meshed network of insulating particles and mycelium. The end result is an organic composite board that has a competitive R-Value — a measurement of resistance to heat flow — and can serve as a firewall.” Bayer hatched his organic idea in an “Inventor’s Studio” class challenging students to create sustainable housing. His assignment was to improve the insulation of a conventional home. Bayer’s process resulted in a new energy-saving, cost-effective, environmentally friendly class of insulation that could replace traditional synthetic insulators such as foam and fiberglass. He is currently at work with fellow grad Gavin McIntyre to produce larger samples using different substrates, insulating particles and growth conditions. In November, Bayer and McIntyre will travel to Seattle to compete as semifinalists in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers' Innovation Showcase competition. Participants will display their product’s key features and commercialization components and compete for a cash prize. Beyond insulation applications, the two envision modifying the growing mixture slightly to include reinforcing materials that could be used to create strong and sustainable “growable” homes. Examples of this application include inexpensive structural panels that could be grown and assembled on-site in developing nations and where temporary housing is essential.
‘Profit from Green Building’ Available at BuilderBooks.com “Profit from Building Green — Award-Winning Tips to Build Energy Efficient Homes,” available through BuilderBooks.com, showcases what energy-conscious award-winning builders are doing, provides innovative energy-efficient features and covers successful techniques for building this niche market. To view or purchase this publication online, click here, or call 800-223-2665. Green Bricks Made of Power Plant Coal Ash Move Closer to MarketUnder development as a potential “green” alternative to clay bricks, bricks made from fly ash captured as waste by coal-fired power plants recently moved one step closer to marketplace feasibility with the finding that they are safer than some had expected. Instead of leaching minute amounts of mercury as researchers had predicted, the bricks apparently do the reverse, pulling tiny amounts of the toxic metal out of the ambient air. Each year, roughly 25 million tons of fly ash from coal-fired plants are recycled, generally as additives in building materials such as concrete, but 45 million tons go to waste. Fly ash bricks both find a use for some of that waste and counter the environmental impact from the manufacture of standard bricks. “Manufacturing clay brick requires kilns fired to high temperatures,” says Henry Liu, president of Freight Pipeline Company, who has been working on the alternative bricks since 2004 with support from the Small Business Innovation Research program of the National Science Foundation (NSF). “That wastes energy, pollutes air and generates greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.” By contrast, he says, “fly ash bricks are manufactured at room temperature. They conserve energy, cost less to manufacture and don’t contribute to air pollution or global warming.” Once colored and shaped, the bricks are similar to their clay counterparts, both in appearance and in meeting or exceeding construction-material standards. Liu used the first phase of his NSF support to make fly ash bricks more durable by engineering them to resist weather-related freezing and thawing. Now at work on the second phase, he is testing the brick material’s safety and preparing it for market. While researchers need to study the bricks further to determine how the mercury absorption occurs and how tightly the metal is trapped, the new findings suggest that the bricks will not have a negative impact on indoor air quality.
‘Profit from Green Building’ Available at BuilderBooks.com “Profit from Building Green — Award-Winning Tips to Build Energy Efficient Homes,” available through BuilderBooks.com, showcases what energy-conscious award-winning builders are doing, provides innovative energy-efficient features and covers successful techniques for building this niche market. To view or purchase this publication online, click here, or call 800-223-2665. Tighter Air Quality Standards Would Push Up Building CostsThe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed tightening the nation’s air quality standards for ground-level ozone, a move that would likely result in a significant increase in the number of “non-attainment” counties in the country. To deliver new housing in non-attainment areas, builders typically are required to juggle regulations aimed at bringing the ozone levels in those jurisdictions down to desired levels. According to the National Association of Clean Air Agencies, 104 of the 639 counties monitored for ozone pollution are still not complying with the 1997 standards. Under the new EPA proposal, 398 counties would be in violation. NAHB is awaiting more information about the extent of the non-attainment areas and will file comments once the new maps and the final proposal are released this month. The proposed revisions — including a parts per million reduction from .08 to somewhere between .07 and .075 — reflect new scientific evidence about ozone and its effects on people and public welfare, according to the EPA. Breathing air containing ozone can aggravate asthma or other respiratory conditions, and for people with heart and lung disease it has been associated with increased respiratory infections, hospital admissions and premature deaths. This is the first that time the agency has sought to revise the ozone standard since 1997, although the EPA estimates that ozone levels have dropped by 21% since 1980. Ground-level ozone is not emitted directly into the air, according to EPA, but is created through a reaction of nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compound emissions in the presence of sunlight. Emissions from industrial facilities, electric utilities, motor vehicle exhaust, gasoline vapors and chemical solvents are the major man-made sources contributing to elevated ground-level ozone. In its comments to the EPA, NAHB will be emphasizing the effects of the rule on the home building industry and seeking regulatory balance to avoid placing more upward pressure on residential construction costs, although the agency does not have to consider costs when proposing new ozone emission rules. The agency will take public comment for 90 days following publication of the proposal in the Federal Register and will hold public hearings in Los Angeles and Philadelphia on Aug. 30, and in Chicago and Houston on Sept. 5. For more information, e-mail Calli Schmidt at NAHB, or call her at 800-368-5242 x8132. Raise Awareness on the Web, Harness the Power of BloggingI am stunned by the number of home builders and real estate agents who still don’t have a Web site. What are they waiting for? A home builder or a real estate professional without a Web site is the modern day equivalent of a caveman refusing fire. A Web site helps your business, builds your brand and generates sales. If you are technology challenged, ask your kids for help. For those of you already on the Web site bandwagon, take the next step and create a blog. But what, exactly, is a blog? The term is short for Web log. A blog is an online journal or newsletter that is frequently updated and reflects the personality of the author. The activity of updating a blog is called “blogging” and the person who updates the blog is called a “blogger.” Blogs have become very popular for people to post their opinions on everything from politics to pop culture. They develop cult-like followings and encourage members to post comments and interact with the writer. This article you are reading was originally posted as a blog. It appears on my Web site and at the bottom of the article, there is a button for readers to post comments and questions. What Can a Blog Do for Your Business? A blog gives you an additional online avenue for people to find out about you. Adding a blog to your online marketing arsenal increases your visibility on the Internet and provides another vehicle for potential buyers and sellers to connect to you. Think about a blog as an advertorial billboard directing people to your Web site, where they can find out more. A blog increases your Web site’s rankings in the search engines. Blogs are very popular with search engines like Google and Yahoo! because they contain editorial, and not promotional, content. Therefore Google and Yahoo! tend to rank blogs high in their search results. Chances are your blog will get ranked higher in the search engine results than your Web site, so link your blog to your Web site. This will drive additional traffic to your Web site and increase your Web site’s ranking — Hint: Search engines like Web sites with multiple inbound links. A Blog Adds to Your ‘Information Power’ Roger Dawson, the negotiation expert, delineates powers salespeople can use to control the negotiation process. “Information Power,” he says, moves you from salesperson status to expert status — a trusted advisor, a partner who is far more trustworthy and knowledgeable than just a commissioned salesperson. The editorial content on your blog will position you as a real estate expert and lend credibility creating “Information Power.” How Do You Start a Blog? It is easy. Most blogs are free or are very inexpensive (less than $100 annually) to set up, register and operate. Web sites like www.blogger.com will guide you through a few easy steps to register for a free blog template. You get to select the name of your blog, choose the screen colors and customize the contact information. If you have average computer skills, you are skilled enough to set up a blog. It will take approximately an hour to create it. Set the blog’s filters to screen participant comments and require your approval before posting. This prevents inappropriate or unflattering comments from being posted without your permission. The next step is to post your first journal entry. Topics could include:
You also don’t need to write the great American novel — just a couple of well-written paragraphs that clearly establish your expertise. Link the posting to your Web site so readers can find out more information. If you aren’t a good writer, hire a freelance writer to ghostwrite for you. There are really no rules about blogs, except that they should be updated frequently. Keep it professional, educational and not overly promotional. Otherwise, let your expertise and personality fly. Meredith Oliver, MIRM, CSP is the president and founder of Meredith Communications, a sales training and eMarketing consulting company based in Orlando, Fla. Oliver has spoken nationally at the 2002 through 2006 International Builders’ Shows, the 2002 FAR Real Estate Summit and the 2003 Custom Builder Symposium. She hosts a monthly virtual seminar on eMarketing topics and is the author of "Log on to eLeads: The Ultimate Manual for Home Builders and Real Estate Agents Who Want to Convert eLeads to eSales." For more information, e-mail Oliver, call her at 321-285-1660 or visit her Web site, www.CreatingWow.com. This article originally appeared in the November/December 2006 issue of Sales + Marketing Ideas magazine.
Subscribe to Sales + Marketing Ideas Magazine for Cutting-Edge Information For additional cutting-edge sales and marketing information, subscribe to NAHB’s Sales + Marketing Ideas magazine (www.smimagazine.com). Click here to learn about membership benefits of the National Sales and Marketing Council and the Institute of Residential Marketing. HBI English Training Part of Industry Alliance With OSHAIn a June 8 signing ceremony at NAHB’s spring board meeting in Washington, D.C., the association renewed its alliance with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to provide the residential construction industry with information, guidance and access to training resources that help protect the health and safety of workers. "NAHB is proud to be renewing the successful NAHB-OSHA alliance as part of our commitment to improving construction safety in the home building industry," said NAHB First Vice President Sandy Dunn. "The safety training materials and seminars that have been produced through this alliance, such as the "NAHB-OSHA Jobsite Safety Handbook," have already made a positive impact on employee safety." As part of the industry’s commitment to promote job site safety, Home Builders Institute (HBI), the workforce development arm of NAHB, has developed Sed de Saber™-Construction Edition — a seven-book English as a Second Language (ESL) training tool targeted at Spanish-speaking workers in the home building industry. It is powered by innovative Leap Frog technology to make learning engaging and memorable. The first six Sed de Saber books focus on English language comprehension, allowing workers to improve their communication skills, ultimately leading to a safer job site. The seventh book is exclusively dedicated to safety, incorporating the entire “NAHB-OSHA Jobsite Safety Handbook.” Sed de Saber™-Construction Edition is powered by innovative Leap Frog technology to make learning engaging and memorable. Following the renewal of the NAHB-OSHA partnership, Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Edwin Foulke participated in a demonstration of the innovative learning tool. Dunn serves as the oversight officer of the HBI Board of Trustees, which has been closely involved in the development and launch of Sed de Saber™-Construction Edition. “Sed de Saber is a wonderful learning tool, and this demonstration served as a great opportunity for HBI to inform government safety officials about our dedication to ensuring the safety of our Hispanic workers,” said HBI Chairman William Paul. For more about Sed de Saber™-Construction Edition, e-mail Leticia Zirkle at 800-795-7955 x8926, click here or read the information below.
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. LP Radiant Barrier Sheathing Lowers Attic TemperaturesLP TechShield® radiant barrier sheathing can lower attic temperatures by up to 30 degrees and reduces peak cooling demand, allowing builders to install smaller, less expensive HVAC units, according to testing by the Atlanta-based EarthCraft House program, a partnership between the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association and Southface. For its study, EarthCraft House compared four Atlanta-area Haven Home properties using two different floor plans with 3,616 and 3,100 square feet, two stories, low-e windows and R-30 insulated ceilings. The duct systems and building envelopes of the homes were well sealed. Each home also had two HVAC systems, one in the attic and one in the basement or conditioned area. Two of the four homes featured LP TechShield radiant barriers, while the other two did not. The radiant barrier reduced peak cooling demand by 14.7% and 18.8% in the two different floor plans, allowing the builder to reduce the size of HVAC units anywhere from 10% to 15%, depending on the application. “LP TechShield panels provide builders proven LP OSB roof sheathing performance with the added value of reduced attic temperatures and reduced load on the air conditioning units and ducts,” said Rusty Carroll, OSB marketing manager at LP Building Products. “LP TechShield panels allow builders to pass along energy savings to home owners without increasing labor costs.” LP TechShield panels are installed like regular OSB, so there are no additional labor costs involved. Since the product is only marginally more expensive than regular OSB, buyers will be able to pay for the upgrade knowing that the investment will pay for itself with reduced cooling bills. Headquartered in Nashville, Tenn., the Louisiana-Pacific Corporation is a member of the National Council of the Housing Industry — The Supplier 100 of NAHB. This feature is solely for educational and informational purposes. Nothing on this page should be construed as policy, an endorsement, warranty or guaranty by the National Association of Home Builders of the featured product or the product manufacturer. The National Association of Home Builders expressly disclaims any responsibility for any damages arising from the use, application or reliance on any information contained on this page. Poll Finds Home Owners Can Do More to Reduce Greenhouse GasIn a new poll conducted by Ipsos Reid for Icynene, 64% of U.S. home owners say they have taken “some” or “a lot” of action to reduce greenhouse gases, although only 11% claim they have done “a lot” to reduce emissions in their own homes. When home owners were asked in April what specific steps they had taken at home in the past two years to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by increasing energy efficiency, the response was:
“Air sealing, one of the most common steps, is frequently achieved by sealing and caulking piecemeal around windows and doors,” Eakes said, “yet home energy consumption can be reduced by up to 50% alone with an insulation like Icynene that insulates and reduces air leaks in one step throughout the home during renovations or construction.” When the home owners were asked what plays the most important role in helping to conserve energy in a home:
“If more Americans took steps such as ensuring there is absolutely no air leakage when insulating, there could be a widespread benefit in terms of energy savings; healthier, longer-lasting homes; and a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions,” he said. Icynene is a member of the National Council of the Housing Industry — The Supplier 100 of NAHB. This feature is solely for educational and informational purposes. Nothing on this page should be construed as policy, an endorsement, warranty or guaranty by the National Association of Home Builders of the featured product or the product manufacturer. The National Association of Home Builders expressly disclaims any responsibility for any damages arising from the use, application or reliance on any information contained on this page. NAHB-Produced Programs on HGTV and DIYThe NAHB Production Group produces weekly television shows on HGTV and DIY for consumers. The following is the latest lineup: "Rock Solid" on DIY
"Assembly Required" on DIY
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