Building smarter for less
As the 55+ baby boomers and empty nesters start looking at retirement, the first concern is expenses. The highest expense is housing, so down-sizing is becoming a concern for us boomers. Going from 3- or 4-bedroom homes to 2 bedrooms is a serious change and finding 1,000 to 1,500 sqf homes with the amenities that they are used to can be challenging.
Builders want to address this marketplace and the demand is growing faster than supply. The builder is challenged with several different issues, including skilled labor, predictable material costs, and speed of assembly coupled with quality of homes built.
As stated in HousingWire’s article, The 55+ Housing Market is Booming, “according to the latest from the National Association of Home Builders, builder confidence in the 55+ market reached 76 in the first quarter of 2019 – up six points from the previous quarter and the highest score since the index started more than a decade ago.”
Let’s explore a different approach to conventional and factory-built homes verses Gorilla Composites Inc. (GCI) Stress Skin Structural Composite Building Panels.
The GCI ISC panels are a minimum of 7 plus times stronger (axial load) than conventional constructed walls. However, the benefits do not stop there. Each panel is assembled to a 2mm tolerance plus or minus the plywood skin tolerance. Builders can now use 3 skilled to 7 unskilled labor ratios. GCI homes can be assembled in 10 to 15% the time allotted to build a conventional home.
So, imagine, the same number of crew, building 5 or 6 homes in the same allotted time as one. Your labor remains the same, you just built 5 homes for the same labor cost as 1. That translates to much higher net profit. This also means you can address the 55+ market needs with a faster response time and higher quality at an attractive price point to the builder and to the end customer.
Let’s imagine another aspect that is normally and most likely not realized, which is controlling your own raw-materials. A GCI panel production line is automated and can be run by 6-8 people per shift, producing 480 panels in an 8-hour shift. Now your only variable cost is plywood. You control your raw materials and their cost. Depending on your internal transfer cost, the R.O.I is well under 1 year for a GCI panel line.
To find out more, please visit www.gorillacomposites.com where you will see exactly, in detail, how this established building system works. There you will find a direct link to Terry Lammers at Innovative Business Advisors for assistance.
Sincerely
Gregory J Leja
CEO / CTO Gorilla Composites Inc.