Monday Morning Briefing Letter - 05/14/2007 (Plain Text Version)By Brian Catalde, NAHB President and View Graphical Version
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| E-mail Our Editor Setting the record straight about residential fire sprinklers,NAHB's leadership and members strongly responded to an erroneous trade magazine story that distorts the debate regarding fire sprinkler mandates for single-family homes. The story at issue, titled "Residential Sprinkler Systems Save More Than Money," appeared in the May issue of TecHome Builder magazine. It promoted residential sprinkler systems as a profit center for home builders who have clients with security and safety concerns, and inflated fire death statistics by lumping single-family residential deaths with those in multifamily homes, dormitories, hotels, motels and similar buildings. The grave inaccuracies in the story prompted NAHB members and HBA staff to burn up the phone lines, calling for an official NAHB response. NAHB immediately sent off a sternly worded letter from NAHB First Vice President Sandy Dunn to the magazine's publishers, which was accompanied by an outpouring of complaints from members in the form of e-mails, calls and letters to the editor.
Americans will spend more than $232 billion on home remodelingthis year, according to NAHB's 2007 industry forecast. That's up nearly 2% from the record $228 billion spent in 2006 and indicates that remodeling is holding its own, despite the housing slowdown. Commenting on the forecast as part of a May 9 teleconference celebrating National Home Remodeling Month, NAHB Remodelers Chairman Mike Nagel, CGR, CAPS, noted that "With more than 120 million homes in the United States plus $11 trillion in owner equity, the demand for remodeling will be there now and in the future." Even so, on the previous day, a reading of NAHB's Remodeling Market Index (RMI) for the first quarter of 2007 indicated some slight erosion in current market activity during the first three months of this year, with the index slipping from 48.2 to 46. Yet, Nagel pointed out, "Compared ot the major up-and-down cycles of the new-home market, remodeling activity remains fairly steady." For more information, see the RMI press release and tables online, or contact Jim Lapides, x8451. [return to top] Exemplifying home builders' commitment to green building,NAHB's National Housing Center headquarters building in Washington has earned its third ENERGY STAR designation since undergoing a major renovation and expansion in 2001. The designation recognizes buildings that conserve natural resources while providing a comfortable and healthy environment for employees and visitors. Over the past year, one significant improvement to the building involved replacing traditional incandescent light bulbs with compact florescent light builbs that use two-thirds less energy and last up to 10 times longer. Another improvement was the installation of motion detectors in restrooms that turn lights off when the facilities aren't in use. In addition, the property managers installed frequency drives on the building's cooling tower fans. These drives modulate the speed of the fans so they run in concert with air conditioning needs at a constant rate, rather than cycling on and off at 100% power. See our press release for more information.
$1.3 million in "Buy Now" ad assistance is still availablefollowing the NAHB Executive Board's April 27 approved release of the remaining $2 million under the program. Launched in February, the program provides $3 million to assist local associations in an effort to bolster home sales in markets hit hard by the current housing downturn. The initial $1 million was quickly disbursed in grants to 51 HBAs. Following the release, NAHB immediately began processing 35 additional applications — worth more than $600,000 — that had been approved and were awaiting funds from the program’s second phase. In total, 86 local associations in 29 states have now applied for and have received, or been approved to receive, nearly $1.7 million in advertising assistance. Including the matching funds that the HBAs contributed, the total value of their advertising campaigns is $5.3 million. To see a list of the HBAs and the grant levels, click here. With $1.3 million in funds still available, NAHB encourages HBAs that have not yet inquired about advertising assistance to apply today. Contact: Niki Clark, x8061.
NAHB resources to assist HBAs affected by the recent tornadoesin Kansas and Oklahoma are available free of charge at www.nahb.org/disasterresources. As home builders and their communities seek to rebuild and recover from the devastating effects of these storms, such resources as well as a series of customizable Natural Disaster Column Service Articles are offered with the idea of helping you meet the challenges that are ahead. In addition, NAHB's Public Affairs staff is here to assist HBAs in the storm zones with public service announcements that warn consumers about fly-by-night contractors. For more information about NAHB's community outreach efforts, or to find out how NAHB can help your HBA, please contact Gwyn Donohue, x8447. [return to top] Get ready for National Homeownership Month in Junewith the helpful resources contained in NAHB's free online promotional kit. In it you'll find sample articles, radio and print advertisements, member education and consumer information. NAHB members are encouraged to distribute the information in this kit to your local news media throughout June or anytime during the year, and to employ the ready-to-use articles in your own promotional materials for home shows, Parades of Homes and other special events. For more information or to download your free homeownership month promotional material, visit www.nahb.org/homeownershipmonth. Contact: Niki Clark, x8061. [return to top] Calendar of Upcoming Events
For more information or to contact us directly, please visit www.NAHB.org | ©2007, National Association of Home Builders |