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 Building SystemsWhat is a System? A system is defined as an organized or established procedure. "A regular interacting or interdependent group of items forming a unified whole." We are all familiar with Business Systems that are utilized over and over again. Every national chain that we do business with employs them: Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Lowe's, Burger King and McDonald's employ highly successful Business Systems. A business system is one of the reason franchises are popular- they provide a time tested successful business system. A Building System as Builder Bob defines it: An organized building method employing procedures that improve efficiencies and quality control in the building process. A manufacturing process that assembles building components--off site--in a controlled, sheltered environment. The completed components are then delivered to the construction site, where they are utilized in the building process. Examples: Floor Trusses, Roof Trusses, Wall Panels, SIPS, and Modular Components. Many individuals and builders think a Building System is strictly building a house or structure in a factory and then delivering it to the site-a factory built house. This is not the case. There are many building systems available in the construction of a home or building-a factory built house is just one of them. This site tries to explain the difference and the advantages to each. Sticks & Bricks Energy is dedicated to building energy efficient, high performance, sustainable buildings. Employing high quality building systems and their components are an integral part of reaching our goals in a cost effective manner. The uses of selected Building Systems are critical to our cost effective methods designed to achieve Energy Star and EarthCraft approved single and multi-family homes. In order for us to meet our objectives, consumers and builders should be aware of the different building systems available. They should utilize them in creating economically justified, high performance housing. This is not 'Manufactured' Housing: "Although they both originate in a factory setting, systems built structures are much brawnier than manufactured housing, aka mobile home. Systems-built structures, like their counterpart site-built structures, are built to the prevailing national or statewide building code. Moreover, systems-built homes are valued and appraised the same as site-built structures, aka real estate. In contrast, manufactured homes are built to the less stringent U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) performance code. These homes are built for the affordable housing market; many communities have restrictions on where they can be placed and they are often valued as personal property." Building Systems Magazine, June/July 2007 David F. Seiders, chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders continues to advise traditional site builders across the "Builders should give it a healthy look. That encouragement comes from two contexts-the supply of labor and the increasing cost of materials, particularly lumber. In survey after survey, the availability of skilled labor is one of the chief concerns of site builders." Seiders goes on to say that "Builders are having to pay more for framers and roofers, while the skill and production levels of these works has been declining. So the labor savings of systems building could be a real advantage in the residential housing market." The following are examples of existing, time tested Building Systems:
Modular Systems Multiple Section Homes, Multi-Family Units, non-residential and commercial structures built to local Building Code Specifications. Panelized Systems: Structural Insulated Panels (SIPS), Insulated Concrete Forms (ICFS), Precast Concrete Walls, Insulated Concrete Component Systems: Roof Trusses, Floor Trusses, Wall Panels, Pre-Hung Doors. Background: For years I have tried to answer this question: Why should any Red Blooded American builder or home owner consider utilizing an off-site building system? The truth is a majority of home owners and builders either live in or have built homes, which used a building system during construction-they just don't know it. Americans have romantic visions about their homes and how they are built. To many Americans, their dream is to be able to afford a home built lovingly, piece by piece, on location by a Master Builder. This is what building a house in This cherished process of building a house, literally delivering thousands of individual building items to a construction site and then connecting them all together, has been used religiously for centuries in this country. In the romanticized version, the parts are delivered, the Master Builder puts them together, blending in some secret craftsmen processes, common sense and Walla, a magnificent house is produced. Building a home is something that Americans take pride in suffering through. It is a right of passage. A process and tradition that binds us to our forefathers. Watching a house come together, piece by piece, while fighting with our contractor, keeping the cost overruns to a minimum and asking daily, "When do you think it will be done?" is a experience not to be missed-a true adventure. Unfortunately it is one many do not care to repeat, nor do they-they wouldn't wish it on their enemy, let alone recommend it to a friend. While it may be wonderful to romanticize the process, there are serious flaws in the procedure. Flaws that need to be addressed. Correcting these faults results in the creation of a better quality product, produced in a timely manner, with the least amount of aggravation possible. Let's be perfectly up front here, no on-site construction process will ever be entirely hassle free, even with the use of a Building System, but certainly their use can minimize the complications. The major problem is a construction process held hostage by a natural phenomenon outside of human control-the weather. Weather problems affect the building and scheduling process. Weather interferes with quality control. Exposing the structural components, supporting a home, to multiple wetting and drying cycles can lead to long term quality, structural, and health issues-not to mention the delays putting the building process months behind schedule. Now mix into that process workers not showing up when scheduled, disputes over change orders, money, expectations and misunderstandings-real life things-and building a home quickly becomes a high stress, life altering adventure. It doesn't have to be that way. Yes, these issues make for great cocktail hour conversation. Certainly, all of us, home owners, builders, architects, and contractors can commiserate about experiences regarding the hassles encountered while building any structure. How do you think we would all react to the surprising statement, "Our building process went relatively smoothly and we moved into our house (office, town home, commercial building) when promised." We would probably drop our drink. The statement is a crowd silencer. Now, using a house as an example, the speaker tells you his/her house is a designated Energy Star or EarthCraft certified home, built not only on time, but within budget. Now they have your undivided attention. Who wouldn't want to have a shot at being in their house on schedule, within budget, with all the desired amenities? Who wouldn't want to know their house was built employing the most common sense, cost effective energy conserving techniques? Who doesn't want a house that considers, evaluates and then employs sustainable building techniques incorporating low maintenance products and addressing health issues? Who isn't looking for a high performance house with all the amenities? If the speaker told you his builder had employed SIP or Modular technology to make that happen, would it turn you off? What is it about visualizing the employment of a building system that turns many Americans off? Is it the connotation created years ago of a cheap house built in a factory? One that doesn't perform correctly or stand the test of time? Is it the visualization of drab, unimaginative design? Probably. In today's world nothing could be further from the truth. Let's look at an analogy. We are all familiar with company's that employ highly successful building systems. Company's that purchase 1000's of individual items and then assemble them in a controlled off site environment. The automotive industry comes immediately to mind. Let me ask you, how many car companies's offer to build your car in your driveway? If the correct way to build the car intended for you was to assemble 1000's of individual items into a finished product, in your driveway, why haven't Mercedes, Lamborghini, BMW, Ford or General Motors followed the home building process? With all their years of building truly remarkable and progressive automobiles, in our current fascination with reality experiences, why isn't the option of having your car built on-site offered? Why hasn't the consumer demanded or the automobile industry embraced the on-site process? Why haven't the Germans, long recognized as superior automobile builders, come up with a program to build a custom Mercedes or BMW on your front lawn with the TV camera's rolling? They could send their top individual mechanics and assemblers to your residence and erect this product right in front of your eyes-a truly custom car experience. Why do you think they don't? Three issues stand out: Quality control, cost and scheduling. The cost would be exorbitant; the quality would be inconsistent and building it, subject to the elements, would certainly affect the scheduled completion date. Can you imagine Ford or Chevy waiting a week, while the weather passed, to build your car? What about Builders? All builders utilize a systematic approach to constructing their houses and buildings. All builders have a system of building. Many of them collect all the individual parts of building on site and then proceed to assemble them into the finished product-a home or building. They construct the building or home, piece by piece, on site, according to established procedure's that have been passed down from generation to generation. This is a system of building-it is not a Building System. This system has served the Arguably the last revolutionary changes to the building process took place after WWII. After WWII the demand for housing by the returning GI's was extraordinary. To satisfy this demand, a former Navy Sea Bee revolutionized the David Halberstram, in his book, The 1950's, states: "Bill Levitt brought Henry Ford's techniques for production to housing, then the most neglected of American Industries. The typical pre-war builder put up fewer than 5 houses a year; few had put up more than two a year since the depression. Bill Leavitt turned the single family house from a distant dream to a real possibility for thousands of middle class American Families." "Bill Levitt saw that American was not a country of skilled workmen; there were few enough of them around under the best of circumstances. Because his workers were less than skilled, Levitt had many of his parts preassembled elsewhere. That made the on site assembly easier, so ordinary workers, aided by power tools, could take it from there." Bill Levitt and World War II could be said to be the fathers of Building Systems. Roof Trusses, Wall Panels, Plywood, Floor Trusses are all employed in the building of today's houses. These building systems and products didn't exist prior to WWII. Today the supply of skilled workers is in shorter supply and getting worse daily. The reality is quality orientated, excitingly designed, energy efficient Building Systems will have to make up for that shortage. Professional Builder in May 2007 published an article by Scott Sedam called, "Where have all the builders gone? He points out that production times are rising and scheduling is a lost art. That the attitude of most builders is: “Production is what it is. Process improvement in production is always on the back burner for most builders."This means the process of building a house improves rarely. He emphasizes learning how to build better. His closing statement, "After all, they still call us builders," is revealing. Scott Sedam cites Henry Ford as an example. Bill Levitt brought Ford's techniques to the production of housing. How did Bill Levitt and Henry Ford produce so effectively? They developed systems. Systems they kept tweaking or improving until they worked as they envisioned them. Today builders can improve their on-site efficiencies, produce a higher quality product, one that employs state of the art energy conservation applications and sustainable Green Building Materials by incorporating highly efficient building systems into their processes. Conclusion: The utilization of Building Systems is swiftly evolving. Innovations are taking place daily. Some good, some not so good. High Performance and In trying to keep you informed Sticks & Bricks Energy and this web site provide web links that allow you to research building systems that may interest you. The evolution of the World Wide Web provides ready access to research and evaluate building systems and their applicability to your construction projects. We invite you to visit the links page. We invite you to further explore our Modular and SIPS/Panel pages for more information on these systems. Builder Bobs blog, in the future, will be a resource for opinions and discussions regarding evolving Building Systems and their applicability. Comments and questions are welcomed in the Ask-Bob section of this web site. We leave you with two thoughts: "The question should be, is it worth trying to do, not can it be done." Allard Lowenstein, O Magazine, September 2002
"Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment." Barry LePatner, Author . |
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