Building Better Homes Isn’t Easy—But It’s Worth It

Building Quality Homes® isn’t easy. Just ask the builders at the Summerset at Frick Park community in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In an effort to meet the community’s performance goals, each of the builders had their share of struggles in learning new ways of designing and building their homes. The payoff makes it work it in the end, though, as strong and constant demand for Summerset homes has boosted their bottom line.

The 710 homes to be built at Summerset in three phases over seven years will have innovative housing technologies and quality construction practices, like being 30% more energy efficient than homes comparable in size. New, more durable building materials are being used. Improved construction practices, like integrated flashing, wall drainage planes, and water management systems at the foundation, contribute to effective moisture control. And carefully considered mechanical system designs help to ensure proper heating and cooling airflow distribution and improved occupant comfort.

While each of the builders had their own unique growing pains (some builders had to learn a completely different way of thinking, while others were familiar with the ideas but still had to work hard to ensure the design strategies were implemented well in the field), their payoff is the strong sales resulting from high customer demand for quality homes. The innovative technologies and construction practices make the Summerset homes better performing homes than many of their Pittsburgh counterparts—and customers are willing to pay for the quality. More than 400 potential buyers signed up for the next building phase lottery, in which 65 lots will be sold. With such high demand, lucrative sales for the builders are guaranteed.

With the first construction phase complete and the next beginning, Summerset builders are realizing that the quality of the homes is closely tied to the homeowner’s satisfaction, which impacts both customer referrals and, ultimately, the builder’s reputation. And while the road to quality isn’t easy, the customer demand at the end of the journey has been well worth it.

For more information on Summerset at Frick Park, read the latest issue of our QualityHome® newsletter. The newsletter also includes articles on customer satisfaction, high performance lighting, best practices for preventing wet basements, employee training, perimeter slab insulation, and research into the processes of building quality homes.

Previously at IBACOS