150 Industrial Court • Kalispell, MT 59901 • 406.755.5224 • www.fordconstructioncorp.com
Silver Linings
Unless you pick up your paycheck on Wall Street, this recession (which sure doesn’t seem to be over)
has been a killer, hasn’t it? Unless you are old enough to have survived the Depression of the 1930’s,
the current economy is scarier and more painful than anything that most of us have ever
experienced. If you happen to be doubly unlucky enough to be somehow connected to the
construction industry, the epicenter of the housing bubble implosion, it is even worse. For a little
perspective, there were as many local housing starts in 1961 as there were in 2009 – if that statistic
wasn’t so sad, it would almost be laughable.
However, if there is a silver lining to the housing collapse, it is that the mania is over now – house
flipping as a pathway to wealth for Joe the Plumber is just a historical note. Maybe now we can get
back to the business of building and remodeling real houses for real people who actually plan to stay
a while.
This is a good thing for the green building movement – if homeowners intend to stay in their homes
for longer than the two-year flip cycle, that then places more responsibility and motivation on the
construction industry to build homes that last longer, have healthier indoor environments, and use
less energy to keep the occupants comfortable. We’ve covered this in previous columns and it seems
like a no-brainer to simply build better houses – this is a challenge that builders welcome.
However, the companion challenge is for the design community to plan homes that meet the current
and future needs of the homebuying public. This economy has also forcefully changed lifestyles in
ways that place even more of a premium on good design.
To start, the average American home is shrinking. Home sizes have continually expanded for the last
50 years or so, but that trend has now reversed and homes are becoming smaller to improve
affordability. Smaller floor plans that are roomy enough where they need to be and don’t feel unduly
cramped require very careful planning. Spaces need to be tailored and detailed properly to generate
the right feel. Good designers shape volumes to comfortably please occupants, not just divvy up
areas for furniture. In Japan, some fully-equipped apartments are as small as 250 square feet – how
about that for a design exercise!
Homeowners with longer time horizons can rightfully put their own personal stamp on their home
designs without being overly concerned with immediate resale considerations. This freedom to
choose affords great opportunity to plan a home that suits their specific lifestyle.
Energy efficiency clearly begins with designs and details that promote air-tight envelopes, high
thermal performance, beneficial solar gain, and durability.
The GenX’s and GenY’s are all about multi-tasking and will want their homes to do the same thing for
them - their perfect design let’s them cook, wash laundry, talk on the cell phone, check their email,
watch Glee on TV, practice yoga, let the dog out, meditate, and recycle their cardboard
simultaneously. Since many of them have no plans to raise children, they have time for all this and
don’t necessarily require a large home.
Homes are increasingly muli-generational. Maybe Granny has moved in with her kids because it has
become impractical for her to live alone any longer. A little ‘apartment’ within the larger house
structure is just the ticket, but it has to be private enough for comfort while still connected enough
to not seem like exile. The same thinking applies to today’s boomerang kids that leave home to go to
college but then struggle to find work in today’s tough job market after graduation and move back
home.
Another way our homes multi-task is by also serving as our workplace. Cyber connectivity enables
some of us to work from home - good design can make this a reasonable proposition or not so much.
The degree of separation required for a home office can vary widely by situation and be seamlessly
addressed in a well-thought floor plan.
As the Baby Boomers age, more and more of them (OK, us) are going to opt to stay in our homes
until Hell freezes over – no stinking Assisted Living, please. So, good design allows and facilitates
gracefully aging in place. Wheelchair access to all living spaces can be tastefully achieved if part of
the design program from the outset.
The point is that there is no cookie cutter design anymore. Sure, the standard 3-bedroom, 2 ½ bath
format will probaby never die, but as time goes on and we live in our houses longer and society
continues to change, we are going to rightfully ask them to do more for our investment in them. Good
design, well-constructed, and we are off to a better future - Recession be damned…
Len Ford is president of Ford Construction Corp, a certified green builder, and chairman of the FBA Green
Build committee.