During the International Builders’ Show earlier this year, Home Innovation’s Director of Market Research Ed Hudson gave a presentation, “When and Where Off-Site Housing Technologies Will Emerge,” to members of NAHB’s Building Systems Council. The session included information from a 10-year summary of Home Innovation’s Annual Builder Practices Reports, as well as a survey conducted at the end of 2018 of 300 home builders who were asked about their future intentions for using building components and off-site housing technologies. The presentation provided an in-depth analysis of builder responses based on builder type, size, and region.
Some top-line findings that garnered the most interest among those who saw the presentation included the following:
- The transition from rafter-framed roofs to trusses will continue to be strong among all types of builders—small and large, and low-end and high-end, and in all regions. The immediate trend is strong now but will taper off within the next five years due to trusses hitting a market saturation point.
- Many builders are also in process of making the switch from site-built framing to shop-built open wall panels, particularly multifamily builders and high-volume single-family builders.
- While somewhat less intense than open-wall panels, there is an interest in closed-wall panels that will begin to materialize in the coming five years.
- Pre-assembled floors, or “floor cassettes,” are not in most builders’ current one-year plans, but we expect a big boost of interest developing over the coming five years, particularly among large builders to complement their use of open-wall panels.
- The Midwest seems to be adopting components and off-site housing solutions the most, followed by the West. The South and Northeast seem less ready to adopt components and off-site solutions, with the exception of roof trusses.
- Modular home solutions tend to be favored by custom builders and builders in the West.
- Pre-cut framing packages seem positioned to satisfy the needs of larger builders, and builders of luxury homes.
This is just a sample of the interesting finds from this analysis. To download Hudson’s complete presentation from IBS, visit homeinnovation.com/2019IBSPPT. Building product manufacturers that are interested in this type of analysis for their products or systems can reach out to Home Innovation Research Labs at homeinnovation.com/MarketResearchContact.
