NCHI Liaison Reports to NAHB Committees & Councils


Building & Panel Systems, Log Homes, Concrete, Associates
Chairman:  David Endy, Stratford Homes
Reporting: Barry Holloway, Icynene Corp.

The  Log  Homes  Council  Steering  Committee  is pushing for  language  in  the  membership application that states “ a company must manufacture their logs from a raw product to a  finished product. This would eliminate companies using “looks like its real” logs if the proposal passes this spring.

The BSC Advocacy Committee chaired by Roger Lyons received an update from the NAHB Legal Affairs Staff on the fire sprinkler mandate being pursued by Tyco & fire officials.

The  NAHB  scored  a  major  victory  last  fall  in defeating a number  of  International Residential Code  proposals  that would have mandated fire sprinkler systems in new homes.

Fire sprinkler advocates will continue a nationwide push for mandates in new single family homes via the IRC. They are focused on the International Code Council Final Action Hearings in Rochester, New York May 21–26.  All NAHB members are encouraged to promote against this legislation

The NAHB Legal Staff also expressed pleasure over the U. S. Supreme  Court’s decision to review a lower court ruling that  would  add  new  requirements  to states wishing to administer Clean Water Act permitting programs resulting  in additional expenses passed on to the new home buyer. The relevance of this is to ensure that federal agencies are not forced to extend their authority beyond Congress’s intent.

Time Critical Information:

The Building Systems and Panelized Council will have their 2007 Modular and Panel Plant Tour May 20–22 in Roanoke, Virginia.  Plants confirmed to date include West Window Company, Nationwide and Mod-U-Kraf Homes, Timber Truss, and Martinsville Motor Speedway.

The Log Homes Council President’s Tour is March 11–13 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Besides various committee meetings, there will be tours of Hearthstone, Inc., TN, Stonemill, Barna, Heritage, and Hearthstone Log Homes.

The Concrete Technologies Tour will be held May 5–8 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The current tentative tour stops include Molin Concrete Products, Ochs Brick Company, Scwing America, and Arm Companies.

Actions:

The Log Council voted to continue their efforts on the proper moisture testing of new logs prior to construction. 

Unanimous support of all councils was given towards the defeat of any code legislation on mandated sprinkler use.

THE BSC General Session concluded the BSC Booth should be manned by members and not the NAHB Staff.

Chairman David Endy and the BSC Staff will send to all Associates a Thank You letter for their current efforts.

The Building Systems Council will continue their efforts to insure representation during  FEMA meeting with the NAHB  over  future  initiatives in the Gulf Coast Region.  

Additional Comments:

Next meeting will be held during the 2007 NAHB Spring Board, June 7th, 2007 at the Washington Hilton Hotel, Washington, DC for all current councils and committees.

SHOWCASE 2007 will be held October 28th – 31st, 2007 at the Hilton Head Marriott Beach & Golf Resort, in Hilton Head,  South Carolina. Possible future sites include Memphis, Tennessee in 2008 and New Orleans in 2009.

Business Management & Information Technology Committee
Chairman: Chuck Austin
NCHI Member & Company Affiliation: Jeremy Larsen - Sage Software

Three Major Issues:

1. Computer labs for IBS 2007 sold rapidly.  We discussed expanding the number of labs offered and possibly the number of computers available in each lab for IBS 2009 and will look into the ROI associated in doing so
   
   
2. The BMITC agreed to allow non-member vendors to list in the technology directory at a cost of $800 for standard listing and $1000 for an enhanced listing.  The goal was to give them an option when calling and asking how they could list with the NAHB and encourage non-members to become a members at a lesser price then listing in most cases.
   
   
3. During the fall board the BMITC identified a need for a "Bible" for homebuilders.  The idea was to create a loose leaf type of living document that would contain everything a builder might need to know about and then added to as needed topics arose.  An outline was presented and reviewed during this meeting and a direction change moved the project into more a full marketable BuilderBook, leaving still a need for a living document that can be accessed by all members.  While continuing with the the BuilderBook route the BMITC in addition will be reviewing existing content in hopes of putting together more of a living electronic document that can be viewed by all members.

Time Critical Information:

1. A technology survey will be launched between now and spring board to members receiving e-news letters in addition to being posted to the NAHB website. The goal of the BMITC is learn the needs of our membership that will help direct our focus of what we deliver in terms of technology information to our membership in the future. 
   
   
2. The number of Builder Technology Forums for IBS 2008 were discussed and a list of five topics; estimating/CAD integration, change order management, lessons learned while implementing new technology, purchase orders and contracts and reaching generation Y though the internet became a the list that will be submitted for review.
   
    
3. The BMITC created and is distributing the biztools flyer to promote the solutions, tools and guidance that biztools can provide to builders in need of these types of things through www.nahb.org/biztools.  The flyer was solely sponsored by Sage Software.  In addition the BMITC released a new builder book " Building Processes Using Technology steps to making IT work for you". This book was sponsored by Mark Systems.   

Actions:

1. Review and return survey questions within the next 30 days.
   
   
2. Log onto the NAHB website and review existing article content for inclusion in a new builder bible electronic document.
   
    
3. Provide article submission to add to new online content

Three Major Issues:

1. Fire Sprinkler Legislation – This is still a heated topic.  A flyer detailing the Member Call to Action – Defeat Fire Sprinkler Mandates was distributed and discussed.  The NAHB won a major victory in the Fall defeating a number of International Residential Code (IRC) proposals.  The battle is not yet won.  In May, fire sprinkler advocates will rally at the International Code Council to attempt to overturn the defeated IRC proposals.  As such the NAHB is rallying its membership to action asking them to contact their local building officials in their jurisdictions to both communicate their concerns over fire sprinkler legislation and encourage them to attend the Hearings and vote against sprinkler mandates.
   
   
2. Storm Water Regulations were added to the Top 10 Production Builders concerns.  Many stories were shared about how many resources are required to abide by the current regulations.  Many builders are being fined and have no way to truly rectify the reason they are being fined. 
   
   
3. Climate Change Issues – Call it Global Warming.  Call it environmental issues.  Climate changes have also been added to the Top 10 Production Builders concerns.  With the talk of Al Gore potentially being the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on a documentary detailing the effects of pollution on the environment, there is a lot of concern over what this will mean to the building industry. 

During the recent International Builders’ Show in Orlando, we attended two Convention Committee meetings.  Below are the highlights of the meetings.

Reports were given on exhibit space sales.  Space sales for 2007 reached over one million net square feet - 1,036,912 vs. 967,000 in 2006.  The number of exhibiting companies in 2007 was 1935 vs. 1600 in 2006.  Also, in 2007 there were 594 new exhibiting companies.

Prior to show opening, pre registration was reported at an increase of 18% compared to 2006.    It was suspected that this increase was due to the increase of on line registrants.  At the conclusion of the show, final attendance figures are being reported at 103,971 attendees vs. 105,263 reported for 2006. 

Fred Tobin reported on transportation stating that they are always working on ways to improve this difficult task of moving such a large number of people.  Some of the improvements included:  changes to routes, additional busses, and busses with GPS systems.

Gary Garczynski reported on the IBS Segmentation Sub-Committee and stressed that the sub-committee was just in the data gathering phase.  On-site focus groups were held with exhibitors and post show surveys will be sent out to all exhibitors and attendees.  The sub-committee plans to have the results of the focus groups and surveys analyzed by April 1 with the plan to make a recommendation to the Convention Committee by the Spring Board Meeting in D.C.  Please note that no changes will be made to the 2008 show in Orlando.

Also, just as a reminder, space rates for 2008 in Orlando will remain at $36.00 per sq. ft. if an exhibitor maintains the same amount of space from ’07.  If an exhibitor requests less space from ’07 to ’08, or is a new exhibitor, the rate will increase to $37.00 per sq. ft.

The number one item for the Construction Codes and Standards Committee was the potential for mandatory residential sprinklers in the International Residential Code.  Residential sprinklers are already in the appendix for jurisdictions to use if they want.  There is concern that numerous fire officials will show up at the hearings in May to testify in favor of the mandatory residential sprinklers (stories of chartered buses and planes).  Every effort possible is needed to assure that building code officials attend and vote against these mandatory requirements at the hearings in Rochester New York May 21-26, 2007.  For more information visit the NAHB web site:www.nahb.org/sprinklers

All members of NAHB and its councils are being asked to get involved to prevent this mandatory requirement from progressing through the building code process. 

The 19th annual Custom Builder Symposium is scheduled for October 26-28 at the Naples Grande Resort & Club in Naples, Florida and suggested themes were “design” and “technology”.  A golf outing is planned the day before the start of the meeting, Thursday, October 25. This symposium will include the second annual Custom Home Builder of the Year award, sponsored by Dryvit Systems Inc. All nominations for this award must be sent in by August 17.

As of February, 15 suppliers/trade associations committed to sponsor the 2007 symposium but several levels of sponsorship are still available.  NAHB is targeting $200,000 combined level of sponsorships for this event.  Please contact Grante Wright at (202) 266-8051 or gwright@nahb.com, if you are interested.     

The 2006 Custom Builder Symposium held in Lake Las Vegas last October drew a record attendance of 501 paid attendees.  The first annual custom builder of the year award went to Paul Magleby, a custom builder from Lindon, Utah.      

The Custom Home Builder Committee is continuing work on reviewing its strategic plans and more details will be available at the Spring board meeting.  The vast majority of NAHB members are custom home builders.  So there was discussion about seeking status for the Custom Home Builder Committee to become a Council within NAHB.  Further details will be checked into regarding what would be involved in requesting a status change within NAHB from a committee to a council.  In the meantime, the group did not want this issue to distract from the progress on its strategic plans.     

Since technology is a more important component in designing and building custom homes, NAHB is attempting to work closer with the Custom Electronic Design Installers Association (CEDIA).  CEDIA is a trade association with 3,500 members that sell and/or install home technology.  NAHB and CEDIA were excited to announce that at the end of February, CEDIA would be committing a full-time staff person at NAHB headquarters to give technical advice to members related to home technology.  More details about this initiative will be coming.  

Time Critical Information and Action:

If you work with a custom home builder that exhibits extraordinary leadership, programs for customers, and contribution to the building industry, consider nominating them for the Custom Home Builder of the Year award.  Entry forms will be available on-line shortly.

Additional Comments:

The 2008 Custom Home Builder Symposium will be in Austin, Texas with the theme probably being on green building.  Sites being evaluated for the 2009 Custom Home Builder Symposium are San Diego and Las Vegas.

An upcoming code meeting scheduled this May in New York will consider requiring fire sprinklers in single family residential construction.  Several builders spoke about experiences in local areas which already require/encourage fire sprinklers.  Some stated that the estimated cost to install these systems by the fire sprinkler association was significantly understated.  If systems malfunction, water could damage homes and cause mold.  In some areas, insurance companies actually charge more for homes with sprinkler systems.  This is a delicate issue for NAHB and builders, trying to balance life safety issues and higher home costs.          [ return to top ]