Insulation Institute Blog

Introducing young people to the construction trades can be a challenge, and many high school students have never thought about a career in the industry. Enter Beam Camp: a novel summer camp that introduces kids to building things with their hands. It’s a simple concept that introduces kids to engineering, construction, and teamwork – and it could plant the seeds for future careers in construction.

It takes an average of four to six months to build the typical new construction home and in the homebuilding business, time is money. Complicating the issue for most builders is a shortage of skilled tradespeople, including framing carpenters, the constraints of weather-related delays, and countless other risks associated with construction sites. However, evolving building processes like offsite manufacturing can dramatically improve the homebuilding process, resulting in myriad benefits to builders and homeowners. Insulation Institute recently spoke with Gerard “Gerry” McCaughey, Chief Executive and Chairman of Entekra, which offers a fully integrated offsite construction solution. While there are many benefits to the process, we highlight four undeniably appealing ones for builders.

The 2017 Atlantic Hurricane season has been the seventh most active in history. [1] In a year that’s seen widespread home damage and displacement of homeowners as the result of extreme weather events there’s some positive news to report. According to a Wall Street Journal article, homes built in Florida following the passage of more stringent building codes fared better during Hurricane Irma than those built previously.  But with more frequent occurrences of hurricanes and damaging storms, should more stringent building codes be the sole defense in limiting property damage and homeowner displacement?

Even before the Trump administration’s announcement of an import tax on Canadian lumber there had been 22 percent increase[1] on the cost of lumber since the beginning of the year. These cost increases impact builder profitability and are expected to add an additional $1,236 to the cost of a new home for buyers, according to NAHB estimates[2]. While material cost increases are commonplace for builders, so is the desire to maintain profitability. Is it time then for builders who have spurned advanced framing in the past to implement it now? Here are three compelling reasons to revisit the practice. 

When Paul Torcellini, principal engineer in the commercial buildings research department at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, decided to build his own home he admittedly had a bit of an advantage. As a building scientist and recognized expert in methods to achieve substantial whe building energy savings, Torcellini undoubtedly leveraged his experience to construct his 3,600 sq. foot Connecticut home to achieved a HERS score of 2 with a 0.75 ACH 50. The result: A finished product that garnered Torcellini a 2016 DOE Housing Innovation Award (read the full home profiled here).  Paul’s was also the lowest cost house among all the award winners. His home demonstrates that builders who fully leverage solid building science practices can achieve high-performance, air tight construction while keeping costs in check.