8th Annual Pennsylvania Housing Conference

              Home Building for the 21st Century

Introduction

The 8^th Annual Pennsylvania Housing Conference was sponsored by the Pennsylvania Builders Association, the U.S. Department of Energy and the PHRC.

This program was offered twice: once in Monroeville in conjunction with the Builders Association of Metropolitan Pittsburgh and then, the next day, in Valley Forge in conjunction with the HBA of Chester and Delaware Counties.

2000 being the first year in the century as well as the millennium, called for a special effort on our part.  Accordingly, we put together a program of millennial value to the builder community in Pennsylvania.  Four of the presentations addressed Pennsylvania concerns: trends with regard to demography, regulation, training, and technology.  Four speakers then address developments that are more national in scope and impact.

The second part of the program provided a rare opportunity to learn about innovations being adopted by larger builders across the nation.  What works, and what doesn’t?  What can the builder learn from innovations introduced, tested, and either rejected or adopted?  A builder who delivers more than 1,000 houses a year has an incentive and the resources to approach each house as a system. Innovations in home design and construction that result in reducing builders’ costs and improving the quality of a home were discussed.  We also covered:

·         The best use of existing technologies for the northeast; a systems approach to home building,

·         Emerging technologies and their adoption,

·         Advances that are driven by the shortage of skilled labor to:

-       reduce on-site labor costs, and

-       reduce the skill level required,

·         Marketing approaches to sell homeowners on new technologies.

The presenters for this section of the program are partners in the Building America Program, an industry-led initiative to improve the design, the process of delivery, and the quality of new homes and their operation.  Some 120 companies are involved, and more than 1,000 houses have been built.  The leaders of the Building America teams spoke about a completed project—what worked and what didn’t and why.

 I would like to acknowledge and thank the following for helping in arranging and delivering this conference:

Ø      The U.S. Department of Energy, in particular Secretary Ginsberg and George James, for the encouragement and financial support (both direct and indirect) that has been provided.  This support came after we had printed the conference flyers.  However, both in the program and in these acknowledgements, I would like to identify D.O.E. as one of the sponsors of this conference.

Ø      The Pennsylvania Builders Association for sponsoring this conference and their network of local Builder Associations for promoting the conference.

Ø      The Builders Association of Metropolitan Pittsburgh (BAMP) and in particular, John Auciello and Jim Damp, for linking the PHRC Conference with the BAMP Builder Trade Show in Monroeville

Ø      HBA of Chester and Delaware Counties and in particular, Gary Koerner and Scott Cannon.

Ø      Roger Glunt and Scott Cannon for their encouragement and support and for their involvement in each session.

Ø      The speakers especially need to be thanked for their commitment, their contribution, and their cooperation:

·         Scott Beers of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh

·         Bob Buddenbohn

·         Mark Fortney of the PHRC

·         George James for his support, interest and participation

·         Steven Winter and Bill Zoeller of CARB

·         Joe Lstiburek and Betsy Pettit of Building Science Corporation

·         Brad Oberg of IBACOS

These individuals and the Building America Program have committed energy, time and money to our meeting.  Their generous involvement is gratefully acknowledged.

Ø      Affordable Comfort, Inc. in particular, Helen Perrine and Jen Babyok for their handling of the registration

Ø      Finally, the efforts of Michelle McMullen, ably assisted by Dee Baumgardner, on behalf of the PHRC need to be identified.  Michelle took care of most of the planning and nearly all the details.  We are all in her debt.

Eric Burnett

Director, PHRC