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Last Minute Touches Put on The New American Home
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The push is on to complete The New American Home in early October, just in time for its publicity engagements. | With the 2009 International Builders’ Show just four months away, the final push is on to finish The New American Home ― by early next month.
Like the star it is, The New American Home must be ready for magazine, newspaper and publicity photography, industry parties and other demands several months before the show itself.
Las Vegas builder Blue Heron is working hard to deliver the home on deadline, said Bill Nolan, chairman of The New American Home Task Force. “They worked through the Labor Day holiday and they just recently finished installing the drywall. Now they are running two shifts to work on a wide range of finish details.”
Sponsored by the National Council of the Housing Industry (NCHI) ― The Leading Suppliers of NAHB — and Builder magazine, The New American Home is one of the NAHB’s most successful and visible programs.
Equal parts laboratory, educational tool and product showcase, the home incorporates elements such as builders’ best practices, energy efficiency, indoor-air quality, safety, convenience and aesthetics. NCHI and the show home also provide an excellent way to highlight the products of NCHI members.
The home was designed by Danielian Associates, of Irvine, Calif.
The show home’s unique traits make it a bit of a challenge, said Nolan, president of The Nolan Group, a housing industry consulting firm based in Altamonte Springs, Fla. As an example, Nolan said that Las Vegas building inspectors are seeing materials and building techniques that they are not accustomed to seeing in residential construction.
“The residential inspector who was assigned to this house recognized that there were aspects of the home that are outside his area of expertise,” Nolan said. “He actually reached out to the city’s commercial inspectors and asked them to review some of the plans.”
“I think the city’s construction inspection team has been impressed with the quality of the plans and the construction, and we’ve been impressed with the inspectors in terms of their knowledge and the effort they have made to learn the details of this very unusual house,” Nolan said.
Because the home is as much a laboratory as a showcase, product suppliers are often very involved in the installation of their product ― with engineers and product experts helping to make sure the product is properly applied.
One of the first products to go into the home this year were insulating concrete forms (ICFs) provided by Arxx.
“We supplied product on an ongoing basis for the basement, and first- and some second-story walls throughout the course of wall construction,” said Randy Daniels, the Arxx West Coast regional manager. “We provided offsite architectural and engineering support with meetings and materials, and we are providing ongoing answer support for related subtrades as they interface with the insulated concrete formwork.”
Arxx is involved in the New American Home, Daniels said, because it gives the company the opportunity to show how their product performs.
“ICFs are a simple, yet powerful way to build a better world. The value in this program is the opportunity to get this message out and the studies that accompany the home that validate what it is that happens when you build with insulated concrete walls,” Daniels said.
While the project is moving along well, Nolan said much work still needs to be completed during the next several weeks.
“The toughest challenge from this point on will be all the little finish odds and ends,” he said. “One thing we’ve found in the history of the program is that the builder and the crew are often late to recognize just how much more detailed this home is ― compared to a traditional home.”
“We are dealing with a photo shoot on the back end. Everything has to be finished,” Nolan said. “Builders often look at the completion date and think, ‘I need to have everything 95% complete by that date.’ But we don’t have that 5% wiggle room,” Nolan said.
With the deadline looming, however, Nolan said Tyler Jones, a principal at Blue Heron who has the lead on The New American Home 2009, and Kris Osterman, the company’s construction supervisor, have the situation under control.
“I am confident that they will pull it off — with a lot of push,” Nolan said.
Photos of The New American Home under construction:
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