| Executive Summary
Economists and other housing experts have long recognized the link between homeownership rates and the overall health of the U.S. economy in both the domestic and international arenas. A decline in homeownership rates typically signals a mismatch between housing prices and the income of potential homebuyers; moreover, it produces ripple effects felt throughout all sectors of the economy. The most immediate result of the housing price/income mismatch is that entry-level buyers are eliminated from the market and construction activity slows. Ramifications extend not only to societal impacts associated with quality of life but also to the Gross Domestic Product GDP and the unemployment rate. According to Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies, residential construction and investment combined with housing consumption and related expenditures accounts for 20 percent of Gross Domestic Product annually.
In recognition of the role of housing in the U.S. economy and the housing cost/housing price relationship, the White House in 1994 convened representatives from all segments of the nation's construction industry to consider a broad set of National Construction Goals. As a result of that meeting, the residential segments of the construction industry assig ned highest priority to the two following goals:
??To reduce production costs through improved technology.
??To improve product durability.
Inextricably linked to the role of technology, both goals address the direct connection between the material and process inputs to housing and the performance of the structure as related to the home's costeffectiveness and efficiency and its impact on the natural environment. The application of advanced technologies to home building can reduce or bring in line housing costs such that the greatest number of entry-level households can enjoy access to the housing market even as the construction and operation of the unit preserve, protect, and even enhance the quality of the natural environment. Already, several important technological advances have demonstrated their operational, functional, and environmental benefits. To address the above goals, the residential segment of the construction industry¡ªas represented by home builders, code officials, product manufacturers, and other interested parties¡ªdeveloped a plan for implementing the National Construction Goals in the context of a supporting research agenda. In particular, the residential segment representatives specified the following seven strategic approaches, listed in priority order, for achieving th eir high-priority goals:
STRATEGIC APPROACH #1: Establish and maintain an information infrastructure responsive to the needs of builders, designers, subcontractors, manufacturers, code officials, and consumers.
STATEGIC APPROACH #2: ?Develop and implement improved methods for assessing and increasing the durability of specific types of building products.
STRATEGIC APPROACH 3: ?Improve the efficiency of the housing production process.
STRATEGIC APPROACH #4: ?Improve the efficiency of the regulatory and new product approval processes.
STRATEGIC APPROACH #5: ?Develop an improved understanding of the performance of conventionally built light-frame
structures.
STRATEGIC APPROACH #6 ??Foster the development and commercialization of innovative products and systems based on input
from the building community.
STRATEGIC APPROACH #7 ??Expand markets and marketability for products and systems that reduce costs or improve durability. The representatives recognized, however, that merely developing a plan and research agenda was insufficient to achieving the two high-priority goals. Instead, the plan had to account for the several barriers to innovation that have historically plagued the residential construction industry and have branded the industry as less inclined to innovate than other industries. Commonly cited barriers include but are not limited to fragmented industry structure, liability exposure, the building industry's cyclical nature, and the lack of access to information,
Most recently, a Residential Sector/Federal Agency Workshop met to take the next steps in addressing the two high-priority goals. Participants confirmed the priority already assigned to the seven strategic approaches and formed seven task groups to address each of the strategic approaches. This document sets forth the plans and action agendas developed by the task groups. | 