In this issue...
Innovation Helps Cut Materials Cost
With the cost of construction materials constantly in flux and material shortages recurring, many builders are seeking alternative building products. Although some recent increases in material prices are predicted to recede, others are predicted to linger. Luckily, there are a wide variety of alternative technologies and methods that can provide builders some relief and options.
A combination of factors has led to sometimes dramatic price increases and critical product shortages that threaten home building companies. Record levels of construction; Hurricane Katrina's total destruction of 200,000 homes and substantial damage of 500,000 more; increasing global demand for materials in rapidly industrial-izing nations; constraints on increasing U.S. manufacturing capacity; and record-high oil and gas prices have all convened to raise material cost for single-family home construction by 6.9 percent over one year ending April 2006, measured at the manufacturer level. Factor in transportation and tight supplies in the distribution chain, and builders¡¯ costs are often even higher.
Some of the sharpest cost increases since April 2005 have occurred in copper pipe (up 71%), gypsum (24%), asphalt shingles (19%), and ready-mix concrete (12%), according to Reed Construction Data. According to Michael Carliner, economist at the National Association of Home Builders, new production capacity in the coming years and market corrections are predicted to reverse some price increases. However, with little immediate relief in sight, now is an ideal time to look at ways to cut materials cost.
Doing More with Less
One of the easiest ways to cut costs is by using fewer materials. Some ideas for doing the same job with fewer materials include: designing buildings on two-foot increments to reduce cut-off waste; using open-webbed floor trusses to provide a chase for mechanical systems; carefully designing ducts to keep runs short and straight; keeping bathrooms, laundry rooms, and kitchens stacked or in close proximity to reduce piping; and using shared driveways or paved driveway strips instead of fully paved driveways.
In the case of conventional drywall, although cost-effective substitutes are scarce, less drywall can often be used to do the job. Cut-off waste can be reduced by designing interiors in two-foot increments to make use of whole (4x8 or 4x12) sheets of drywall and other construction materials. To help improve scrap utilization, keep all cut-offs in a dry, central location that is easily accessible during the job.
"It pays to order efficiently," says Jim Dunleavyof James Dunleavy and Sons Drywall of Lancaster, Pa. "And, with most suppliers charging delivery fees, it makes sense to have them make as few trips as possible." Drywall prices have affected several of Dunleavy's jobs, especially commercial jobs that are bid three to six months before construction.
Replacing Materials
PEX Plumbing System
Beyond design, builders can select alternate materials to do the same job. One very promising technology, given current market conditions, is cross-linked polyethylene (PEX) plumbing pipe. PEX is a flexible plastic plumbing pipe that can be "fished" through a wall like electrical wiring and requires very few fittings. Due to the ease and speed of installation, it was cost competitive with copper before the recent surge in copper prices. In one PATH field evaluation of a Philadelphia rowhouse remodel, labor time was cut nearly in half¡ªfrom 66 to 34 man-hours. Other field evaluations have reported similar, but more modest, savings in new home construction.
Now, the potential for savings is even more promising, despite the need for more piping in a PEX "home run" system than a conventional trunk-and-branch system. For example, in the Philadelphia study, 2,400 feet of (3/8-inch) PEX tubing was required for the home; the same home would have used 475 feet of (3/4-inch and ½-inch) copper tubing. Given today's prices, that PEX tubing costs about $1,200 and the copper about $2,180. Figure in the labor savings, and overall savings for the PEX system are significant.
Concrete
Recent concrete shortages and more recent price hikes, combined with short supplies of cement predicted through 2008, make concrete an appealing material to conserve or replace. Two foundation systems can reduce or even eliminate the need for concrete. Frost-protected shallow foundations (FPSF) use strategically placed exterior insulation to allow footing depths of between 12 and 16 inches in almost any climate. For a cold climate, FPSFs contain about one-third as much concrete as that used in a typical foundation. Another alternative is permanent wood foundations, which use an engineered, pressure-treated lumber wall system on a gravel footing to eliminate the need for concrete completely. Neither system, however, is actually new. Pressure-treated foundation systems have been used in well over 300,000 homes in the last 40 years. FPSFs have been used in over one million buildings in Nordic countries and over 5,000 in the United States. Provisions for both systems can be found in the 2000 International Residential Code and later versions.
As high prices and product shortages persist, concrete products containing recycled content may gain a market advantage. Fly ash - a byproduct of coal-fired power plants - is a direct substitute for Portland cement in concrete. The final product costs about the same as conventional concrete currently. However, as cement prices increase, fly ash concrete could start to dip in price below conventional products.
Aggregates, which make up the majority of concrete by weight, have been partly responsible for shortages. Alternative aggregate products (such as recycled concrete and glass) are available for non-structural applications, and can look especially promising where shortages or high cost have been problems. Joe Merlino of Aggregate Industries, says, "The drive toward sustainable construction is influencing the market [for recycled concrete and asphalt] right now. Our company's products can offer up to seven points [out of 26] in LEED certification. For base courses and paving, builders have the choice of using recycled products, and there can be some cost savings."
Precast concrete foundation walls are another technology to consider. Although they tend to be more expensive than solid masonry walls, the thinner profile uses less cement than conven-tional poured walls and, therefore, may become more price competitive as high cement prices remain. When labor savings and number of trips to a jobsite are considered - once a site is prepared, most precast foundations can be set in less than a day - the economics look even brighter.
Find out more about these and other alternatives to standard building materials that may make sense for your business on an interim or long-term basis by visiting ToolBase.org.
Ultra-Efficient Demo Home Opens
As homeowners in Maryland, D.C., and Virginia brace for significant energy rate hikes this summer, the U.S. Department of Energy's Building America program has partnered with the Maryland Energy Administration (MEA), the NAHB Research Center, and local builder Bob Ward Companies to introduce an energy-saving demonstration home to help ease the impact of rising energy costs. The Ultra-Efficient Home is located in the Baltimore suburb of Bel Air, Md. and officially opened in June with an open house for building professionals and the general public.
Construction of the 2,566-square-foot home was completed in June 2006. The house features products, systems, and design techniques that facilitate dramatic improvements in energy performance and lower utility bills for homeowners. The exterior of the two-story house has a stone facade and two-car garage and looks pretty much like any other single-family production home in the local area. But inside, the energy-saving improvements abound, pairing a combination of upgraded, but readily available, features and techniques with a solar thermal package and photovoltaics.
Using a systems approach, enhancements were made throughout the entire home - building envelope, space conditioning systems, water heating, lighting, and appliances. Some of the home's less visible features help to provide greater occupant comfort, better indoor air quality, enhanced durability, and lower maintenance.
Starting on the outside, solar collectors hug two sides of the roof. One set of panels preheats the home's hot water before the temperature is boosted by a small tankless heater located in the basement; the other set of panels comprises the photovoltaic (PV) system which generates electricity that can be used in the home or fed back to the utility when excess power is produced.
Inside, the upgrades are primarily behind the walls but no less significant. The basement is fully insulated and built using a Superior WallsTM precast concrete foundation system with a two-inch layer of polystyrene insulation. A half-inch layer of rigid polyurethane insulation supplements the blown-in-batt wall cavity insulation. There is extra insulation in the attic as well, plus low-e windows that significantly reduce heat losses and heat transmission to and from the outside. And, a PEX manifold plumbing system located in the basement reduces water waste.
The house also features a detailed air-sealing package, critical to ensuring occupant comfort. Sealed penetrations between floors and to the exterior of the home reduce leakage to the outdoors and prevent drafts and/or uneven temperatures. Other, innovative building techniques of the home include optimum value engineering (OVE) framing, which increases the overall R-value of the building envelope and reduces waste by eliminating unnecessary framing members.
While not rated as a "zero energy home," the Ultra-Efficient Home is expected to use less than half the energy of a standard, code-compliant home of similar size in the area. The NAHB Research Center estimates the home's upgrades should lower utility bills by more than $160 a month, even without calculating the anticipated savings from the PV system.
In recent years, rising utility costs have taken hold across the country generating new consumer interest in energy-saving homes. The primary goal of DOE's Building America program is to help develop energy solutions for new and existing homes and encourage builders to incorporate these features as part of their standard construction packages.
"A research result that sits on the shelf isn't going to save anyone any energy," says Ed Pollock, team leader for residential research at the U.S. Department of Energy.
This demonstration home, according to Pollock, is one of the most energy-efficient homes built under the Building America program. Not counting the photovoltaic system, the utility savings of the house are equal to or greater than the additional costs incurred for the upgrades when amortized on a monthly basis and financed into the mortgage.
One of the primary objectives of developing this home was to provide a comprehensive blueprint for balancing the advanced technologies with reasonable first costs. The increasing availability of tax credit incentives for energy-efficient homes also helps to offset costs, and will potentially encourage further implementation of these market-ready technologies.
The Ultra-Efficient Home will remain open for tours throughout 2006. Once occupied the Research Center will continue to monitor and report on the home's energy performance.
For more information on this demonstration home and its features, visit ToolBase.org/zeh.
Disaster Mitigation Resources
Moisture-Resistant Homes
With near-record rainfalls and flooding on the minds of many in the East after the severe storms earlier this summer, and hurricane season looming large for the Southeast and Gulf Coast, a new publication by HUD provides a timely and relevant resource for builders and designers. Moisture-Resistant Homes is a comprehensive, 125-page resource about how to prevent and manage moisture in homes. It also touches on other topics, such as high winds and energy efficiency, but mainly focuses on moisture.
The book, available from www.huduser.org/publications/pdf/ moisturehomes.pdf, is a compilation of best practices from industry standards and trade associations. It includes illustrations, maps, and tables for climate- and hazard-based design information, and a concise list of references and resources.
While the bulk of the book is geared toward home builders and designers, a supplementary guide offers advice to homeowners about assessing moisture issues in existing homes and what to do after a major water event or a natural disaster.
The book is divided into climate-specific recommendations for installing roof and ceiling systems, wall systems, and foundations, and for managing indoor humidity, preventing air leakage, and using vapor retarders. Despite the potentially overwhelming wealth of information contained in the book, it is easy to follow and would be an excellent resource for home builders, remodelers, and designers who wish to provide a more durable home product.
Safer Home Construction
With a very active hurricane season predicted for 2006 and the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina still lingering, now is a good time to review recommendations for protecting homes from hurricanes and other natural disasters. Fortified…for safer living, a program of the Institute for Building Safety and Health, offers a valuable resource for homeowners and home builders. To find out which perils might lie ahead for the location in which you are building, and to get a builder’s checklist for safe construction based on zip code, visit the Fortified website at www.ibhs.org/property_protection/default.asp?id=8.
Innovative Technologies, Concepts Gaining Ground in Builder Perceptions and Usage
The NAHB Research Center recently conducted a nationwide survey with builders about their awareness and usage of optimum value engineering (OVE) and compact fluorescent lighting (CFL). These two technologies represent significant potential for improving the homes produced by our industry. Builders who incorporate OVE, also known as advanced framing, can significantly reduce material waste costs and improve a home's energy efficiency. CFLs use only a fraction of the energy of traditional incandescent bulbs; according to ENERGY STAR, if every household in the United States replaced one high-use standard lightbulb with an ENERGY STAR-qualified CFL, the reduction of power plant pollution would be equal to removing over one million cars from the road.
The survey, which was conducted with members of the Research Center's Home Builders Online Research Panel, included 316 respondents building 13,188 units annually. The response percentages were weighted by units.
Overall, the survey results indicate that both technologies are gaining a foothold in builder awareness and practices nationwide. Among all survey respondents, a promising 41 percent had heard of OVE, and nearly half of this group (47%) also practiced OVE. The most commonly-used OVE construction technique was 2-by-4 or 2-by-6 studs at 24 inches on-center, which was used by 8 out of 10 respondents who practice OVE. Other commonly used techniques included open corners and T-intersections, single top plate and optimized header sizes, and continuous structural sheathing and two-foot modular design.
Most OVE practitioners selected "materials savings" and "reduced material waste" as the most important attributes of OVE, and over half selected "reduced labor" and "improved energy performance," as well.
In general, a higher percentage of larger, production, and regional and national builders had heard of and used OVE than smaller, local, and custom builders. This is not surprising, given that implementing OVE can be easier for builders who can repeat and perfect an advanced framing design in multiple homes.
About 40 percent of builders who use OVE techniques said that they had experienced resistance from code officials or clients. This may account for some of the drop in the percentage of builders who are aware of OVE as compared to those who use it.
The survey also showed that a majority of respondents (62%) use CFLs, and indicated a slight preference for pin-type CFLs over screw-type. This percentage is encouraging.
About a third of respondents who do not use CFLs did not know what they were; other respondents prefer the light spectrum of incandescent lights or use light fixtures that do not accommodate CFLs. None of these reasons alone represented a large percentage of respondents. However, they indicate that increased awareness - either of CFLs themselves or of recent improvements, such as a warmer lighting spectrum for CFLs - may improve market penetration.
Although OVE and CFL usage varied somewhat among regions, the differences or sample sizes were generally not significant enough to report.
The Research Center conducts surveys about builder practices in order to better understand the market and to target efforts for promoting and providing education on advanced technologies and practices. Survey data is collected through the Research Center's Annual Builder Practices Survey and the Online Research Panel. To become a member of the panel, visit www.nahbrc.org/builderpanel. Additional information about OVE is available on the PATH Technology Inventory, at www.ToolBase.org/techinv. More information on CFLs is provided in the fourth PATH Tech Set, "Energy-Efficient Lighting," which can be found at www.ToolBase.org/TechSets/energy-efficient-lighting.
Quality Matters: Six Ways to Improve Trade Contracts
The most important outcome for a quality-focused builder is to deliver a home that is consistent with the sales contract and meets the buyer’s expectations. Achieving this result requires clearly established guidelines and effective communication between the builder and the many trade contractors who actually construct the new home – up front. According to the National Housing Quality (NHQ) program, there are six key clauses that should be included in a trade’s contract in order to deliver a quality home.
All trade partners will put competent people on the jobsite at all times.
Clearly, it makes sense to deal with reliable and reputable contractors, but while this may seem like a simple concept, it is not always standard practice. Ensuring that each worker fully understands the builder’s expectations and requirements for each task on the jobsite makes good business sense and is an important part of reducing cycle time. A shortage of qualified work crews is a common stumbling block during the busy construction season, so it’s necessary to be specific about expectations for quality.
A competent crew leader will be in charge of all crews at all times and able to communicate with the builder’s field management staff on the jobsite.
Lack of training and language barriers between construction supervisors and workers can contribute to poor workmanship. The builder should require that the trade company provide an established crew leader who is accessible at all times and able to communicate effectively with the field superintendent.
Trades must self-inspect each phase of the work before reporting to the builder, or to the builder’s field management staff, that the work is complete.
The need to continuously repeat and correct the same tasks can be limited with a simple checklist based on the scope of work. Field crews should be required to check their work against this list on their own before requesting an inspection by the superintendent. This saves time and encourages the trade contractor to take responsibility for getting the job done right the first time.
All work will be completed in accordance with applicable building codes, industry standards, and established construction quality standards.
Most builders have an established set of quality standards they follow, so the requirement to comply with those, as well as local codes and industry standards, should be no problem for a quality trade contractor. Don’t leave the definition of quality up to chance. Clearly defined standards should be included in the contract and enforced in the field.
Trades must take the time to identify recurring errors in their work and train crews as needed to reduce similar errors in the future.
Production and site efficiency is important to a builder’s bottom line, so field training techniques must support this priority. Hot spot training, an effective process used by all NHQ Certified Trades, is simple to implement and helps to reinforce best practices. The graphics-based technique helps illustrates the right and wrong way to do a task.
Trades will confirm in writing that all materials and/or equipment covered by the contract were installed in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.
There is an unfortunate perspective common in the construction industry — “When all else fails, read the instructions.” However, this must be the first step to quality, not the last. A copy of the installation instructions should be available for reference at all times on the jobsite. This allows a trade to check his work, and the builder to verify the manufacturer’s intentions.
All said, the builder is the trade contractor’s customer in this process, and thus sets the terms of the contract. By defining an acceptable level of competency and including a detailed stipulation in the contract, a builder can establish the first line of defense against defects and warranty claims.
The information contained in this article does not constitute legal advice. Be sure to consult your lawyer for advice regarding the wording of your contract forms or the wording of particular contracts. For more information on the NHQ Program, visit www.nahbrc.org/quality.
From the Show Floor: PCBC 2006
Over 740 manufacturers and suppliers exhibited at PCBC 2006, June 20-23 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. In addition to numerous exhibits displaying products currently in the PATH Technology Inventory, several manufacturers demonstrated noteworthy new innovations that range from the immediately accessible to the high-tech.
SureSill (www.suresill.com), which manufactures integrated flashing systems that protect both the tops and bottoms of windows and doors from moisture intrusion, presented HeadFlash-FlexTM, a new flexible head flashing that offers a continuous upper edge. According to the company, HeadFlash-Flex is the only head-flashing product available with a drip cap that bends around curved windows and doors with a continuous upper edge. It is easy to cut and install and is impervious to rust and corrosion.
Deltra® Dry (www.cosella-dorken.com), a new weather-resistive barrier and drainage membrane, doesn’t look much like a typical housewrap. The high-density polyethylene membrane has a raised dimple-and-groove gridwork pattern that allows it to drain moisture on both sides. The barrier also reflects radiation heat, which helps keep the home warm in winter and cool in summer.
Open Energy Corporation (www.openenergycorp.com) exhibited their SolarSaveTM line of photovoltaic materials, which combine the benefits of solar energy without sacrificing aesthetics. The company’s PV roofing tiles are designed to blend seamlessly with colors and edge profiles of the most commonly-used cement tiles; its roofing membranes provide lightweight and aesthetically appealing solar roofing for flat or low slope projects; and its architectural glass products can be built to match virtually any glass specification available today and directly substitute monolithic, laminated, or insulated glass tiles.
H.R.D. Singapore (www.hrd-s.com) demonstrated its innovative hybrid seismic isolation system for reducing home earthquake damage. The system, which is installed underneath the home, absorbs severe vibrations and converts them into much smaller and slower ones. A coated slider allows the building to slide 360 degrees horizontally, and bearings allow the home to move back and forth in slow cycles during an earthquake and bring it back to its original position after the quake. This allows first and second stories to move in tandem. The system must be considered during construction and landscaping, so that cars, trees, and sheds will not interfere with the structure’s movement in the event of an earthquake.