CODES & STANDARDS NEWS
FACT SHEET: Obama Administration Announces
Public and Private Sector Efforts to Increase
Community Resilience through Building Codes and Standards
Building codes set the baseline for the safe design and construction of our homes, schools, and workplaces, providing the minimum requirements to adequately safeguard the health, safety and welfare of building occupants. The impacts of climate change – including hotter temperatures, more extreme weather, sea level rise, and more severe drought – pose significant challenges for buildings and homes, many of which were not built to withstand the future impacts of climate change. Today, the White House hosted a Conference on Resilient Building Codes to highlight the critical role of building codes in furthering community resilience and the importance of incorporating resilience and the future impacts of climate change in the codes and standards development process.
Read More from the White House
GREEN BUILDING NEWS
ABC Green Home Pilot Project
Paving the Way for Net-Zero Home Building in California
In the Orange County Register staff writer, Jeff Collins, reports that an Orange County pilot project, ABC Green Home, “may be helping builders find the Holy Grail of green residential development: An affordable way to build the “net zero” home that produces as much power as it consumes.” The focus of the project is to build a net-zero home with existing materials and equipment at an affordable price. A total of six homes are to be built and sold to disabled veterans and their families through Habitat for Humanity. The first home was completed in 2012. Southern California Edison partnered with the developer, paying most of the home’s $300,000 building costs, and students from high school building programs helped with the construction. Two homes are currently under construction and an additional three more homes are slated to be built soon. The pilot has been applauded for helping show the way to meeting the state’s mandated 2020 “net-zero energy” goal.
WMA ASSOCIATION NEWS
Ron Taylor Award Nominations Being Accepted
World Millwork Alliance is seeking nominations for the 2016 Ron Taylor Award (RTA). Do you know a WMA member who gives freely without reservation, has had a positive effect on others and contributes above and beyond; who is supportive and has been active in the World Millwork Alliance and their community? Why not recognize that individual by nominating them for the RTA? Nominate a WMA Member.
HOUSING INDUSTRY
California housing becomes more affordable
The first quarter of 2016 improved by 4% from last quarter with 34% of household in California able to purchase a median priced home, according to the California Association of Realtors.
Read more at HOUSINGWIRE
Study: Regulations Add 24.3 Percent to Cost of a New Home
Regulations imposed by all levels of government account for an average of 24.3 percent of the sales price of a new single-family home, according to a new study by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).
Read more at DWM
Number of Unfilled Construction Sector Jobs Keeps Rising
The count of unfilled jobs in the overall construction sector reached another post-Great Recession high in March.
According to the BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) and NAHB analysis, the number of open construction sector jobs (on a seasonally adjusted basis) increased to 210,000 in March. The current estimate represents the highest monthly count of job openings since May 2007.
Read more at NAHB Eye On Housing
Regulation’s Burden: A Heat-Map
Are spiraling local, regional, and national impact fees an inalterable fact of operation? If they are, what are the options?
A home building executive we were talking with yesterday bristles about how land use restriction and regulation chokes off the development of more affordably-priced homes.
Read more at BUILDER
Desire for New or Better
Amenities is the Top Reason to Remodel
In last quarter’s Remodeling Market Index (RMI), remodelers across the country were asked to rate the reasons why customers want to remodel on a scale of 1=Never/Almost Never to 5=Very Often. The reason that received the highest average rating was ‘Desire for better/newer amenities’ (4.3), followed by ‘Need to repair/replace old components’ (4.2), and ‘Desire/need for more space’ (3.8) (Exhibit 1).
Read more at NAHB Eye On Housing
MBA: Mortgage applications barely move
It was another quiet week for mortgage applications despite it being peak-buying season, reiterating other industry reports that Spring is yet to sprung.
Mortgage applications slightly increased 0.4% from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending May 6.
Read more at HOUSINGWIRE
