Aug 16 2018
OSHA Releases Silica Standard FAQ for Construction

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration on Monday released a set of 53 frequently asked questions – and their answers – to provide guidance to employers and employees on its respirable crystalline silica standard for construction.

Through the Construction Industry Safety Coalition, NAHB was an important contributor to the formulation of this FAQ. The development stemmed from litigation filed against OSHA by numerous construction industry trade associations challenging the legality of the new silica rule.

NAHB will continue to look for ways to work with OSHA to improve the workability of this significant rule.

The FAQ is extensive and organized by topic. A short introductory paragraph is included for each group of questions; the answers appear in an expanded box when each question is clicked.

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Aug 16 2018
Green Builders Prepare for HERS Amendment Putting Smaller Homes on Even Ground

The green building sector is getting ready for the Jan. 1, 2019 deadline for all HERS raters to use an amendment that puts smaller homes on a level playing field.

As was previously reported, RESNET’s index adjustment factor was developed because larger homes were found to have 20% better (lower) HERS scores for the same energy measure. As the floor area or number of home stories increased, the index went down because of a mathematical quirk in the way the formula was written.

“We found that if you keep the material properties the same — such as thermal efficiency, walls, ceilings and floors — and just increase the floor area of the home, larger homes did better on the HERS index,” said Philip Fairey, deputy director of the Florida Solar Energy Center. “This amendment evens out the difference between large and small homes constructed with the same building envelope. It makes the two homes behave more alike.”

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Aug 7 2018
Unfilled Construction Sector Jobs Reach Cycle High

The count of unfilled jobs in the construction sector increased in June, reaching a post-Great Recession high level. The rate of open construction sector jobs also matched a prior cyclical high.

According to the BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) and NAHB analysis, the number of open construction sector jobs increased to 263,000 in June. The prior post-recession high count of open, unfilled construction jobs was 255,000 in July of last year. In June of 2017, the count of unfilled jobs was 202,000.

The open position rate (job openings as a percentage of total employment plus current job openings) also increased, rising to 3.5% in June. The rate was 3.5% last July. On a smoothed, twelve-month moving average basis, the open position rate for the construction sector increased to 3.1%, a post-recession high. The peak (smoothed) rate during the building boom prior to the recession was just below 2.7%. For the current cycle, the sector has been above that rate since November 2016.

The overall trend for open construction jobs has been increasing since the end of the Great Recession. This is consistent with survey data indicating that access to labor remains a top business challenge for builders.

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Jul 25 2018
A look at Norwalk’s newest, most Pinterest-ready, subdivision

The details could have been lifted from a Pinterest inspiration board: There are vaulted ceilings, quartz counters and backsplashes of smoked mirrors. The dishwasher and fridge are built into the cabinetry and the inside of the oven is a royal blue. White oak floors are of “character grade,” embracing their knots and imperfections.

Denise Walsh, of William Raveis, noted the features as she walked through one of the homes in Norwalk’s newest subdivisions, Windover Common, on Wednesday afternoon.

“Right now the market, the buyers, are fixated on finishes, more so than ever,” she said. “And their choices are derived by what they see on Houzz, on Pinterest, other style websites.”

To cater to that need, the homes come with a finish-focused perk: a designer concierge service with Allie Wood Design Studio that helps pick out the color scheme and fixtures that best suit your tastes

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Jul 19 2018
Trade lobby taps Perras as CEO

A lobby representing home builders, developers and remodelers has named a veteran attorney as its new CEO.

The Home Builders & Remodelers Association of CT (HBRA CT) announced Jim Perras, an attorney with more than 20 years of government and advocacy experience, has replaced former CEO and lobbyist Bill Ethier, who retired June 30 after 25-plus years leading the group. Perras joined the association in May and transitioned into the CEO position at the end of June.

Perras recently served as an attorney for law firm Wilson Elser LLP, where he lobbied for a variety of clients before state lawmakers and government agencies.

Founded in 1960, HBRA CT is a nonprofit trade association representing more than 900 member firms employing 30,000 workers in Connecticut.

HBRA members belong to a three-tiered organization including the state association, regional associations and the National Association of Home Builders.

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Jul 19 2018
Housing Starts Fall 12.3 Percent As Tariffs Draw Increased Concern

Total housing starts fell 12.3 percent in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.17 million units, according to newly released data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Commerce Department.

The June reading of 1.17 million is the number of housing units builders would begin if they kept this pace for the next 12 months. Within this overall number, single-family starts fell 9.1 percent to 858,000 units. Meanwhile, the multifamily sector — which includes apartment buildings and condos — dropped 19.8 percent to 315,000.

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Jul 11 2018
Kavanaugh and Home Building: What the Record Shows

As legal pundits and news outlets pour over Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s extensive judicial record to learn more about President Trump’s new Supreme Court nominee, members need only turn to the multiple NAHB court cases over which Kavanaugh has presided at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to get a fuller picture.

In his 12 years on the D.C. Circuit, Kavanaugh has been involved in eight cases in which NAHB was a petitioner, appellant or amicus. While not always siding with NAHB’s position, Kavanaugh has consistently viewed agency rulemakings with a healthy dose of skepticism.

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Jul 6 2018
Age-in-place, casual spaces are hot trends in home buildings

With land at a premium, price for materials climbing and people wanting to stay in their homes longer, the demand for new home construction is trending downward, but builders are keeping busy with major renovation projects designed to help people age in place.

“Historically, it (new home construction) is as low as it’s ever been – nationally and in Connecticut,” Jim Blansfield of Blansfield Builders in Danbury, said. “The interest to do things is there but the reality is catch-is-catch-can. It comes down to who has the money and that’s usually the upper two percent.”

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Jun 22 2018
New HBRA of Fairfield County president is confident about local builder market

When Anthony DeRosa began his Greenwich-based DeRosa Builders in 2011, he believed that his business would benefit from more extensive connections within the local building industry.

“When I started DeRosa, I felt it was important to go out there and meet people and network,” he recalled. To achieve this goal, he joined the Home Builders & Remodelers Association (HBRA) of Fairfield County, the trade group representing the regional building scene. “Quickly through that it was apparent that the more involved I got, the more benefits I got out of it.”

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