Investment propertyBuilding Industry Slow to Adopt Innovations
Unlike the computer sciences, where the innovations seem to come fast and furious, the construction sciences just seem to plod along. Save for a few scattered changes, builders continue to put up houses pretty much the same way they"ve building "em for ages.
But speed not withstanding, improvements are taking place all the time. We just don"t see them because they"re rarely sexy. We"re not talking major modifications like concrete walls or steel frames. No, they"re more along the lines of small refinements like finger-jointed studs made from scrap and small dimensional lumber, or "disentangling" the interior
service systems.
Engineered wood studs are not only said to be less susceptible to warping, they"re manufactured with an open web so electrical conduit and plumbing can be snaked through them quickly and, because there"s no need to cut holes, less expensively. And by better organizing the jumble of wires, pipes and ducts that carry electricity, water and heat and air conditioning throughout the house, the result in a less-expensive structure that"s quieter and easier to maintain.
These advancements and others like them are being evaluated and promoted every day by four housing industry teams under the Department of Energy"s Building America Initiative, an effort to "push the construction envelop" to modest but marketable levels that can be applied in housing developments throughout the country.
"Rather than giant technological leaps, we are proceeding with lower-risk innovations that are far more likely to gain acceptance by the home buying public and building industry professionals," says Steven Winter of the Consortium for Advanced Residential Building, one of the four DoE teams. "CARB believes that a series of developmental steps can result in highly significant improvements."
Hopefully, that"s the right approach. Otherwise, a recent study by two professors at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, N.Y., indicates, progress in a business that spends far less on research and development than most other industries would be a misnomer -- or perhaps even an oxymoron. Builders, it seems, are just not very adventurous.
The study looked at ten different changes in construction methods and materials and found that on average, the 417 builders polled had adopted just 1.6 improvements. The most enterprising builder had employed six of the advancements, but more than 90 hadn"t taken on any at all.
According to the study, any number of factors impact the relatively slow pace at which builders embrace change -- the highly cyclical nature of the business, the small size of most firms, the fragmentation between builders and numerous subcontractors, fear of litigation and hostile local governments.
But Bill Zoeller, a project manager with Steven Winter Associates, a building sciences consulting firm and CARB"s lead organization, says the main reason builders are reluctant to do anything differently is that their competitors will use it to market against them.
Take the "value engineered" technique of placing studs every 24 inches instead of the normal 16. The result is lower cost (because there is less framing lumber) and more insulation.
"There"s really no downside," says Zoeller. "This kind of wall will actually perform better. But the builder down the street will say, "I put more lumber into my house; therefore, my house is better."
Change also involves rethinking the way a builder has been doing things for years. And right now, most builders are more worried about the shortage of labor and materials than they are about making their homes perform better by moving air handlers, duct work and entire HVAC units from the attic, where they have to work harder because of the extreme temperatures, to inside the envelop.
Despite these concerns, though, a number of builders throughout the country are working with CARB and the other three Building America teams. And many are reporting great progress.
In Pensacola, Fla., for example, Mitchell Homes is testing, among other innovative products, high-performance glazing, a manifold-like plumbing system with dedicated fixture lines and accessible connections, a high-efficiency heat pump and, yes, even a mini-duct system that not only allows runs to remain within already conditioned space but also
improves dehumidification.
"We"re learning more efficient ways to build houses," says Mitchell"s Alley McInnis. "My whole goal is to build houses incorporating these products at a realistic sales price." The Mobile- based firm builds 600-650 houses a year in Alabama, Florida and Mississippi.
Ditto for Andrew Seidel, new products development specialist with Crosswinds Communities, which builds 850 houses a year in the Detroit area. "Our aim is to find ways to improve our houses without having to pass any additional costs along to our customers."
Mitchell, Crosswinds and CARB"s other builder participants build demonstration houses, sometimes right along side production models. "It"s similar to a concept car you see at the auto show," says Crosswinds" Seidel. "It"s like hooking up a house to an EKG machine," agrees McInnis. "We test all aspects; it"s pretty extensive."
Also See:
Who Will Build The Homes of Tomorrow?
By Any Other Name, New Homes Still Spur the Economy