According to a 2016 Gallup poll, nearly 90% of Americans believe buying a home is an excellent financial decision. However, the housing market crash of 2007-08 scarred many people who lost money on their homes and caused others who wanted to buy homes to move back in with their parents or rent apartments instead. Fortunately, the housing market has recovered from that crash and continues to grow, with more than 1 million new homes built in 2017.
The construction trends have also seen some dramatic changes in recent years. This is mainly associated with how buyers' preferences have shifted, and technology has created new ways of doing business. As a builder or remodeler, one of your goals should stay ahead of construction industry trends.
As a builder, you'll encounter serious challenges if you stay in just one market and only build identical houses repeatedly. Suppose you have a solid strategy for moving your business into emerging market segments by identifying which geographical regions will be hot spots over the next few years. In that case, you can be ahead of the game.
But what does the future hold for the home construction industry? Will people continue to buy new homes? Can houses continue to get more expensive without driving people away? Let's look at some emerging custom home trends in the construction industry today.
As consumers embrace smartphones, tablets, and other devices that make them more productive and efficient, they are also looking for ways to bring this technology into their homes. One of the most important emerging home construction industry trends is the increase in smart home technology trends.
In addition, homeowners are becoming increasingly interested in automating their homes, and new technology is emerging to provide them with the tools they need. With apps like SmartThings and Nest, homeowners can now control their thermostats, security systems, and lighting from anywhere using their phone or tablet.
As residential construction trends in 2021 continue to evolve, it will become easier for homeowners to connect different devices, creating a truly smart home experience. With smart home trends, you can remotely control your house devices with your smartphone or tablet. You can also customize your house devices according to your needs. Nowadays, many families choose to set up smart homes, making their lives much more convenient.
With the increasing availability of low-cost sensors, wireless communications, and cloud computing resources, IoT has become more pervasive in our lives.
Custom home construction is built with a network of sensors that collect information about everything inside a home: temperature and humidity levels; energy consumption data; motion detected by security cameras; presence or absence of occupants; door locks being opened or closed; water leak detectors and many other data points. That information is stored in the cloud and can be accessed remotely by homeowners using their smartphones or tablets.
Intelligent thermostats such as Nest allow homeowners to adjust their temperature settings. At the same time, it also offers them remote access from smartphones to turn up or down the heat when they're on their way home from work. Smart appliances can be pre-programmed via smartphone apps to get dinner started before even walking in the door.
The green trends have become popular in the past decade. This is mainly due to the need for saving energy and resources and maintaining a habitable environment for future generations.
The main goal of this concept is to create eco-friendly and energy-efficient home construction with minimal impact on the environment.
According to statistics, buildings use about 40% of the energy and emit about 35% of carbon emissions. These figures are huge, especially since they can be reduced by using eco-friendly construction concepts.
Some examples of green home construction concepts include:
Green custom homes are designed, constructed, and operated to minimize their environmental impact. This is done by reducing energy and water consumption, improving indoor air quality, and using renewable building materials.
These harnesses the power of the sun to produce electricity and heat water for the home. Some models are designed to be roofing shingles, blending in with other roofing materials, while others look like large black tiles that sit atop the roof.
Green walls are living walls or vertical gardens. Unlike green roofs, which are horizontal and need to be built from the top-down, green walls can be installed on any existing vertical surface. Green walls are often used to beautify dull-looking concrete walls, but they're also useful for filtering air pollutants and providing shade in hot weather.
The green building concept is an attempt to make homes more eco-friendly. Building a new house that has a smaller impact on the environment than an older home is something you can feel good about.
A green home builder designs these homes with materials that need little or no maintenance. Although up-front costs may be higher, long-term savings are greater. This means that you'll save money on painting, siding replacements, and other maintenance items.
Because there aren't any cracks or crevices for dust particles to settle into, there's less cleaning required to keep your home looking neat. The same goes for molding and exterior trim; everything is sealed so water can't creep in and cause water damage or ruin your walls and floors.
Plus, since energy efficiency is at the forefront of a sustainable home design, your HVAC system will also run more efficiently, which means less dirt builds up inside.
Instead of using traditional materials like wood, vinyl, or brick, homeowners can choose from various sustainable materials to create their dream homes.
Innovations, like aerogel insulation, promise to improve energy efficiency. Meanwhile, new products like bamboo flooring are becoming more affordable and increasingly available.
The development of new construction materials, coupled with more efficient and environmentally responsible building methods, enables architects to explore their creativity. Construction methods are increasingly innovative, often using new materials and technology. Natural forms and light are being used more effectively within buildings, whilst at the same time, the use of color, texture, and pattern are becoming bolder.
The engineered cementation composites are described as flexible and ductile materials. The ECCs are a mixture of cement, sand, water, and steel fibers. The main advantage of ECC is that it has high ductility, high tensile strength, and high compressive strength, and it is much more durable than conventional materials such as concrete.
The construction material is ideal for creating curved structures with complex shapes, and because it uses less cement than traditional concrete, it emits less CO2 when produced. Also, it doesn't need steel reinforcements or expansion joints as regular concrete does.
Engineered timber is a relatively latest construction material concept that involves using wood products in construction. Engineered timber often includes laminated veneer lumber (LVL), parallel strand lumber (PSL), glue-laminated timber (glulam), and other materials. Because engineered timber is stronger and more durable than natural wood, it can be used in taller structures. The use of this material also helps to minimize deforestation.
Recycled building materials are one of the most popular ways to make green buildings green. These items are often cheaper and require less energy to produce than many new materials. They also limit the amount of waste that goes into landfills, which is good for our environment.
Various construction methods are becoming popular that utilize sustainable building materials from old buildings and other sources. Recycled materials include things such as shredded car tires, plastic milk jugs, and glass bottles that are used in place of traditional construction materials like brick, stone, or concrete.
These recycled items can be found in flooring roofs and insulation. Some companies turn old tires into bricks used to construct homes and buildings, while others recycle shipping containers into modular units for home construction or offices.
3D printing is an additive manufacturing process that creates three-dimensional objects by depositing successive layers of material under computer control. The technology has come far enough to 3D print buildings. This technology could change the building sector by allowing faster, cheaper, and greener constructions. The idea is to print small modules that can be assembled, reducing the time needed to complete construction.
The first 3D printed concrete house was built in 2014 using special cementitious innovative building material, which hardens through a chemical reaction with water. It took roughly 45 hours to print the components of this house on-site using large-scale 3D printers. The parts were assembled into a 370 square foot home currently being used as an information center at the Beijing Building Research Institute (BRI).
Many construction workers retired during the Great Recession, and now that the industry is rebounding, there aren't enough people to fill their shoes. This is causing labor shortages to be one of the biggest trends in the construction industry today.
This shortage of construction workers has led to an increase in wages for construction workers, which has also led to an increase in project costs. Many contractors who have been able to find new employees have had trouble retaining them because they've been poached by other companies who offer better pay and benefits.
One way to combat the shortage of workers would be to invest in human resources development. This could take many forms, such as worker training programs that teach young people how to use tools and build structures. It could also mean a focus on apprenticeships and other methods so that more qualified workers are available when they're needed by companies who need their services now.
Another solution would be human resources investment in technology that automates some of these processes or makes them easier for humans, so there's less work required from skilled labor personnel like electricians and plumbers. Contractors are taking several human resource management actions to address these talent challenges, including hiring more subcontractors and recent graduates, providing better training opportunities, and increasing compensation levels or adding bonuses.
The use of automation in the construction industry is not a new thing. Robotics in the construction industry has been used for several decades for excavation, painting, and welding purposes. They have made repetitive jobs safer and faster than humans.
3D printing home construction is another technology becoming more popular in the construction industry. Some companies use 3D printing to create entire homes in just a few days. This technology can be used to print foundations, concrete walls, plumbing, electrical wiring, and much more. A 3D printed home will also be more energy-efficient since everything fits together perfectly without gaps or holes.
While 3D printing isn't quite ready to replace traditional construction methods entirely, it can positively impact both the speed and cost of projects.
The use of drones in the construction industry is familiar now. The technology has progressed to a point where it can be used on projects and utilized by multiple companies worldwide.
Drones enable more successful inspections and monitoring of construction sites than ever before. They enable professionals to better picture what's happening on a site in less time than ever before.
At the same time, they allow contractors to keep a close eye on multiple projects at once, which is essential for companies that work on multiple projects at once or manage subcontractors. Contractors can even share drone video footage with clients to help them feel more engaged in the process and make key decisions as needed.
Drones also make construction sites safer. Regular surveying of a site is crucial to ensure that everything is going as planned and that no changes have occurred since the last survey. They can be used for surveying or inspecting dangerous parts of a site without putting anyone at risk of injury or worse. They can help general contractors identify safety issues that need to be addressed quickly.
Element homes is a custom home building company that incorporates these and more cutting-edge designs and trends into the homes we build for our clients. It's important that we stay on top of the latest construction trends in your area. We have found that these trends help you get the most out of your investment and make your home more energy-efficient and functional.
At Element Homes, we pride ourselves on staying ahead of the curve when it comes to new home builder trends. This allows us to provide you with various options for your project, but it also means that you can enjoy the latest in design and technology from the moment you move in.
Element homes pride itself as a client-centric construction company. This means that we focus on communicating with our clients, understanding their needs, and solving their problems. In addition to the above, we are committed to the following:
We need to deliver our projects on time to ensure customer satisfaction. Our project managers are licensed professionals who have a wealth of experience in the construction sector. They have, over the years, monitored and helped our clients keep up with emerging construction trends. We work closely with our clients during every phase of the project, from planning to completion. Our project managers always update our clients on developments in their projects regularly.
Element homes is one of the few construction companies in this region providing quality workmanship at affordable rates. We pride ourselves on having qualified contractors who have many years of experience in their fields of expertise. These professionals are not only concerned about getting issues sorted but also ensuring that our clients get value for their money.
The excellent services provided by our luxury home builder contractors make our company stand out among other construction companies around. Give us a call, and let us build a long-lasting relationship that will bring value to your home or business.
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