Developments In Low-Cost Residential Construction

ICF Homes
Concrete Homes Continue to Rule The Roost in Lubbock, Concrete Homes Newsletter, May/June 2004, describes the City of Lubbock, Texas's ongoing efforts to replace substandard and deteriorating homes with new homes built with insulating concrete form (ICF) construction.

The replacement program is part of the city's Affordable Housing Reconstruction Program, which receives funding from federal, state, and private sources. According to the article, ICF constructed homes have proven so energy efficient and disaster resistant that the city no longer accepts bids for conventional wood-frame constructed homes.

NAHB Demonstration Homes
Houses M.A.D.E. for research, Fine Homebuilding, July 2004, describes the National Association of Home Builder's (NAHB) four demonstration houses constructed using materials and methods highlighted in NAHB's 1999 Builder's Guide to Marketable, Affordable, Durable, Entry-Level Homes to Last (MADE).

Innovations demonstrated in these projects include:

• precast concrete foundation walls
• advanced framing methods
• maintenance-free siding and roofing materials
• air-admittance valves (mechanical venting ports used in a plumbing system to eliminate conventional pipe venting)
• CPVC plastic water piping
• standing seam metal roofs
• high-efficiency floor plans

Prefabricated Homes
Factory-Built Houses, Fine Homebuilding, June/July 2004, compares pros, cons, and costs of three types of prefabricated home construction technologies: panelized, modular, and structurally insulated panels (SIPs).

For each technology, this full-length article describes the basic systems involved, describes the building process with first-hand accounts and annotated photographs, and provides brief lists of pros and cons. The challenges in attempting to create apples-to-apples cost comparisons between the three technologies are also discussed. Some bottom-line conclusions include:

• Panelized construction offers shortened construction time with few if any limitations on design flexibility.
• Modular construction offers the shortest construction time and greatest potential costs savings, but is more limited in design flexibility. (Except for connecting plumbing, electric, and laying carpet, a house can be erected in as little as one day.)
• SIPs construction offers high energy efficiency and high structural strength, but at higher costs than the other systems featured in this article.

More Info
_For additional articles on Lubbock's ICF home building program see Lubbock emerges as frontrunner in concrete home construction, and Rebuilding a Community with Strong, Energy Efficient, Affordable Homes.
_More information on MADE homes is available at Results from the Field: MADE Project Path Field Evaluation Site.
_For more articles on this site related to innovative construction technologies see this site's innovations in project design & delivery category. For another example of modular construction aspiring to quality design and environmental friendliness not previously mentioned on this site, see also The Glidehouse by mkarchitecture.