Sunday, March 28, 2010

CEO Blog: 'Univerally-Mandated' Universal Design?

Recently I was invited to the state capitol by area legislators to testify before a house committee in Jefferson City about a proposal (House Bill 1737) that would require all new state-supported affordable housing in Missouri to meet Universal Design standards. The legislation is being advanced by well-intentioned advocates for people with disabilities to help meet the special accomodations that often become necessary in their housing options.

For those who may not know, Universal Design and its accompanying market opportunities are one of the few bright points in the residential construction industry right now.  Of all the professional designations offered by the National Association of Home Builders, the Certified Aging in Place Specialists, or CAPS – which is based on the principles of Universal Design) is the second fastest growing designation program in the country – just behind the certified green professional designation. Between 2005 and 2009, the number of people taking CAPS designation classes more than doubled. Thousands of builders are ahead of demand on this, even building the future of their businesses around it.

One example of where Universal Design is being incorporated voluntarily with great success is Sustainable Housing Solutions in Springfield. This HBA member specializes in construction of new affordable housing - housing made possible in part by state tax credits. I wanted to know what owner Debra Shantz-Hart though about HB 1737, as it could directly affect her company’s work.

Here is what Debra said: "We think that all projects should be evaluated on a case by case basis----for example, we are doing a version of universal design on our upcoming senior housing project.  We have planned and budgeted for it but there were trade-offs in our design in order to bring the project in at affordable level."

Debra reminded me what should be that the most important characteristic of affordable housing: that it remain affordable. While Universal Design serves an important purpose, it also adds a significant cost to construction projects. This bill’s requirements could add anywhere from 5% to 10% to the hard costs of a typical affordable housing construction project.

Of course, the entire reason the state is involved in affordable housing at all is that, in the normal course of the marketplace, there are some of our citizens who simply would not be able to afford to buy or rent a home otherwise. So, the state offers incentives and tax credits to get housing built that these citizens can, with help, afford to live in.

Well-intentioned requirements like HBA 1737 one jeopardize good affordable housing developments by causing the project not to “pencil out.”  And that has potential consequences for the broader economy. On average, 100 single family homes built equates to 284 fulltime local jobs. The ripple effect of these jobs and the construction activity is felt by our state’s economy, as well as by local economies. Government revenues are up when construction is strong; and they are down when construction is weak.

Affordable housing construction is a big part of the overall picture. In Greene County, one affordable housing single family project (Fulbright Springs) constituted 14% of all the single-family new homes permitted in 2009.

Mandating that all of these units should be built using Universal Design would undermine the whole reason the state assists in getting these affordable units built in the first place. The increased cost would lead to one of only three possible outcomes: 1) these affordable housing units wouldn't get built; 2) they get built, but go unsold or unrented; or 3) the state steps in to increase its subsidy for affordable housing.

None of these are attractive options when there are much more productive ways of ensuring that adequate Universal Design housing is available, even in affordable housing developments.

Universal Design can be incorporated more efficiently through incentives than through mandates. For example, projects using Universal Design could be given priority in the selection process.  Or, builders who set aside a portion of their development as Universally Designed units could be rewarded with greater densities or more total units. These incentives would increase the availability of Universal Design projects without undermining the fundamental purpose of affordable housing: that it be affordable. They also would not require additional subsidy dollars the state doesn’t have, just to make up for what would be its own self-inflicted affordability gap.

While incentives like these or others would be helpful; I am not certain that even they are really necessary. The industry already is enthusiastically and voluntarily responding to what it believes is a growing and important niche within residential construction in Universal Design. This might be one of those instances where government shouldn’t do for the people what the people seem prepared to do better for themselves.

Following my testimony, I was encouraged to receive positive feedback from the legislators who sit on the committee that is hearing the bill. I believe the HBA's case was well-received and had an important positive effect on the proceedings. As often is the case, the HBA brought the only testimony against the bill in its current form (many more testified in favor). If not for the work of the HBA, legislators would have heard no counterpoint to this proposal. And that could lead to some very bad decisions now and in the future.

And, lest you think this is only an isolated piece of legislation that has little to do with your business, consider this: while this particular bill applies only to subsidized housing, advocates at the hearing made no secret of their ultimate goal of requiring ALL new housing to be built to Universal Design standards. They see this bill only as the first step toward the ultimate goal of "universally-mandated" Universal Design.

So, the HBA will continue to work toward cooler heads prevailing. Our goal remains common-sense solutions that won't needlessly damage the market for new homes. At its core, that is the purpose of an association like ours: strength in numbers. The HBA's testimony is given weight only because of your membership in it. And, in turn, as a member, you receive benefit from the successful advocacy of the association. Put even better by Benjamin Franklin in the early days of the American Revolution: "We must hang together or we shall surely hang separately!"

Matt Morrow
Chief Executive Officer
Home Builders Association of Greater Springfield

Monday, January 18, 2010

CEO Blog: Live from Las Vegas

It is Sunday evening and I'm in my deeply-discounted Las Vegas hotel room (Imperial Palace, if you must know) working to recap the highlights of my first day at the 2010 National Association of Home Bulders' International Builders Show (IBS).

If you never have been to an International Builders Show, you certainly should at some point give it a try. There is no bigger spectacle in our industry than this. The show always features state of the art displays, interactive exhibits, and the latest innovative products. But what some people miss (for all the spectacle of the show) is the pre-show education. Builders and other HBA members spent Sunday gaining continueing education credits and necessary education as they pursue designations. Others serve on NAHB committees and have spent most of today working on your behalf on may critical issues.

I spent most of today working with other HBA executives to identify ways we can deliver better value for the membership dollar to HBA members. It is clear that the realities facing associations is and will be different in the future than it was in the past. Programs and events that always have "worked" may seem less effective than they once were. The value proposition for HBA members is changing, and it is up to association executives, staff and volunteer leadership to identify where their HBAs can be of greatest value to their members and begin re-defining the very role of an association accordingly.

Practically, that can mean a more comprehensive incorporation of social media (twitter, facebook, linkedin, etc.). It also can mean an increased focus on education and designations. Perhaps it means delivering critically important, exclusive data and analysis of the housing market and the greatest opportunities for future success.

These and others all are in play as we consider what the future holds. It makes little difference what was important to our members in years past. It doesn't even make much difference what they find valuable today. What matters most is what members will expect an/or demand from their associations in the future. Those are the kinds of issues we are wrestling with in these pre-show education programs. I'm learning a great deal and am optimistic that what I am gaining here will directly provide value to our HBA members in the greater Springfield area.

Today I posted frequent twitter updates as I attended these seminars. I will continue doing that all week. I'm going to work to incorporate some photos with the tweets starting Monday. To follow me on twitter, click here.

Matt Morrow
Chief Executive Officer
HBA of Greater Springfield

Sunday, January 10, 2010

May I Tweet You from IBS?




If you haven't yet caught onto the Twitter bandwagon (or if you have but have yet to discover the new world of membership value provided through the HBA's social media connections), a grand opportunity is just around the corner.

The National Association of Home Builders annual International Builders Show International Builders' Show® (IBS) officially opens January 19, but pre-show education begins as early as this week (Friday, January 15). IBS is the largest annual building industry tradeshow in the country.  It's THE place to see and discuss the hottest products on the market and network with your friends and allies.  On top of that, IBS offers more than 175 education sessions taught by industry experts.

To plan your visit to the International Builders' Show, or just to see what all the fuss is about, visit buildersshow.com. Whether or not you plan to be there for all or part of IBS this year, you can keep up with much of what is going on there by following HBA President Rusty MacLachlan or by following me on twitter. Rusty and I will be in attendance and we will tweet our little hearts out about the very best of what we see, hear and learn. If we can make our respective blackberry technologies work (Rusty uses twitterberry, while I prefer the ubertwitter app), we might just go all multimedia on you with dazzling cameraphone pictures and video of some of the coolest stuff.

But you won't get all that goodness unless you get signed up for twitter now, set up an account, and sign up to follow us (and probably a bunch of other folks you will find once you are there) on twitter. Unfamiliar with twitter? I wrote a blog a few months ago about why I think twitter is such a perfect fit for the HBA, complete with a little tutorial on how to get started. To quickly read that primer (and watch a cool little video tutorial), click here.

So, lets get going. Many already are following us. Rusty has 71 followers and I have 198, and we both use our twitter accounts nearly exclusively for HBA and home building/remodeling industry content, so we won't cover you in useless drivel (now THAT'S something few twitter accounts dare to promise!). Just navigate to twitter.com to set up a free account. Then find and follow those of us who tweet on behalf of the HBA. Here are our most HBA-focused twitter accounts (many other HBA members also tweet the goings on of the HBA and within the industry, and for that we thank you... they also are well worth following on twitter... you know who you are!)