Wendy Shannon, Marketing Director of CHC

January marked the third-year anniversary of the Concrete Homes Council (CHC), an alliance of concrete system providers, contractors and industry partners, under the auspices of the Concrete Foundations Association(tm) of North America, established to promote cast-in-place, removable form concrete housing. The CHC celebrated its anniversary and stepped up its commitment to the industry by joining the National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB) newly formed Concrete Home Building Council (CHBC). The CHBC will provide builders invaluable access to a network of technical, education and training experts in concrete building systems and concrete product applications.

The CHBC, an initiative of NAHB’s Building Systems Council, receives funding from leaders in the concrete industry, including the Portland Cement Association, the Concrete Foundation Association’s Concrete Homes Council, the Insulating Concrete Form Association, and the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute. The new council held its first meeting during the International Builders Show in Las Vegas, Nevada in January, laying the groundwork for an exciting year.

“Joining the Concrete Home Building Council is a natural extension of the work we already do in the CHC,” states Ed Sauter, executive director of the Concrete Homes Council. Sauter points to Dave Pfanmiller of Security Building Group in Raleigh, North Carolina, and current chair of the CHC, as an example of an experienced concrete home builder who has worked on projects from town homes to 12,000 sq. foot custom homes in the Carolinas. Pfanmiller and other CHC members are available to share their expertise with builders or developers interested in building concrete homes.

“The CHBC will be a positive docket for educational programs and for supporting collaborative efforts between builders and seasoned concrete contractors,” says Sauter. “Together these experienced professionals can easily move forward in building safer, disaster-resistant and energy-efficient concrete housing especially for markets hit hardest by natural disasters.”

Establishing alliances like the CHBC and CHC signals the determination of industry leaders to support one another and to strengthen and promote the entire residential concrete construction industry. “This will be an opportunity for all of us to work more closely with builders throughout the country and to expand the concrete home building industry at the local, regional and national levels,” says Michael Weber, director of residential for the Portland Cement Association. In essence, with the creation of the CHBC, the industry is partnering with the NAHB as its resource for all cement-based building materials, including removable form, cast-in-place concrete homes.

The CHC was established in 2001 to promote cast-in-place, removable form concrete housing and enjoys the sponsorship of leaders in the concrete industry. Platinum sponsors include: Durand Forms, Inc., of Durand, MI; Outinord Universal of Miami, FL; Wall-Ties & Forms, Inc., and Western Forms both in the Kansas City, MO area; Schwing America, Inc. of St. Paul, MN; and the Portland Cement Association, of Skokie, IL. For more information, please contact the Concrete Homes Council at 319-895-0761 or info@concretehomescouncil.org.