This year, the Home Innovation lab team is on a mission to test some everyday gadgets in our salt spray chamber to find out #willitcorrode. Home Innovation's full range of corrosion testing helps building product manufacturers ensure the performance of metals and coatings. Typically, we test products such as nails, screws, anchor bolts, bollards, stair nosing, gutter clips, ladders, cable, baluster, hand railing, support systems for curtain walls, etc. But we have decided to mix it up a little with this experiment to emphasize the practical nature of this type of testing. Check out the results of our latest experiment with a steel cable.
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It’s very rewarding being a construction marketing researcher. I truly enjoy tracking, measuring, and predicting changes within the construction industry. But what I enjoy even more is helping our clients continue to reshape their businesses and product offerings to ensure they are providing the greatest value to their customers. This work requires regular interaction with builders and remodelers, keeping our “finger on the pulse” of the industry through interviews, focus groups, surveys, and jobsite observation. We listen and learn about their purchasing behaviors, problems at the office and jobsite, and the solutions they need or opportunities they are seeing.
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This year, the Home Innovation lab team is on a mission to test some everyday gadgets in our salt spray chamber to find out #willitcorrode. Home Innovation's full range of corrosion testing helps building product manufacturers ensure the performance of metals and coatings. Typically, we test products such as nails, screws, anchor bolts, bollards, stair nosing, gutter clips, ladders, cable, baluster, hand railing, support systems for curtain walls, etc. But we have decided to mix it up a little with this experiment to emphasize the practical nature of this type of testing. Check out the results of our latest experiment with a steel door hinge.
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In December 2021, Home Innovation polled builders about changes to their business practices due to the pandemic – asking what they viewed as temporary, and what they considered a permanent part of their home building business going forward. While issues surrounding labor and materials took the forefront, and there was a notable boost in practices related to the outdoor living boom, there was another change reported that was a bit more unexpected – a wider embrace of “smart” home technologies. In their explanations, many builders said they had been caught off-guard by the expansion of home tech and were scrambling to keep up with the expectations of a new wave of tech-savvy buyers. I gave an overview of these study findings in my presentation to the Leading Suppliers Council at the 2022 International Builders’ Show.
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Earlier this summer, I was invited to deliver the closing presentation of the WDMA 2022 Annual Technical and Manufacturing Conference. I shared 10-year market trends on window and door purchases in new and remodeled U.S. homes and insights into purchasers. As I have for more than 20 years, I sourced my data from Home Innovation’s annual trusted and industry-leading Builder and Consumer Practices Reports.
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This year, the Home Innovation lab team is on a mission to test some everyday gadgets in our salt spray chamber to find out #willitcorrode. Home Innovation's full range of corrosion testing helps building product manufacturers ensure the performance of metals and coatings. Typically, we test products such as nails, screws, anchor bolts, bollards, stair nosing, gutter clips, ladders, cable, baluster, hand railing, support systems for curtain walls, etc. But we have decided to mix it up a little with this experiment to emphasize the practical nature of this type of testing. Check out the results of our latest experiment with a screwdriver.
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Labor and supply chain issues have shaped the industry in recent years, particularly since the COVID pandemic. The net result has been longer construction cycle times, rising construction costs, and simply a much more difficult environment for building and remodeling homes. Our recent 2022 Builder Practices Survey sheds more light on how builder choices of home features, products, and materials has changed in response to these market conditions.
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This year, the Home Innovation lab team is on a mission to test some everyday gadgets in our salt spray chamber to find out #willitcorrode. Home Innovation's full range of corrosion testing helps building product manufacturers ensure the performance of metals and coatings. Typically, we test products such as nails, screws, anchor bolts, bollards, stair nosing, gutter clips, ladders, cable, baluster, hand railing, support systems for curtain walls, etc. But we have decided to mix it up a little with this experiment to emphasize the practical nature of this type of testing. Check out the results of our latest experiment with a diecast metal toy truck.
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Earlier this spring, I was asked to be a guest speaker at the Pressure Sensitive Tape Council’s Tape Week conference in Buena Vista, Fla. I provided the audience with an in-depth review of six key market opportunities for pressure-sensitive tapes and adhesives in residential construction, referencing our most recent Builder and Consumer Practices data trends and key drivers and market volumes for the six product categories. Below is a brief recap of the presentation takeaways:
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This year, the Home Innovation lab team is on a mission to test some everyday gadgets in our salt spray chamber to find out #willitcorrode. Home Innovation's full range of corrosion testing helps building product manufacturers ensure the performance of metals and coatings. Typically, we test products such as nails, screws, anchor bolts, bollards, stair nosing, gutter clips, ladders, cable, baluster, hand railing, support systems for curtain walls, etc. But we have decided to mix it up a little with this experiment to emphasize the practical nature of this type of testing. Check out the results of our latest experiment with a "durable" thermal coffee mug.
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Home Innovation recently published our 2022 Consumer Practices Reports, based on the latest survey of households on home improvements and repairs in 2021. Kitchen remodeling is still hot – maybe even a bit “overheated” – and changes in material choice trends have been very fast-paced. Quartz continues to gain at the expense of the once-dominant Granite for Countertops; both came in at nearly equal shares (around 25%) of kitchen remodels. Marble also gained, but Laminate and Acrylic Solid Surface continued to lose their luster in the eyes of homeowners. Kitchen Cabinet trends continue as they have been — painted cabinets with flat-panel-in-frame designs are the most popular in home kitchen remodels at 28% of all cabinets installed; finally surpassing the former #1 position holder, cabinets with raised panel doors and wood finish.
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This year, the Home Innovation lab team is on a mission to test some everyday gadgets in our salt spray chamber to find out #willitcorrode. Home Innovation's full range of corrosion testing helps building product manufacturers ensure the performance of metals and coatings. Typically, we test products such as nails, screws, anchor bolts, bollards, stair nosing, gutter clips, ladders, cable, baluster, hand railing, support systems for curtain walls, etc. But we have decided to mix it up a little with this experiment to emphasize the practical nature of this type of testing. Check out the results of our latest experiment with a heavy duty carbon steel garden hand shovel.
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The results of Home Innovation’s 2022 Consumer Practices Survey (CPS) on home remodeling are in and analyzed! The top overall finding is that U.S. and Canadian home remodeling purchases are still very strong, two years into the pandemic. The DIY purchaser segment is back to near-historical levels after a spike in 2020, and the outdoor living category is still blazing hot.
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This year, the Home Innovation lab team is on a mission to test some everyday gadgets in our salt spray chamber to find out #willitcorrode. Home Innovation's full range of corrosion testing helps building product manufacturers ensure the performance of metals and coatings. Typically, we test products such as nails, screws, anchor bolts, bollards, stair nosing, gutter clips, ladders, cable, baluster, hand railing, support systems for curtain walls, etc. But we have decided to mix it up a little with this experiment to emphasize the practical nature of this type of testing. Check out the results of our latest experiment with a standard house key.
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On March 1st, I was pleased to speak at the opening session of AMI’s 2022 PVC Formulation Conference in Cleveland. I provided an overview of product trends in new homes and remodeling from 2011 to 2020, tracking market shares of PVC and other plastics products. I concluded with a discussion of how the past two tumultuous years are now resulting in opportunities for plastics. I covered the product categories where PVC is already a big player in the market, and those where they could become one, including flooring, piping, siding, decking, fences, and others.
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In late February, I participated in an interview/discussion during the Building Products Strategy Summit held by John Burns Real Estate Consulting. The subject was innovation in the U.S. housing construction market. When I joined Home Innovation Research Labs nearly 30 years ago, my initial assignment was to support the Advanced Housing Technology Program (AHTP) – a deep exploration of barriers to innovation in home construction, to evaluate and catalog more than a thousand beneficial new home technologies. The AHTP program was initiated to answer concerns that innovation in housing lags other industries. The insights uncovered through that program, along with other diffusion-of-innovation research I’ve been involved in, serves as the foundation for Home Innovation’s current marketing research practice.
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In taking another look at our recent survey of builders regarding the permanence of 22 business and new home changes adopted during the pandemic, we found that most practices – aside from the strictly virus-spread-mitigating ones – will be retained by more than half of builders who responded to the survey. These include practices such as utilizing a greatly-expanded network of building product suppliers, and putting more emphasis on outdoor living space, healthier indoor air quality, and home layout changes that provide space for remote work and schooling. See where there were differences in what will stay and what will go based on size of builder, as well as local vs. regional vs. national differences.
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This year, the Home Innovation lab team is on a mission to test some everyday gadgets in our salt spray chamber to find out #willitcorrode. Home Innovation's full range of corrosion testing helps building product manufacturers ensure the performance of metals and coatings. Typically, we test products such as nails, screws, anchor bolts, bollards, stair nosing, gutter clips, ladders, cable, baluster, hand railing, support systems for curtain walls, etc. But we have decided to mix it up a little with this experiment to emphasize the practical nature of this type of testing. Check out the results of our first month's experiment with an 18-0 stainless steel fork.
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There’s certainly no arguing that COVID changed our world, but the debate continues as to whether the day-to-day changes are temporary or if they will have a long-lasting impact on our behaviors. In an effort to determine if COVID will have a lasting impact on new home features and on the business of building them, Home Innovation Research Labs conducted a survey in collaboration with Professional Builder magazine to learn specifically what practices were adopted as a result of COVID, and which of those practices will remain after the pandemic is “over.”
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Without question, the single most impactful catalyst for green, high-performance multifamily buildings has been the HUD Green Mortgage Insurance Premium (MIP) Reduction. The Green MIP reduction was the game changer the residential construction industry needed. It was a big enough financial incentive that even the most stalwart anti-green developer or owner couldn’t resist. As news of the HUD MIP reduction spread through the industry, developers and owners that previously never considered a green certification, or even openly scoffed at the suggestion, changed their minds. Find out how federal incentives have worked, and can continue to work, to help us reach a greener future faster.
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Home Innovation actively advocates for third-party certified, green, affordable housing by providing input for state Qualified Allocation Plan (QAPs). QAPs specify a state agency’s allocation of federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC). Most QAPs include criteria for energy efficiency and green building, and nearly 30 states specify green building certification as a requirement or point-based incentive. When third-party green certification is included within a QAP, NGBS Green Certification is typically recognized alongside other credible national green building programs. NGBS Green certification is affordable to implement, making it ideally suited for affordable housing.
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Some multifamily developers forego seeking green building certification because they believe the costs are too high. It can cost a lot – but not for the reasons they may be thinking. Ultimately, it’s not that the costs are too high to earn the green certification – rather, it is the opportunity cost of leaving tens of thousands of dollars of incentive financing on the table when they don’t have a green certification. As these developers finalize their permanent financing, they realize how green certification would have more than paid for itself (many times over) if only they had added it as a design objective prior to construction.
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State Qualified Allocation Plans (QAPs) specify a state agency’s allocation of federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC). To encourage the development of residences that support their sustainability, resilience, and healthy housing goals, states can provide federal housing tax credits to developers that build green certified housing. Comprehensive green building programs help to ensure that projects funded by housing credits will not only create new housing opportunities, but also ensure that people living in affordable housing can live healthier, spend less money on utilities, and have more opportunities with access to transportation, better quality food, and health care.
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Every couple weeks we allow a green blog takeover by one of our NGBS Green program’s Verifier influencers with green expertise to share. Today's takeover-er is Drew Smith, of Two Trails, Inc., an NGBS Green MASTER Verifier with many years of experience verifying The New American Home (TNAH) and The New American Remodel (TNAR) show homes that are featured at the International Builders’ Show annually. Find out some of the unique challenges and opportunities that he and the project team for the 2021 TNAR experienced.
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Come takeover the Home Innovation Insights blog! Every few weeks we are allowing a green blog media takeover and granting posting privileges to a Verifier influencer with green expertise to share.
Today's takeover-er is Abe Kruger, SK Collaborative and an accredited NGBS Green Verifier. Read on to see what Abe has to say.
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Home Innovation actively advocates for third-party certified, green, affordable housing by providing input for state Qualified Allocation Plan (QAPs). QAPs specify a state agency’s allocation of federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC). Most QAPs include criteria for energy efficiency and green building, and nearly 30 states specify green building certification as a requirement or point-based incentive. When third-party green certification is included within a QAP, NGBS Green Certification is typically recognized alongside other credible national green building programs. NGBS Green certification is affordable to implement, making it ideally suited for affordable housing.
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Come takeover the Home Innovation Insights blog! Every few weeks we are allowing a green blog media takeover and granting posting privileges to a Verifier influencer with green expertise to share.
Today's takeover-er is Sara Collier, Southern Energy Management and an accredited NGBS Green Verifier. Read on to see what Sara has to say.
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There are many benefits to energy-efficient buildings. For multifamily buildings, these include lower operating costs for common areas, eligibility for preferred financing incentives, higher valuation on resale, greater marketability of the building to renters, lower utility bills, better quality, and increased comfort. When it comes to residential energy efficiency, there are basically two options for demonstrating energy compliance to the National Green Building Standard ICC-700 (NGBS): the Prescriptive and the Performance.
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Come takeover the Home Innovation Insights blog! Every few weeks we are allowing a green blog media takeover and granting posting privileges to a Verifier influencer with green expertise to share.
Today's takeover-er is Stephen Evanko, LEED AP, BPI – MFBA & HHE, Managing Director of Energy and Sustainability for Dominion Due Diligence and an accredited NGBS Green MASTER Verifier. Read on to see what Stephen has to say.
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Recently, Home Innovation had a chance to discuss resilience in the context of sustainability and building performance with James M Williams PE, CE, SE, AIA, who authored the resilience section of the 2020 NGBS.
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By most measures, 2020 was the year of COVID-19. Yet while the pandemic raged, there was no shortage of climate/weather disasters in the United States. In 2020, the U.S. suffered through 22 weather/climate disaster events with losses exceeding $1 billion each. These events included one drought, 13 severe storms, 7 tropical cyclones, and one wildfire event. 2020 set a new annual record of 22 events - shattering the previous annual record of 16 events that occurred in 2011 and 2017. Together these events were responsible for 262 deaths and over $93 billion in costs. And the hits just kept coming since then – e.g., “snow-mageddon” in Texas in early 2021, for which the total damages and long-term impacts are still being calculated, tornadoes earlier this month in Central Texas, as well as flooding events in the Southeastern U.S./Gulf Coast region.
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Based on our 2020 end-of-year survey over 100,000 U.S. households, the 2021 Consumer Practices Reports are now available. The new information is “must read,” shedding light on how COVID-19 changed the U.S. and Canadian home remodeling industries and including incredible detail. You may have seen some of the previews we’ve shared over the past several weeks in our Trend articles on pro vs. DIY remodeling during the pandemic and the products that did best in the “year of DIY”.
In addition to the standard product reports, we also have our Consumer Practices Survey (CPS) Brand reports available. These reveal how specific brands faired during the pandemic, and may call out some elements of the path forward.
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Come takeover the Home Innovation Insights blog! Every few weeks we are allowing a green blog media takeover and granting posting privileges to a Verifier influencer with green expertise to share.
Today's takeover-er is Thiel Butner, Managing Principal of Pando Alliance and NGBS Accredited Verifier. Read on to see what Theil has to say.
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Today’s customers, both building professionals and homeowners, have increased their expectations of manufacturers for high quality, reliable products. Product testing identifies problems encountered during construction or service life due to poor durability, strength, or performance. Increase the quality and reliability of your products by detecting failures, pinpointing probable deficiencies, and confirming your product will maintain performance throughout its lifecycle.
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Buyers of green homes want to avoid wasting water and save money with lower water bills. Water efficiency can also increase energy savings for buyers and renters, as less energy is required for hot water heating compared to typical home design. Research has shown that buyers are willing to spend from 1-4% of a home’s purchase price for third-party green certifications, such as Home Innovation’s NGBS Green, which all include some element of water and other resource efficiency. Most recently, NAHB’s 2021 What Home Buyers Really Want survey says nearly 50% of homebuyers are willing to pay at least an additional $500 for a home that meets an above-code standard for water efficiency.
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Come takeover the Home Innovation Insights blog! Every few weeks we are allowing a green blog media takeover and granting posting privileges to a Verifier influencer with green expertise to share.
Today's takeover-er is Jamie Carr, Partner at Eco Achievers and NGBS Accredited Master Verifier. Read on to see what Jamie has to say.
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“There’s no place like home!” But surely even Dorothy Gale wouldn’t have wanted to go back if home was hot and humid or cold and dry. Comfort is the appeal that draws residents home every day. Whether they think about it or not, the climate and air quality in homes can make the difference in how comfortable the residents and their guests feel. Most home owners or renters turn on the air conditioner in the summer and the heater in the winter with limited knowledge about how these systems work. Builders don’t have that option – you must know all the important factors that go into calculating building envelope tightness, which ultimately lead to resident comfort.
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NGBS Green Certified homes perform better than code minimum homes in many ways, but energy efficiency is one of the most tangible benefits to homebuyers. Benefits of an energy-efficient home include lower utility bills, increased comfort, and improved resale value. When it comes to energy efficiency, there are two options for demonstrating compliance to the National Green Building Standard ICC-700 (NGBS) – the Prescriptive Path or the Performance Path.
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Compared to code-minimum buildings, NGBS Green Certified new buildings use less energy, waste less water, help manage stormwater better, and have improved indoor air quality, among other benefits. But, while the benefits of new NGBS Green buildings are significant, they pale in comparison to the benefits when project teams use the NGBS to guide their building renovations and conversions. The number of new buildings constructed each year is a very small percentage of existing buildings, so the NGBS’s potential for mitigating the impacts of older, inefficient buildings and improving the living conditions for the occupants of these buildings is critical. Find out more about the remodeling and renovation options now available in the NGBS.
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Come takeover the Home Innovation Insights blog! Every few weeks we are allowing a green blog media takeover and granting posting privileges to a Verifier influencer with green expertise to share.
Today's takeover-er is Laurie Colwander from Southern Energy Management. Read on to see what Laurie has to say.
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As consumers, we appreciate the opportunity to use performance metrics to estimate the total cost of ownership of our vehicles, homes, and appliances. Since 1977, a miles per gallon (or MPG) metric has been displayed prominently on vehicle labels. Consumers rely on that metric for understanding how much it would cost to operate a vehicle for their daily commute, errands, and social activities. No matter how stylish, roomy, or tech-enabled a vehicle is, I couldn’t imagine purchasing it before researching that MPG value.
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With the release of the 2020 NGBS, the scope of Home Innovation’s NGBS Green Certification expanded, making the program even more relevant to the multifamily and commercial sectors of the construction industry. Now, most products intended for commercial applications are eligible to be certified and recognized for their contribution toward residential spaces complying with the NGBS. The Commercial Spaces compliance pathway also introduced many new practices that refer to commercial building products, appliances, and fixtures. Now is the perfect time to get your commercial building products NGBS Green Certified.
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The 2020 National Green Building Standard (NGBS) includes some significant revisions from previous versions. One of the most significant is the scope expansion that allows the NGBS to be used for the design and construction of both the residential and non-residential space in mixed-use buildings. Prior to the 2020 NGBS, only the residential portion of mixed-use buildings could seek NGBS Green certification — the non-residential portion was either not included, or was forced to seek certification from another program.
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It’s been 1 heck of a year, with 2 many momentous events to cover here, but there are 3 things I know – we’re all in this together; hope and love will always conquer fear; and the NGBS Green team will always be here 4 you. In the spirit of the holiday, I’ve wrapped up a summary of the 2020 NGBS with the 5 (Golden?) Things You Need to Know to help with your 2021 certification gameplan…
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Come takeover the Home Innovation Insights blog! Every few weeks we are allowing a green blog media takeover and granting posting privileges to a Verifier influencer with green expertise to share.
Today's takeover-er is Philip LaRocque from LaRocque Business Management Services, LLC. Read on to see what Phil has to say.
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We often hear speculation that because NGBS Green is the most widely used green building certification for residentially-used buildings, it must be the easiest and least rigorous to attain. Clearly, the individuals making those speculations have not taken the time to dig in and understand why NGBS Green is the most popular program. Below is my take on why NGBS Green is the leading green certification program – spoiler alert: it has nothing to do with being less rigorous. In fact, NGBS compliance may be the most difficult of all the green building certification programs when measuring the expected performance of the buildings being certified.
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Online portals and apps are everywhere these days. Used for online banking, shopping, managing prescriptions, and so much more, they represent the natural evolution of the self-service experience through 24/7/365 access and automated notifications to keep you informed of your transactions and interests. They often give you a better sense of control and can reduce tedious email and phone conversations. Technology continues to advance to make the user experience even more streamlined. It’s where we’re headed as a society — and it’s where we’re headed with the NGBS Green program!
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We are debuting a new opportunity for Verifiers – come takeover the Home Innovation Insights blog! Every few weeks we are going to allow a green blog media takeover and grant posting privileges to a Verifier influencer with green expertise to share.
Our first takeover-er is Amy Otley from TexEnergy Solutions/US Eco Logic. Read on to see what Amy has to say.
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While the markets for new homes and building materials roil with unpredictability, there are some things in the new home construction industry that are a little more stable—such as the types of building lots available. “They’re not making any more land,” the old adage goes, and land for new residential developments is universally reported to be in extremely short supply.
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Climate change and its effects are accelerating. Consequently, communities are suffering from more frequent and higher intensity climate-related disasters – from hurricanes to wildfires to flooding. With each new event, we have an opportunity to reconsider how we repair and rebuild disaster-damaged homes and how we design and build new homes.
Enhanced resilience is an essential part of any comprehensive green building certification. A green building standard like the National Green Building Standard ICC-700 (NGBS) is designed to eliminate or reduce the environmental impacts of the homes we build (or rebuild), and also includes practices to help homes better withstand future disasters.
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This month we celebrate another NGBS Green milestone with the certification of our 250,000th NGBS Green Home. When we started the NGBS Green certification program in 2009, our goal was to provide a national, credible, rigorous, and affordable green building certification for the residential construction industry. Until NGBS Green started, residential building certifications lagged significantly behind other building types. The places we lived – our homes, townhouses, multifamily buildings, housing for students and seniors, and assisted living facilities – were foregoing high-performance green building programs because they were too difficult and expensive to attain. We had the audacity to believe that needed to change – and understood the role we could play in helping our entire industry do better. Better for the environment. Better for climate change. Better for homebuyers and renters.
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With the 2020 NGBS, single-family homes can earn the NGBS Green Certified level if they comply with all applicable green practices from the 2020 NGBS Chapter 12. This streamlined yet rigorous certification path requires homes to be designed and constructed to be more efficient than 2018 IECC code-compliant homes and to include important building practices that ensure the home provides a healthier indoor environment, is more water efficient, and is more durable. The NGBS Chapter 12 Certified Path focuses on the most impactful practices that improve energy and water efficiency, create a healthier living space, and manage potential moisture issues. For energy efficiency, builders have a choice among Prescriptive, Performance, and Energy Rating Index (ERI) paths. For water efficiency, builders have a choice between Prescriptive and Performance paths. This certification option is more streamlined and, to keep verification costs lower, NGBS Green Verifiers can batch multiple homes for both registration and verification report submittal. Find out more about this option.
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Energy-efficient home builders report that their homes sell faster, for more money, and perhaps more importantly, that their buyers are more satisfied with their energy-efficient home than with their former inefficient homes. Win-win-win. Builders are rewarded for their energy-efficient homes, the environment benefits from homes that require fewer nonrenewable resources, and homebuyers get a more high-performing home. But, is an energy-efficient home the golden ticket for builders? Unfortunately, no. Energy codes are becoming more stringent, so now, depending on a home’s location, even code-minimum homes can be relatively energy efficient. That makes energy performance less of a distinction among builders. Now may be the perfect time to consider emphasizing the health & wellness features of your green homes over their energy efficiency.
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When first approved by ANSI in 2009, the NGBS was notable because it was the first national green building rating system specifically designed for residential buildings. Before the NGBS, national programs such as LEED and Green Globes were designed to address the specifics of commercial buildings. Consequently, only a few multifamily buildings in the pre-NGBS days tried to adapt to the compliance requirements of the early green certification options. But even the first few iterations of the NGBS did not cover all types of residential construction. The 2020 NGBS Consensus Committee sought to remedy this issue by revising the NGBS’s definition of residential. Now the NGBS is inclusive of all buildings within which we live during the various stages and phases of our lives. Find out more about the new opportunities now available to multifamily and mixed-use builders and developers.
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Today, it can seem impossible to find a new appliance that isn’t a “smart” product. I recently purchased a new washer and dryer set, and I noted so many models with mobile and voice notification and control. Some products even featured automatic reordering of detergents and softeners based on sensor feedback!
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Prior to COVID-19, a tightening labor supply and hot housing market portended a bright future for offsite housing construction methods, such as panelization and modular. In the wake of coronavirus and rising availability of workers sidelined from other industries, at least one key driver of builders adopting offsite methods may have faded. Are builders less inclined to adopt offsite construction now? Or are there other factors making them more ready for the change? A recent survey aimed to find out the answer to these and other related questions.
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In early 2020, ANSI approved the fourth version of the National Green Building Standard ICC-700 (NGBS) as an American National Standard. Now, builders and developers have a choice to seek NGBS Green certification based on either the 2015 NGBS or the 2020 NGBS. Which is the best version for your project and your market? Some may presume that compliance with the 2015 NGBS would be less challenging and/or less expensive to achieve compliance. But, don’t be so quick to dismiss the 2020 as a more beneficial option. The 2020 NGBS Consensus Committee made several important improvements that warrant strong consideration before embarking on your next green building project. Check out this post on some factors to consider as you make the decision.
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A lot of attention has been given to offsite building solutions in recent years, and data show that it’s quickly making inroads in multifamily and commercial construction. Offsite construction has also been touted as a solution to the shortage of skilled construction labor that has hampered housing production in the past few years. Large single-family builders have told us repeatedly how difficult it has been to keep up with housing demand because they can’t get homes built fast enough – they attribute this to the tight schedules of subcontracted labor who can’t find enough skilled workers to keep up. NAHB reports that the average cycle time for building a single-family home has increased from 6 months to 7 in the past few years.
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Homebuyers look for sustainable and efficient design, but they also bring their own values to the home search. Health is top of mind for consumers right now, and many buyers recognize the role that our homes play in keeping us healthy and safe. Since we’re all spending more time at home, some buyers look for the convenience afforded by smart home systems and accessible design. And, while there is so much uncertainty globally, some crave the security that is afforded by energy and water independence and resilient design.
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The national news and trade press have regularly kept us up-to-date on the COVID-19 traffic boost in home improvement warehouse (HIW) stores, largely due to their visibility with retail locations across the country and publicly-traded stock, which makes information on their performance readily available.
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Building products manufacturers, mills, and wood treatment facilities are keenly aware of the COVID-19 traffic boost in home improvement warehouse (HIW) stores, such as Home Depot, Menards, and Lowes. If they have a strong presence in those locations, these manufacturers are happy about that boost. But many who aren’t well established in HIW stores and are more dependent on lumber and building materials dealers are feeling like they’re missing an opportunity.
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As you may have seen in our recent news announcement, Home Innovation recently celebrated the licensure of Nay B. Shah as one of Maryland’s and Home Innovation’s most recent Professional Engineers. Home Innovation is known for conducting cutting-edge building science research, green building certification, laboratory testing, and market assessments. As part of this culture, we highly encourage and support the licensure of all of our engineers. We believe it not only adds value to our clients and our work, but is an important step in the career progression of our engineers.
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With most of the 2020 Builder Practices Reports now available, we’ve been anxiously reviewing each report for new trends in building products for new homes. In addition to our traditional line up of questions, the 2020 survey contained some new topics—for example, we added questions on air sealing methods for new homes.
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The 1970’s was the greatest home building decade in U.S. history in terms of the total number of new homes built—nearly 18 million residences in that decade. Fueled by the Baby Boom generation’s need for housing, there was a rental housing boom in the early 70’s, followed by a very strong starter home market, and later as the Baby Boom generation continued to move through its life cycle, began buying move-up homes like they did starter homes a decade earlier.
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For the past several years, Outdoor Living upgrades have been getting a lot more attention as homeowners seek to expand their living space from within the walls of the home to beyond those borders. Average new home size has shrunk in the past few years, but the expansion of outdoor living space has more than filled the gap the shrinking home has left.
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Our 2020 Annual Consumer Practices Survey is complete, data compiled, and reports will be available starting this week. More than 110,000 U.S. and Canadian households participated this year and provided highly-detailed information on their remodeling activities and purchases from nearly 40 different product categories. This is an incredibly important data year as it establishes a pre-COVID-19 benchmark to measure against. The home flooring replacement market, for example, was anything but static in the preceding year.
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Occasionally, unforeseen opportunities arise in the course of research where data can be analyzed for a purpose that was not originally intended. Collecting data from our 100,000-response Consumer Practices Survey (CPS) occurred from mid-February to mid-April 2020; this collection period spanned the period of time when we first began seeing COVID-19 as a serious threat in the Unites States and governments began restricting certain businesses and activities.
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While in most states home construction has been considered “essential” in our COVID-19-restricted economy, that doesn’t mean that all things have been “business-as-usual.” Quite the contrary. Builders and contractors are reporting that social distancing measures and shut downs in other sectors of the economy have slowed sales, lengthened construction times, and reduced the reliability and flexibility of their workforce. As states begin allowing limited re-opening of more businesses, construction companies are focusing on how to handle a surge in demand. But will the building product industry, with its own COVID-19 curtailments, be able to sufficiently supply a robust rebound of the residential construction industry? And, just as importantly, what product mix will satisfy the needs of the new industry environment?
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In theory, business disruptions, even one as unexpected and drastic as COVID-19, can spur innovation in an industry as companies adapt to overcome new challenges to their economic viability. However, reality often favors the opposite end of the spectrum, where companies opt to retrench, preserve cash, and focus on short-term, revenue-generating functions as they prepare for a potential protracted downturn. This tactic likely results in reallocating dollars away from R&D and market expansion efforts. And, since these activities are generally associated with a company’s innovativeness – and further, its long-term health and viability – the chasm between the theoretical benefits and harsh reality of major disruptions widens.
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One of the hottest topics in the industry press prior to March of this year was the ongoing and growing shortage of skilled construction labor. The coverage reflected the perceptions of home builders across the country as they faced this daunting issue and its effects on their businesses. Over the past few weeks, however, with builder confidence about future sales dropping sharply in response to COVID-19, we felt it was time for us to re-assess the labor environment as a builder priority.
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Moisture control and dehumidification are increasingly hot topics among residential builders and property managers in hot-humid climates. Home Innovation's Cindy Wasser recently spoke with a couple of our manufacturer partners with NGBS Green Certified Products to learn more about the industry trends they’re seeing, and the solutions their companies are implementing to ensure energy-efficient green homes maintain proper moisture and humidity.
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Most researchers associate discrete choice methodologies with surveys where the objective is to measure the “What” of buyer preference. But in qualitative research, where exploration is a common objective, discrete choice methodology can be applied to better understand the “Why” of decision dynamics and to identify what tradeoffs buyers are making when choosing building products or services. Home Innovation offers clients this powerful way to explore decision making through discrete choice qualitative research.
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Growing interest in Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) have some believing it will soon rival Energy Efficiency in consumers' housing-related decision making. So we put it to the test, adding a question to our 2020 Consumer Practices Survey. Take a look at my summary of what we found.
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We understand the concern and uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus (COVID-19) and want you to know that the entire Home Innovation team is committed to being responsive to the needs of our clients as the situation evolves. At Home Innovation Research Labs, the health and safety of our clients and our employees is our number one priority. As such, we are taking necessary measures to ensure the safety of our staff, while also remaining open for business to provide full business continuity for all of your testing and code compliance needs.
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Finding and surveying a consumer group with specific home repair or remodeling purchase experience can be challenging, at best. Sometimes, it’s like looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack. Here’s why it can be so difficult — each year…
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You know your product addresses the growing construction labor shortage, but your claims are falling on the deaf ears of skeptical potential buyers. They’ve heard that claim before and want someone to provide verification that it really works. Unfortunately, for manufacturers who have developed truly improved products, there are few standard test methods to empirically validate benefits like these.
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Historically, one of the biggest challenges home builders have faced is keeping rainwater out of wood-framed walls. Earliest techniques included big roof overhangs to shelter walls from rainwater, lapping siding boards to push water away from walls, protecting the framing with moisture-resistant sheathing materials, and later, placing a water-resistant layer like asphalt felt beneath siding to protect wood elements from rot.
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As many of us prepare for the upcoming holidays, I thought I’d do my part by scouting out changes Santa might see as he readies to land on the rooftops of U.S. homes next week. I did some fact-finding in our Annual Builder Practices Reports to determine how changes in new home construction, particularly on roofs, may impact his annual Christmas eve mission. So below is my list – neither naughty, nor nice; just the facts as revealed in Home Innovation’s 2019 Builder Practices Reports … but I did check them twice!
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Going with a really cheap survey sample may be one of the biggest mistakes your company could make in conducting market research among construction pros. No doubt, you can get cheap survey sample for about any set of qualifications for just $5, $10, or $20 per completed response. However, we have found through our own experience, as well as anecdotally from clients who’ve been lured in by cheap prices in the past, that more than 75% of “qualified” construction pros from consumer panels are not really construction pros at all; and the rest of the list is typically of questionable quality. As they say, garbage in, garbage out.
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During this week’s Housewrap 2019 conference in Ft. Lauderdale, I presented, “Trends and Opportunities in the Residential Housewrap Market.” The presentation included information from our Annual Builder Practices Reports and Annual Consumer Practices Reports.
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At Home Innovation Research Labs, we’re continuing to monitor the building industry climate and market opportunities for offsite housing construction through our surveys of home builders. Most recently, our August 2019 Omnibus Survey of builders included several questions on this topic.
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In recent years, a great deal of emphasis has been placed on the skilled labor shortage affecting construction and the related changes in building and buying patterns this has caused among home builders. But there may be an even greater pain-point among builders that’s getting a lot less attention—builder sensitivity to increases in building materials prices. Given the nature of the construction business, price increases over the course of home construction (currently averaging 7 months from breaking ground to completion) cuts into margins, while price declines are a windfall. The problem is that lately price increases have far outweighed decreases.
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Data collection for our Annual Builder Practices Survey is complete and initial findings are now being published. More than 1,500 U.S. home builders participated this year to give us highly detailed information on their new home characteristics and the products they purchased for their homes.
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Data collection for our Annual Consumer Practices Survey is complete and we’re now compiling and publishing the initial findings. More than 110,000 U.S. and Canadian households participated this year, and provided highly detailed information on their remodeling activities and purchases in 30 different product categories for the last year.
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During this year’s International Builders’ Show in Las Vegas, I presented, “When and Where Off-Site Housing Technologies Will Emerge” to members of NAHB’s Building Systems Council (BSC). The presentation included information from a 10-year summary of our Annual Builder Practices Reports and a survey conducted in December 2018 of home 300 builders who were asked about their future intentions for using building components and off-site housing technologies. While I’d provided an overview of December’s survey findings here on our website, the presentation was based on a more in-depth analysis based on builder type, size, and region.
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Two weeks ago, I blogged about a summary of findings to a builder survey, where more than 250 write-in responses to the question, “What are your biggest challenges in constructing homes to meet current energy codes?” were received.
Responses varied widely. In an attempt to summarize the breadth of responses, I would say they indicated that building more energy-efficient homes means the home building industry has to change, and change can be painful — particularly painful when the industry is producing at near capacity, labor and materials costs are rising, and both management and jobsite labor are in short supply. The 85% of respondents who indicated having challenges seemed to convey that the fast pace of building code changes is disrupting the design and construction of homes, and they are trying to sort things out.
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In December 2018, Home Innovations Research Labs fielded our Omnibus Survey of 300 U.S. home builders, which included dozens of questions from sponsoring manufacturers. We also included some of our own questions to gain insight into current building construction issues.
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It’s been about 30 years since Home Innovation Research Labs built the first Smart House prototype in Maryland research home park. The whole “smart home” concept has been on the verge of exploding in the market for decades, but along the way changing homes, demographics, technologies, and lifestyles have continued to evolve and caused wrinkles in the plans of companies and organizations bringing this technology to market.
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There are lots of passionate individuals and companies in our industry who are working to bring about positive change. Whether developing a new product, testing a new construction technique/method, introducing a new building code provision, or advocating for a new industry policy, cost is always a factor that needs to be considered on the road to innovation. Cost can be the factor that stops a great idea from going forward.
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The data is in! Home Innovation’s 2018 Builder Practices Survey continues to reveal many new trends and reversals. Some of the most notable changes we’ve seen so far have been highlighted in my recent Trends posts. Here are a few more points I’ve found interesting during my ongoing analysis…
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Trends will come and go, but one thing that’s always been consistent about the construction industry and markets for building products is that it is highly fragmented. A product manufacturer’s success in one of the many market segments almost never indicates if they can or will be successful in another market. Buyers of materials have very different purchase journeys, depending on whether it is for a production home, non-residential building, infrastructure project, home remodeling done by a professional, or a do-it-yourself undertaking.
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With increasingly stringent energy codes, building product manufacturers are developing new products and innovative construction techniques to improve the thermal envelope. Code officials, builders, and architects want reliable thermal conductivity data. But, without testing, you can't know the U-value of the assembled component. Hot Box testing is a reliable way to capture shareable, marketable data that is far superior to modeled performance.
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For many smaller building product manufacturers, simply following best practices and common sense may work most of the time. But, for those looking to grow market share and compete on a regional or national level, that may not be enough. Having a formal quality assurance (QA) system is often the next step in your company's journey to market growth and success; and it is a must for getting your product certified as code compliant.
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Based on my past 25 years of researching innovation in home construction, I’ve seen the impact of building code changes on market and industry practices. Normally, however, it’s industry and market adoption of superior building practices that lead to building code changes.
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One market, one message, one ad strategy, one set of product options — sounds simple and efficient, doesn’t it? But we all know that’s not how modern marketing works. As marketers get more savvy, and buyers more discerning, lumping everyone into a single bucket is only a simple and efficient way to continue losing ground against competitors. Even “segmenting” your market by Builder, Retailer, or Contractor channels falls short of a strategy that will propel you ahead of competitors and help you make the most of your advertising, marketing, and communications budgets.
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Energy codes have more stringent insulating requirements for cooler climates. So, wouldn’t it be logical to assume that a manufacturer offering a new insulation product touting better energy performance should introduce it the cooler, Northern region of the country? Perhaps. But the market doesn’t always play out the way you think it will; the way that seems most logical. As a prime example, Spray Foam Insulation has enjoyed much bigger market share in warmer climates than in cooler (see map below). Using Tableau, Home Innovation’s Builder Practices data can provide insight not readily seen using more traditional methods of analysis.
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In our wind-blown rain and air infiltration chamber we huff and puff and see what it takes to blow water into even the tiniest entry points of a home's exterior envelope. Would your products pass our rigorous testing?
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Over the past several years of visiting IBS and conducting field and lab research on labor-saving materials, tools, and equipment, Home Innovation market expert Ed Hudson has seen some that have been really successful for the manufacturers who seized on the opportunity. Check out some more of his insights on providing market solutions to the current labor shortage.
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It’s no secret that there is a labor shortage in construction. But every unmet building industry need creates an opportunity for manufacturers and suppliers in that segment of the industry. Over the past several years, Home Innovation Research Labs has conducted dozens of studies on new labor-saving materials, tools, equipment, and installation techniques. Find out things we've learned that can help you be part of the solution for your customers.
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Is it best to take total control of your business experience at the upcoming International Builders' Show and walk the floor, or should you work the booth and make something of whoever comes your way? Or maybe both? It really depends on your objectives. Find out how to make the best decision for your company.
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According to Home Innovation's latest Annual Builder Practices Survey, the home building industry is finally climbing out of the doldrums, and some exciting and unexpected opportunities are revealing themselves. For over 30 years, our annual survey and reports have tracked market shares of building material categories. Find out what the latest data tell us.
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Despite green building experts’ declarations to the contrary, a truly high-performance, green home is not always easy for builders to design and construct, and there are always additional costs involved as compared to building a code-minimum home. These are facts. But we do all that we can to make the process easier and more affordable for builders, so that more builders will build green homes and verify performance with independent, third-party verification.
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In light of the recent approval by Congress of the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), and specific recognition of the National Green Building Standard (NGBS) in that legislation, Balfour Beatty's Hayley King discusses how the NGBS can work well for military housing and the land on which it’s developed.
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No home is made of just one product. And no one product within a home works without some reliance on one or more other products. Does your product play well with others? Don't be the weakest link in your clients' home systems, or get in your own way on the path to your next innovation. Understand how your product works in relation to a range of connections and assemblies by conducting non-standard testing with Home Innovation Research Labs.
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As a building product manufacturer, it’s important to base your assessment of market change on reliable data and not the latest industry hype. Find out how our product usage data helps vigilant product managers spot changes as they're beginning to happen, when there's still time to act and not just re-act.
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With model building codes ramping up thermal envelope requirements for homes, and homebuyers becoming increasingly concerned (and knowledgeable) about managing their energy bills, both builders and buyers are scrutinizing the performance of the insulative products used in their homes. R-value is the most obvious and universal “proof point” that batt insulation will perform as expected, but how confident can you be that the R-value posted on a label actually reflects how that product will perform? Very confident … as long as the product also carries our Lab Certified mark.
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As the Sustainability Coordinator for Balfour Beatty Communities’ diverse housing portfolio, Hayley King's chief objective is to recommend and execute efficient products and services that reduce our operating costs while increasing the bottom line. Find out why she's found the National Green Building Standard (NGBS) an invaluable resource to accomplish these corporate goals, and why she values the openness, transparency, and diversity of stakeholder input in the development of the 2015 NGBS.
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With new single-family housing starts up 16 percent from the previous year, 2013 brought some needed relief to a beleaguered industry. What did that mean for building products usage? After comparing data from our 2013 Annual Builder Practices Reports to the previous year, what we saw largely met our expectations. However, there were a few surprises that may signal some fundamental changes in builder preferences for new home materials. Take a look at what we observed for residential exterior materials.
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The phrase, “You’re being audited,” can strike fear into the heart of anyone. I am personally recovering from our latest lab audit, or, more accurately, our latest surveillance assessment. Unlike an IRS audit, however, the audits we undergo as an accredited third party are not at all unpleasant; in fact, they’re very beneficial. But they do take a big commitment of time and energy, and involve a certain amount of stress as our company’s credibility relies heavily on the value imbued by our accreditations. Find out what's involved and how this helps define our culture of accountability.
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Having just marked our 50th year in business last week, it seems like a perfect time to look back on some of the key home building innovations our team has helped to gain acceptance in the mainstream by eliminating barriers to market penetration. While there's probably no one builder who uses all these innovations, I bet most builders use at least one on a regular basis. We're proud of that legacy.
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Product failures happen. Because they do, builders tend to stick with the “tried-and-true” building materials, believing that wise builders don’t get fooled by new product claims. So how do new products break through? Consistently, our research shows the most important factor in a builder’s decision to try a new product is confidence that the manufacturer has done the proper testing and evaluation on the product. Have your products been tested?
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Energy efficiency requirements in the building codes are becoming more and more stringent. This has lead to the unintended consequence of builders having to contend with and mitigate excess moisture in the homes they build. Making houses tighter with less air infiltration creates positive energy benefits but, unless adequate ventilation is provided in the right way, there can be moisture-related issues like mold growth. Proper moisture testing for building products is crucial to ensure they perform as manufacturers, builders, and homeowners desire.
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Homes today, especially high-performance green homes, are complex – they involve systems within systems, integrated technologies, and dozens of “pieces” or components that homeowners rely on every day. Each home component – including systems, appliances, finishes, and more – has its own make, model, serial number, user manual, warranty information, and more. A homeowners’ manual is the key to maintaining and understanding all of these components, and providing a comprehensive manual to your homeowners is the key to establishing yourself as a reliable resource for them.
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Some U.S. manufacturers of building materials have overlooked Canada as an important part of their market development efforts, instead concentrating on expanding their presence into new U.S. geographies or penetrating deeper into existing markets. This may have been rational, for example, in 2005 when the Canadian housing market about 1/10th the size of the U.S. market (measured in new homes completed). Last year, Canada’s housing market was about 1/5th the size of the U.S. market. The stability of the Canadian housing market is also noteworthy, and the anemic rebound of the U.S. new home market are more reasons to take a closer look at Canada.
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This week I was on a mission to purchase sneakers. I am a loyal consumer to a brand known for their technological innovations and superior performance. Given their extensive product line, I sought to narrow my choice by reading online customer reviews. What I learned was interesting, and a problem not unfamiliar to the residential construction industry: they lost control of their quality.
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A successful year for your company may mean a couple percentage points gain in market share against your competitors. But how do you know your competitive position with any certainty? Are sudden changes in sales affecting only your company, or is the entire market or product category up or down for some reason? Since most companies' product category sales and production figures aren’t made public, companies often resort to conducting their own brand share study to answer these and other questions.
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Guests who tour Home Innovation Research Labs are impressed with our sizeable Hot Box. Indeed, we have one of the largest in the country. Less brawny, but equally titillating, are our four heat flow meters. This equipment is essential to measure the thermal efficiency of insulation (and a variety of other building products), commonly measured by R-value, a measure of resistance to heat flow. And increasingly, as Professional Builder magazine recently noted, energy efficiency is table stakes for the new market.
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Today’s housing market presents builders and remodelers with lots of changes. More stringent energy codes. A shortage of skilled labor. Changing consumer preferences. Advanced building science technologies. Rising land and material costs. As a result, builders' and remodelers' practices are changing at a similar pace.
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Shortly after last year's USGBC GreenBuild conference, an online publication queried building professionals as to their thoughts and expectations of the future of green building. Overwhelmingly, it seemed the green building experts interviewed believed that eventually there would be no distinction between green, high-performance building and standard construction, simply because conventional construction would be so much more efficient than current industry standards. Similarly, I often hear builders opine that because energy codes have become so much more stringent, there soon will be no need for above-code green certification programs.
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High-performance homes appeal to consumers because of their touted benefits: a healthier indoor environment, lower operating costs, and increased durability. Certainly, the benefits are compelling. But do we know if high-performance homes can live up to these elevated expectations?
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If you are a builder or developer who is just getting started with green home construction, look no further than Home Innovation Research Labs' NGBS Green Certified product mark on product packaging and marketing materials to identify and source green building products. NGBS Green Certified products are pre-approved by Home Innovation to contribute toward a home or building meeting specific NGBS practices, and use of certified products offers labor-savings and streamlined verification to builders/developers.
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There is a common barrier to innovation faced by builders and product manufacturers alike. They may be certain their product or technology is superior, but can they convince relevant decision-makers to change from tried-and-true methodologies and products? The answer is yes – if they have credible and demonstrable proof to back up their claims.
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Home Innovation Research Labs began to certify homes and multifamily buildings to the NGBS in 2009. Since then, we have certified over 30,000 homes and lots as NGBS compliant; and have almost 50,000 homes registered as seeking certification. Until recently, however, we have not had an effective way to reach consumers. A new and exciting partnership with Porch.com will help us overcome that challenge.
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I saw an ad recently that was so good I watched it several times on the DVR. It not only made me feel more positive about the brand, it made me want to use the brand more often. Don’t you hope all the ads you have a hand in crafting are this effective? We can help.
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We are an enigma -- a for-profit operating as an independent subsidiary of a non-profit. At the same time, our by-laws outline a corporate mission of research and development aimed at increasing the affordability, and improving the quality and performance of homes nationwide. Our mission appears to belie our for-profit organizing principle, but it actually offers insight into barriers to innovation within the residential construction industry. Find out how we help clients navigate those challenges.
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With all the work GSA has done recently to establish leadership in sustainable commercial building and development, there's reason to be optimistic and anticipate similar leadership on their part in regard to green housing. Find out why I'm hopeful.
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Is it best to take total control of your business experience at the upcoming International Builders' Show and walk the floor, or should you work the booth and make something of whoever comes your way? Or maybe both? It really depends on your objectives. Find out how to make the best decision for your company.
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Are you planning to do focus groups at IBS? Shouldn't you be? The attendees will represent everyone from the guys who pound the hammers, to the guys who make the multi-million dollar deals, and everyone in between. Don't miss this exclusive opportunity to get their insights on your products.
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It’s not always easy to collect the right kind of information from the right kind of respondents for the residential construction industry. But with 50 years of expertise on the ins and outs of the housing industry, we have the know-how to overcome the potential difficulties that come with getting meaningful, actionable data.
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Over the past decade, we've undertaken dozens of market research projects to uncover what consumers know or don't know, like or dislike, want or don't want in green homes. Find out what insights this long-ranging look at consumer preferences has given me, and some of the most meaningful and easy remedies to barriers that might confront builders heading down the green home path.
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While its name might conjure up images of a middle ages torture machine or a modern-day MMA move, our "Racker" is actually used to understand the shear wall performance of building assemblies. Find out what makes this custom piece of test equipment particularly well-suited for ensuring structural systems are up to the test.
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Elvis was right. “Changes are a-comin', for these are changing days.” The housing industry is no stranger to change; many of our clients have successfully navigated the cyclical housing market. But it certainly seems the pace of change within our characteristically slow-to-change industry has accelerated.
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Think all Universal Test Machines are the same? Think again. Find out more about our large-scale Southwerk-Emery UTM, one of the workhorse pieces of equipment in our product testing lab.
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Home design may be holding onto to tradition on the exterior, but on the inside, consumers are yearning for more and different all the time. Find out how some recent data from a builder survey may reveal where the action really is for home innovation -- after all, it's what's on the inside that counts!
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Ever sneak a peak at what's inside your neighbor's cabinet? Not to be creepy, just to see if they were KCMA Certified. Let us quell your curiosity by telling you a little more about the third-party product testing we provide to give KCMA confidence in the products that bear their mark.
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As new and improved building products come onto the market, how do you know what's going to stand the test of time? It's easy — just look for the Home Innovation Lab Certified mark.
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While cost is always a factor with home builders, we've seen through data collected in our Annual Builder Practices Survey that value is often an overriding consideration. See what we've found for how builders address the cost vs. value equation when increasing R-value in their new homes.
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One of the barriers to green certified housing is the ability for architects, builders, and remodelers to find products that help their project attain certification. That's why Home Innovation Labs created our NGBS Green Certified Products Program.
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In this third and final in our series discussing our recent consumer survey on garages, I cover some of the "wish list" items consumers say would help them enjoy their garages more. There are potential market opportunities for product manufacturers and other industry professionals.
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In this second of a three-part series, find out some of the demographic differences we found in terms of how people use their garages. There are potential market opportunities both in what has changed and in what has remained the same.
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We investigated all-things-garage in a recent survey commissioned by the Wall Street Journal, and found some interesting market opportunities for product manufacturers who can satisfy the garage makeover needs of today's homeowners, renters, and buyers. In this first of a three-part series, find out some of the regional and demographic differences we found in terms of garage size and type.
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Quarter-inch by quarter-inch, nail by nail, panel by panel — our lab testing procedures "sweat the details" of every test we do to ensure our clients have comprehensive, credible, and actionable data.
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Like seeing your child graduate and walk across the stage, diploma in hand, it's always gratifying for us as researchers to see a building product we tested gain commercial success. Check out this example — we can do the same for you.
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It's all relative. That adage certainly holds true when considering moisture content in wood-based building materials. A retrospective on what we've found over the last five years of our investigations on moisture performance of common wall assemblies, and a call for the next round.
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The International Builders' Show is an outstanding place to gather market intelligence and uncover current trends shaping our industry. Learn six tried and true ways to enrich your show experience from a market researcher, analyst, and IBS veteran.
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In our wind-blown rain and air infiltration chamber we huff and puff and see what it takes to blow water into even the tiniest entry points of a home's exterior envelope. Would your products pass our rigorous testing?
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Don’t throw in the towel on the luxury home market just yet. As single-family housing is coming back to life, some hints of a strengthening luxury home market are appearing as well. Find out what's keeping me optimistic about a bright future for building product manufacturers and suppliers.
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With thermal performance requirements being ratcheted up throughout the building code, it's more important than ever to get a true sense of how the building envelope performs as a system. The Home Innovation can help with our large-scale hot box.
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What's lurking in those dark attics and creepy crawlspaces just in time for Halloween? Market opportunities, if you know what to look for. An Home Innovation Research Labs nationwide survey of builders earlier this month showed some interesting new trends in unvented attics and crawlspaces.
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In the highly competitive building product market, find out how Home Innovation Research Labs is helping manufacturers highlight the "gee-whiz" product attributes that set them apart from the competition.
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Many know Home Innovation Research Labs for our product testing and certification marks, but here are some examples why we’re much more than just a pretty certification label. The invitation is open – get to know us!
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The Home Innovation is helping builders and manufacturers prepare for more stringent air sealing requirements in the 2012 IECC.
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Our Annual Builder Practices Survey shows a return to some pre-recession higher-end preferences and an increase in energy efficiency practices.
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