BLU HOMES MAKES DESIGNING A NEW HOME EASIER

It’s getting a lot easier to design your own home with a computer. A case in point is the Blu 3-D Configurator from Blu Homes, which simplifies home design to the point where regular non-architects can design their own homes with online tools.

The Blu 3-D Configurator is just the latest example of 3D graphics technologies developed for games finding new uses beyond the entertainment market. Blu Homes is announcing at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that a Massachusetts couple, Cathy and Walter Pearlman, designed their own two-bedroom home entirely by using the Blu 3-D Configurator. Once the design is complete, Blu Homes assembles the parts and ships them to the customer for assembly into a house.

The company turns the 3D designs created by users into actual homes. You can create your own or personalize a model made by Blu Homes’ architects and then fly through the home to get a feel for the actual layout. The hope is to revolutionize the way homes are built. You can go hang out in your home or redecorate it — before you ever set foot in the real thing. You can also get a real-time view of the costs that result when you make changes to the design — a feature that will be available in a few months.

Blu Homes 3-D Configurator

Blu Homes builds a home based on the client’s 3D custom model, using precision tooling and trained craftsmen in a climate-controlled factory in Vallejo, Calif. Blu Homes was founded in 2008 by Bill Haney, an environmental engineer, and Maura McCarthy, a venture capitalist with a background in modular housing. Blu Homes has seven eco-friendly architect-designed homes dubbed Elements. The Pearlmans chose one model for their home in Pembroke, Mass., with everything from exterior siding and kitchen appliances. After one meeting confirming the selections and a minor change to the bathroom title, they were ready to purchase their home at a fixed, pre-agreed upon price. The homes generally use 50 percent less energy than traditional homes.

“At first, designing our home online seemed so high-tech that it felt more like something our kids’ generation would do. Once we tried it ourselves, we realized how fun and easy it is,” said Cathy Pearlman. “It turns out designing your home online — and then having it built straight from the online designs — is something anyone can do.”

Haney, president and co-founder, says the Configurator takes a lot of the uncertainty and stress out of the home-building process for all parties. Since the tool became available in October, more than 6,000 home designs have been created and saved with the Configurator. The software is proprietary and similar to tools used by automotive and aeronautical engineers, and it takes into account complex requirements such as the kind of stress that snow could put on materials. But Blu Homes worked with user interface experts and game developers to make the designs consumer friendly.

ARE MEN HOLDING BACK THE GREEN BUILDING MOVEMENT?

Are Men Holding Back the Green Building Movement? 

GreenspirationHome Explores the Question in an Interview with Builders of Both Sexes

By Trish Holder

Trish Holder, Greenspiration Home

Could a male dominated construction industry be holding back the green building movement?  I’ve wondered about this a lot lately, so I decided to confront a couple of builders (one male, one female) with some research as well as some of my own observations of the home construction industry.
 


Nicole Goolsby of Rion Homes in Cornelius, NC and Clark Wilson of Clark Wilson Builders, Inc. in Austin Texas were willing to indulge my questions. Both are experienced green builders and have worked within the home construction/real estate industry for multiple decades. Their answers shed some much-needed light on a subject I believe builders and homeowners struggle with:  cross gender communication.  

Trish:  Let’s start with a little bit of research.  A December 2010 study found men half as likely to buy into the environmentally friendly green movement as women.  Now since men own about 90% of construction companies in America, I’m thinking this does not bode well for the green building industry.  What do you think?

Nicole: Men may own 90% of the companies but more and more women are a part of the team, which includes sales, marketing, design, materials specifications and construction.  That’s making a difference.  Additionally, I see a trend not only with custom builders but production companies and remodelers to put at least some focus on energy efficiency.  Collectively men may not be as motivated by the “save the planet” mantra but saving energy and lowering the bills are just common sense.

Nicole Goolsby, Rion Homes

Clark: The research is not surprising if the question was posed as  "green movement". We found that consumers were and are skeptical of the generic green movement costs. It looks like by the research men are even more so. Owners of construction companies are driven by the market to produce what the customer is willing to pay for. 

Clark Wilson, Clark Wilson Builders

 Trish:  Let me bring up another little factoid from the NAHB:  Women directly purchase or have controlling influence in the purchase of 91% of all new homes.   So women (who are twice as likely to want green products) are dependent upon men (who largely don’t buy into green) to build their homes.  Are the odds are stacked against a woman getting the green home of her dreams?

SITE BUILT vs MODULAR HOME - PICKING A WINNER

2,000 years ago our ancestors were building homes from sticks, fastening systems and mud bricks with straw for roofing.  Today we are still building with sticks (dimensional lumber), fastening systems (nails and screws) and straw roofing (shingles and metal).  They also used any labor that was at hand to build their homes.

Here we are in 2011 and guess what, most people still want a site-built home.  Do you know why?

Because nobody is telling them why modular home construction is superior.  Consumers have been told over the years that you have to watch their house being built to insure they get a quality job.  Let's agree on one thing right now.....the average new home buyer doesn't know the difference between below-average and superior construction.  It's not their job!

What the new buying public needs is an easy to understand reason to buy a modular home instead of a site-built home.  So here we go, a comparison that every modular factory person and every modular home builder can use to educate the new home buyer.

Site Built Home Construction	Modular Home Construction
* Disorganized construction	* Organized construction
* Workers are independent from each other	* Each production station is organized
* Work is fragmented	* Work is compartmentalized
* Poor communication between trades	* Total communication between trades
Inefficiencies of site built homes	Efficiencies of modular homes
* Raw Materials delivered to site	* Raw materials on hand
* Many trips to each job site by workers	* Workers drive to central factory
* Physical labor applied to every piece and part	* Automated and labor saving devices used
* Work area set up and taken down daily	* Work stations are permanent
* Linear construction process	* Multiple stations working on same project
* Inadequate hand and power tools	* Professional tools and machines in place
* Down-time due to weather	* Very little downtime if any
* All materials exposed to weather and vandalism	* All production secured under roof

Now for some real eye-opening facts:

• Majority of those working in site building have no more than a high school education and have no formal training in the work they do every day.
• Training and supervision on site-built homes is often performed by those with the few skills and little training themselves.
• Street corner pick up laborers are used by many smaller site builders to hold costs down.

When the housing recession finally starts to turn around in 2013, who will be available to build the houses?  Recession has decimated the labor and subcontracting pools.  The trades needed by site builders will not be a popular destination for young people.

This means that the site building industry will be faced with extremely high turnover rates, dropping labor skills and higher wages.

A few years ago Consumer Reports said the new homes are the most defective product consumer can own.  Since modular construction only has 3% of the total new home market, they couldn't have been talking about us.  Consumer Reports noted that there is a 15% serious defect in new homes.

Interestingly, the same report sighted manufacturers in America have a 1% serious defect rate and if a home is built in a factory, it has a huge advantage over site built homes.

I could also do a comparison of green, energy saving and sustainability between site built and modular construction but I will save that for another article.

Faced with these realities, home buyers will begin looking for a better way to build their new home and modular should be the answer to their prayers.  

HOME OF THE FUTURE - 1962

The 1962 World’s Fair put Seattle on the map, literally, with its pavilions full of unique exhibits, ground-breaking building design and the iconic Space Needle that would come to represent the city to the world. And one of those exhibits — according to area historians Alan J. Stein and Paula Becker — is sitting just off of SE 70th Place and East Mercer Way on Mercer Island.

An innovative, modular home created by the US Plywood Association, was billed at the fair as the “American Home of the Immediate Future,” and a “Living Research House” is one of many pieces of living history in the area — but one of the few being used for it's orignial purpose.

I'm struck by the similarities to Michelle Kaufmann's (the self-proclaimed inventor of modular housing) Glide House.  Does this mean that MKD, her design studio, is really just rehashing the looks of 50 year old houses that were featured at the 1962 World's Fair in Seattle?  Here are some pictures...you decide.

The floor plan for "America's Home of the Immediate Future"  Credit: DeAnn Rossetti

Today's view of 7000 East Mercer Way. Credit: King County Assessor's Office

Michelle Kaufmann's Glidehouse

NATIONWIDE HOMES HOLDS SUCCESSFUL OPEN HOUSE

Nationwide Homes in Martinsville, VA recently held an Open House at their factory.  Not only was it open to the public but a few of their builders brought prospects to it as well.  They were shown the entire process of home building from raw lumber to finished product including a crane setting a module.

The tour of the production line detailed each stage in the process and ended at the Nationwide Design Center where prospective new home buyers see lots of the options and features that can go into their home. 

They also banking professionals on hand to answer any question the prospects might have.  I heard from a little bird that it was a very good Open House for them.  Shhh...don't tell anyone I told you.

CHAMPION HOMES AND USMODULAR SIGN AGREEMENT

Champion Commercial Structures, a division of Champion Homes, together with USModular announced a teaming agreement that will allow the companies to jointly pursue multi-family construction opportunities. This agreement brings together the Champion modular construction process with general contracting work performed by USModular to provide a hybrid construction solution and building model for residential developers.

 “Our partnership with US Modular allows Champion to focus on our core strength – working with clients to develop modular solutions to their building needs, and producing high quality modular construction,” said Dan McMurtrie, vice president, corporate development, Champion Homes. “USModular’s expertise in project planning, logistics, and general contracting enables the client to realize the full potential of modular construction; increased speed, cost savings, quality and risk control. We are excited to bring this new force to the marketplace.”

 “We sought a manufacturing partner that had the vision and scale of USModular,” said Abe Ferreira, CEO of USModular. “Champion is a great fit with their national manufacturing footprint, modular experience and corporate support services. We see this partnership as a great pairing of two leaders in modular construction.”

Could this be the trend for commercial modular companies?  Both Champion Homes and USModular are playing to their strengths.  Expect to see them do great things together.