New Builder Practice Data Regarding Indoor Health and Comfort

With COVID-19 dramatically changing attitudes on how people view housing, there is a strong renewed interest in healthy indoor environmental quality. This is not only due to a desire to keep homes “virus free,” but also because people are spending more time in their homes, so a comfortable and heathy home environment is playing a bigger role in their lives. Findings from our latest Builder Practices Survey, which we fielded among home builders in early 2020, serve as a benchmark for industry practices at the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak. Moving forward, we expect that building practices regarding indoor health and comfort will continue to follow the major change in consumer attitudes about this topic. 

Whole Home Ventilation is a major element of indoor air quality because it involves 1) exhausting stale indoor air, 2) introducing fresh air from outside, or 3) using a combination of fresh air intake and exhaust. In our 2020 survey, a little over a third (36%) of builders told us they do not use a mechanical whole-home ventilation system in the homes they build. Among the other two thirds of respondents who do use these types of systems, the graph below summarizes frequency of using various ventilation strategies, as well as what upgrades implemented in heating and cooling systems.

 
Source: Home Innovation’s Annual Builder Practices Survey

As the graph shows, the most popular form of whole-house ventilation is the exhaust-only system using bath fans, followed by balanced systems using HRVs and ERVs. Third in popularity is supply-only ventilation, which draws fresh outdoor air into the HVAC air supply.

Regarding HVAC system upgrades, nearly a quarter of builders stated their homes have high performance air cleaners, while 8% and 6% of builders include humidifiers or dehumidifiers, respectively, as part of the HVAC systems in the homes they build.

Home Innovation’s 2020 Builder Practices Reports are now available. Top building product manufacturers have used Home Innovation's survey data for over 25 years to determine market demand and identify trends. Our research and analysis among purchasers and users of building products is forward-looking, helping our clients assess trends as they are unfolding – for example, we expect the market for products that improve indoor air quality and comfort to evolve quickly in the wake of COVID-19.

The Builder Practices Reports cover building products installed on new homes and can be paired with our annual Consumer Practices Reports to give you a complete view of the residential building materials market. Builder Practices Reports span the following categories:

Appliances | Attic Access | Bathroom Accessories & Shower Doors
Beams | Cabinets for Kitchen & Bath | Cement Usage | Countertops
Deck & Porch Railings | Driveways | Ducts | Exterior Doors | Faucets
Fences & Landscape Walls | Finish Flooring | Fire Sprinkler Systems
Foundations | Garage Doors | Headers | Home Electronics
Home Mechanical Ventilation | Home Standby Generators
House Wrap & Radiant Barriers | HVAC Systems | Insulation
Infrastructure | Insulation | Interior Doors | Interior Finish Materials
Lighting | New Housing Characteristics | Outdoor Structures
Patio Doors | Plumbing Fixtures | Plumbing Piping
Radiant Floor Heating | Roofing | Roofing Underlayment
Sheathing - Floor | Sheathing - Roofs | Sheathing - Walls
Siding or Exterior Finish | Soffit, Fascia & Exterior Trim
Structural Systems - Floor | Structural Systems - Roofs
Structural Systems - Walls | Swimming Pools | Underlayment
Vapor Retarders in Walls & Ceilings | Windows

We also provide more options now in data format than we ever have before. The large survey sample size allows data subscribers to get a very granular look into county, metro area, state, and regional markets for new construction. This year, Builder Practices Reports are available in both tabular and database formats that give you more analysis options, including analysis via business analytics and mapping software like Power BI and Tableau.

Interested in getting the details on your product categories? Get in touch to learn more about how you can better monitor the market for construction products with this report series.

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