icon Blueprint for July

Constructions on Costs

By
3 min read

“Longevity is going to change everything,” says Kathryn Lawler, executive director of the Atlanta Regional Collective for Health Improvement and one of the most popular presenters on the aging conference circuit. In a comprehensive and exciting presentation I’ve seen numerous times, Lawler highlights those aspects of everyday life altered by the extension of life expectancy.

Among the affected areas is, of course, housing. With more people living longer, we need more homes, which we don’t have, which means those that exist will cost more.

Longevity is just one of the societal forces that impact the cost of housing.

Divorce is another, as is the drift of younger adult generations from the middle of the country to the cities all along the edges. These patterns are pushing rents higher, at a much faster rate than salaries are growing. And these are not patterns that are likely to change.

This month, we focus on an area that we may have some control over—costs of construction. Costs, after all, are largely about choices people make—not only builders, but also the vendors who set the prices on their products and the housing agencies that determine where to place points.

In our lead story, Bendix Anderson interviews heads of construction of a number of development companies on the areas of costs that have been difficult to control, as well as where savings might be found. (The Costs of Construction) And our Talking Head this month is Larry Kraemer from Harkins Builders, one of the nation’s most active construction companies.

As a means of looking at the impact of government policy on costs, Scott Beyer investigates the effect of the recently imposed import tax on Canadian lumber. (Taken to the Woodshed).

In other stories, we look at the dilemma—ethical and financial—of choosing to spend on energy efficiency, which may save money in the long run, but brings along upfront costs (Cutting Energy Costs in Construction), as well as YouthBuild’s filling the construction worker abyss at a time when immigration is a threatened resource. (Constructing Housing and Lives)

You won’t be surprised that our guru, David A. Smith, has some strong feelings about cutting costs: he argues that the wrong voices are dominating the conversation.

And this month we make a small but valuable change in what we offer: an important component of membership in our parent organization, National Housing & Rehabilitation Association, is having the chance to get to know other people in your industry. Networking is a highlight of all our conferences. And we want to make it easier to meet those who share their thoughts with you in our pages. So at the end of most stories now you will find a small box containing Story Contacts, access information provided to us by our interviewees.

Fire up the email. You’re definitely going to want to contact some folks you read about in this issue.

Marty Bell
Editor