New tools helps your move to systems design and construction
Education is hanging around until you've caught on.
- Robert Frost
You must learn from the mistakes of others. You can't possibly live
long enough to make them all yourself.
- Sam Levenson
Have you ever attended a really good seminar on building technology and
then asked yourself at the end of the day, "OK, where do I go from
here'' And how can I start tomorrow'?" A new package of CDs called
"Building Better I tomes" (BBH), featuring nationally acclaimed
building science trainer Mark LaLiberte, aims to answer those questions.
LaLiberte's team designed the BBH CDs to assist builders, designers,
product specifiers and trade contractors. but in a way that lasts a lot
longer than any seminar. It strikes this reviewer that the package would
help anyone in the building industry interested in cutting down on
callbacks, increasing profits and reducing risk in today's enormously
litigious society.
LaLiberte focuses on the successful design and Construction method that
is typically called "the systems approach." This path involves
some brain damage. BBH makes this formidable task easier.
"Today, architects, builders and subcontractors need to understand
that to build a better home, we must consider the house as an integrated
system where the structure and equipment, the lifestyle of the occupants and
the surrounding environment work together as a whole," says LaLiberte
in his introductory comments. That, in a sentence, is the big picture.
Several top-10 builders nationwide now embrace this integrated approach
to construction, including Polite and Centex- both interviewed on the CDs.
You can add a growing number of Colorado production builders to the mix,
including Engle Homes, McStain Enterprises, Aspen Homes of Colorado Inc. and
Oakwood Homes.
THE PACKAGE
The Minneapolis-based Building Knowledge Products Group produced the BBH
package of three CDs. Plugging in all three and watching them straight
through takes five and a half hours and thoroughly covers all the key
systems-building principles.
The presentation consists of numerous video clips shot on building sites,
intermingled with still photos and Power Point-type checklists, all voiced
over with continuous commentary. LaLiberte's takes are articulate and
direct. Lots of Web-based links, called "Learn-Mores." allow
viewers to drill down deeper on many topics. And a -'print" option
helps people like me who need to hear it multiple times.
Most on-line training takes the "feature article" approach to
learning. What's different about the "Building Better Homes"
package is its broad, inclusive context. With the systems approach, you
can't look at building durability without looking at energy efficiency, and
you can't look at energy efficiency without embracing ventilation and
combustion safety.
The pithy points and technical recommendations that are sprinkled
throughout a typical LaLiberte seminar are present here as well. The
sections, well organized and easily accessible once you get the hang of
navigating the CDs - fit smoothly together. About the only thing missing is
LaLiberte's signature witty style, but that would wear thin with repeated
viewing.
TEN TOP ITEMS
There is too much content and too many useful checklists to summarize
them here. The following are a number of notable pieces or specific points
on the CDs that jumped off the screen for this reviewer.
- Builder interviews. To make sure you don't have to feel like
the Lone Ranger as you tackle this change, BBH includes insightful video
clip interviews with representatives of five builders using the systems
approach. They describe what the systems approach means to their
companies, how they got there, and some key lessons learned. Here's one
from Vernon McKown, co-owner of the largest builder in Oklahoma:
"Two things to consider - do you want to make more money and are
you tired of competing with all the 'me too' builders? Because when you
get into this whole game of quality, everyone says they build quality.
How can you get your product quantified and really make it stand out and
he different? Once you do that, you can demand a premium for your
product.
"Building is a very competitive business. There are a lot of great
locations and a lot of great floor plans. Buyers are looking for reasons
to eliminate you from their list of builders. They're smart. When you
explain the systems approach, they will understand more than we give
them credit for. 'Building, science' gives the customer a logical reason
to make an emotional buying decision."
- Basic building science. BHH lays out eight basic rules of
building science - heat flows to cold, moisture moves from warm to cold,
moisture moves from more to less, everything gets wet so let it dry,
etc. These rules form the building blocks for all subsequent discussion.
so it's good that they come across in plain language here.
- "Four pairs of glasses." LaLiberte says you'll need
four pairs of "special inspection glasses" - framing, thermal,
air leakage and water management - to help you assure that critical
details in the building are properly installed. Here's a useful clip:
"Put on your water management glasses, walk around the home and
pretend you're spraying it with a garden hose. If all the water will
drain off the home, you're ready for your exterior cladding."
- Where do you begin? BBH describes two ways to transition into
the systems approach to the design and construction of high-performance
homes.
First, there's the "deep end" angle - the way recommended by
several builders interviewed. They developed a plan of attack, built a
model home to test the plan. tweaked it and then jumped into the deep
end of the pool. switching all their projects within a year to the
systems approach. Engle Homes and Aspen Homes of Colorado Inc. took
variations of this tact.
Then there's the incremental method. McStain Enterprises, Oakwood Homes
and Sopris Development followed this path. BBH identifies sonic risk
here. For example, if you tighten up the house first but don't change
the type of combustion appliances installed in your homes, you may
increase the risk of health problems associated with hack-drafting of
combustion byproducts into the home. To minimize this and other
problems. BBH recommends a nine-step sequential strategy: start with
combustion safety, then add mechanical ventilation and so on.
Whichever method you select, the transition process involves major
organizational change. BBH lays out a logical process for pursuing this
complex shift.
- Water management issues. For me, the water management segments
provided the information most likely to help you avoid building
failures. LaLiberte cites a startling figure obtained from the insurance
industry and the National Association of Home Builders: 90 percent of
building failures relate directly or indirectly to water problems. Long
segments covering wall and roof systems lay out the critical flashing
details to look for with your "water management glasses."
Brace Yourself: LaLiberte asserts that every wall and roof cladding will
eventually leak, so they both need drainage planes backing them up.
- Indoor air quality. A recent buyer survey by Honeywell Plus
Builder and Professional Builder magazines indicates buyers are willing
to pay several thousand dollars to ensure healthier indoor air quality
in new homes today. The BBH introduces you to fresh-air systems and
combustion safety product selections obtainable at a reasonable price.
LaLiberte insists these are the initial building blocks to the entire
program. Little argument here ...
- Window and door installation. News flash: most windows and
doors eventually leak. For this viewer, the program's highlight consists
of the long video clip showing how to flash windows and then properly
integrate them with a drainage plane to prevent water damage. This
soup-to-nuts visual is something you could show installers in your
construction jobsite trailers just before they start placing windows.
- Checklists for remodelers. Everything in the systems approach
can be applied to remodeling, but it's tougher to apply than in new
construction. BBH delves into some of the issues unique to remodeling.
Two items of particular value were the checklists for use when
conducting exterior and interior inventories of the home's status prior
to the start of construction.
- Ductwork message. LaLiberte states that "metal tapes and
duct tapes should not be used to seal ducts because they don't last the
service life of the duct work." (Hear a noise? That's me in the
background. cheering.) His answer: use mastic. Period.
- Problems, solutions and selling. Home building bristles with
daily challenges. Always has, always will. While BBH lays out those
challenges, it provides solutions at every turn. Further. LaLiberte
makes sure everyone weighs all the benefits, not just the costs, to both
builders and buyers. But what good are these benefits if you can't sell
them?
In extensive video clips, builders and sales staffs share some of the
ways they sell these homes. Doing that effectively requires lots of
training. Here is one of the training tips Vernon McKown shared:
"Our first mistake was not spending enough time training our sales
force. As a rule of thumb, people need to hear something at least seven
times before they get it. We gave our sales people too much information
with their first exposure. They were too hesitant to bring it up with
customers because questions might come up that they couldn't answer. So
we have them practice. We role-play every Friday. It takes two months.
You train, train, then saddle up and train some more."
BOTTOM LINE
Steve Wright. Producer of the BBH product- reports that the set of CDs
lists for $795. You can pick it up for $100 or so off that price if you are
a member of the Energy and Environmental Building Association (www.eeba.org),
if you attend one of the seminars that LaLiberte is presenting around
Colorado this year. or if you hag a discount flyer.
The CDs seem suitable for company-wide training. They should help get
everyone on the same page. from purchasing to construction through the sales
staff. For companies already committed to the systems approach, BBH is a
quick way to bring new employees or trade contractors on board.
Shortcomings are few and far between. Nothing's perfect: hey, I didn't
hear anything about problems insulating kneewalls. And you may be bothered
by seeing product labels during the clips. Hey, I like knowing which product
manufacturers (Andersen Windows, Dow Chemical. etc.) are backing the systems
approach.
It strikes me there's a lot of value packed in the BBH product. That's
especially true if you buy into the notion that a growing number of builders
have embraced: building high-performance homes is the future. If you need a
hand when making that leap, give this product a try.
Steve Andrews consults with builders for E-Star
Colorado and writes on energy issues (sbandrews@att.net).
E-Star (www.e-star.com),
is a nonprofit home energy rating system that works with both new and
existing homes statewide.
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