June 17, 2024 Accelerating the Construction of Resilient Homes

Building durable homes: the shift to concrete and the need for cost-effective methods and workforce retraining.

Home building in the United States has reached a tipping point. The frequency, severity, and duration of natural disasters – including wildfires, hurricanes, tornados, and flooding – have created a critical need for more resilient housing. Wood-framed homes, while cost-effective, are proving to be the weak link. In fact, many insurers have started pulling out of hazard-prone areas due in part to increased risk and the high cost of rebuilding.

Building homes out of concrete has long been viewed as a superior option, but legitimate concerns have contributed to their lack of widespread adoption up to this point. Chief among them has been the high cost of construction when compared to wood-framed homes. However, those concerns are being mitigated as new building methods for single-family concrete homes are bringing costs down.

In fact, when lifetime upkeep, insurance, and other expenses are factored in, concrete homes are expected to greatly reduce the total cost of ownership. With this turning of the tide comes the critical need to train more contractors on building cost-effective, energy-efficient, designer- friendly concrete homes.

A case for concrete

With 30 years of experience as a structural engineer, Evan Reis serves as the executive director and co-founder of the California-based U.S. Resiliency Council, a non-profit organization that advocates for well-engineered structures built with resilient materials. He contends that one of the primary reasons contractors continue to build wood-framed homes is due to their familiarity with the process.

“Right now, there are simply not enough contractors that know how to efficiently build a home out of concrete,’ adds Reis. “However, with more people moving to hazard-prone areas and the increase in natural disaster-related losses, something has got to change.”

There are several advantages to utilizing concrete over wood. Not only is it much more durable – able to withstand fire, high winds, and even earthquakes – concrete is also not vulnerable to external factors like insects, moisture, and mold.

“Concrete is by its nature a very durable and resilient material regardless of the hazard,” explains Reis. “So, from the performance side of things, concrete homes make a ton of sense.”

Build it and they will come

Getting contractors on board with the shift to concrete requires a proven process that would ideally reduce both the time and cost associated with building each home. That’s exactly what the industry has recently accomplished with new tilt-up, prestressed concrete panels.

Similar to the tilt-up design common in commercial construction, new residential concepts allow builders to utilize prestressed sandwich panels without the use of expensive cranes. Instead, the panels can be maneuvered by forklifts – which also cuts down on labor.

“An entire house can now go up with just 3 or 4 people onsite to tilt up the panels and set them in place,” says Alonso Forcado, an engineer from Nonquit Homes who helped design and build the first residential home outside of Atlanta using this style of construction.

The panels can also be poured on site which eliminates the need to transport heavy panels from a precast manufacturer, where every mile increases their cost.

The time associated with building concrete homes can also be greatly reduced when compared to traditional wood-framed designs. For example, depending on the size, a wood-framed home can take 6 months to a year to complete. Once a builder can properly train their crew on the new concrete building process, building times can also be greatly reduced to as little as 120 days, depending on the size of the residence.

Resilience relies on retraining

To accelerate the progression into residential concrete construction, companies like Texas-based Nonquit Homes have begun offering educational courses for contractors. The program takes 8 days and includes hands-on training that will provide builders and skilled workers with the knowledge and ability to pour and erect prestressed concrete panels for quick and cost-effective residential construction.

“It took us almost two years to perfect the process of building with these prestressed concrete sandwich panels,” adds Forcado. “Now we want to pass along what we have learned to builders before it is too late. It’s a race against time.”

To further speed development, the U.S. Resiliency Council is also pushing for incentives for builders who construct more durable homes. Recently, Alabama became the first state to adopt such measures. Reis believes many more states will soon follow suit.

Shield Our Shelters

The transition to concrete homes cannot come soon enough for lenders and the insurance industry, which have seen losses escalate over the last decade.

Those costs are then passed on to homeowners who are already running out of options when it comes to protecting their homes. In fact, according to a report from First Street Foundation – a nonprofit research group – almost 1/3rd of all homeowners in the lower 48 states are already struggling to find affordable insurance. Without cost-effective coverage, the housing market’s future is in peril.

“Insurance rates are skyrocketing because of the increased risk. At the same time lenders don’t want to be left holding the bag,” says Reis. “The good news is that they are both beginning to recognize that they can greatly reduce their risks if homes are built with the right materials.”

Addressing Vulnerabilities

Beyond cost and training, there are some traditional drawbacks to building homes out of concrete. These include concrete’s poor insulation capacity, less appealing finishes, and a lack of architectural design options. However, these too are being resolved with recent innovations.

For example, while concrete is very dense and therefore airtight, it is not considered a good insulator. However, builders – including Nonquit Homes – have begun incorporating a thick layer of insulation inside the concrete panels. This has allowed the energy efficiency of the home to exceed that of traditional wood-framed homes. In addition, adding the insulation into the casting process further reduces construction time and costs by eliminating the need for insulation and sheetrock along the inside of the exterior walls.

When it comes to design, the concrete industry has come a long way and options are now almost endless with colored, patterned, and textured concrete. Additionally, builders can utilize traditional exteriors such as stone, brick, or stucco to add the coveted curb appeal.

Concrete homes are proving to be a safer, greener, more durable option with lower energy consumption and fewer repairs providing a more sustainable solution.

“Sustainable design has always been translated into green design, or having a low impact on the environment,” concludes Reis. “That is only half of the equation. The other part is the environment having a low impact on us. By combining green design with resilient design, together we can achieve sustainability.”

For more information about concrete residential homes contact Nonquit Homes via phone at
(361) 972-6260, email info@nonquithomes.com or visit www.nonquithomes.com.

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