T H E E - M A G A Z I N E O F T H E H B R A O F FA I R F I E L D C O U N T Y - A P R I L 2 0 2 2
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Your Monthly Newsletter Building Connections is a monthly digital magazine produced and published by the Home Builders & Remodelers Association of Fairfield County. Inside you will find the latest association news, legislative updates, upcoming events, and featured articles about the industry.
Contact Us:
hbra@buildfairfieldcounty.com www.buildfairfieldcounty.com @hbraffc (203) 335-7008
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L ET T ER F RO M TH E EXECUTIVE OF FICER
Hello All, Happy Spring! Thank you to those of you who came to our April 6 event at Clarke! It was such a good time, with great food and great networking! On May 4 we will be having a “History of Building Performance” class at Ring’s End in Stratford in conjunction with Huber Engineered Woods from 3-5:30. Please make sure to register HERE. Directly following that, we will be having our Member Mixer GMM at Two Roads in Stratford. Be sure to join us for some delicious food, tasty drinks, and networking. Register HERE. I look forward to seeing everyone there! As a reminder, if you know someone who would benefit from becoming a member-we are currently running a special for new members-Join now and come to your first 3 meetings for free! Be sure to keep our online membership directory in mind whenever you are looking for a business: www.buildfairfieldcounty.com/ directory. Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can do anything for you or your business. kerry@buildfairfieldcounty.com
.
Kind Regards, Kerry Brunn
ELITE 2022 OFFICERS President Kim DiMatteo Cross Insurance
Sr. Vice-President John Hertz Hertz Construction
Vice President Rob Michaud
Michaud Development Group
Secretary Michael Wood
DIAMOND
Wood Builders
Treasurer Steven Roth
Elevator Service Company
Immediate Past President Anthony DeRosa DeRosa Builders
PWB Chair Emilia Ferri
Emilia Ferri Architecture + Design
2022 DIRECTORS
TITANIUM
Luigi Altamura Altamura Homes
Propane Pete Battaglio Hocon Gas
Max Bender Bender Supply
Karen Bradbury
Closet & Storage Concepts
PLATINUM
Ken DeLeo
Doherty & DeLeo
Brian Kurtz
Interstate Lumber
Peter Sciarretta
Hemingway Construction
Alex Shook
Pella Commercial
Lisa White
Breakwater Renovation & Design
LIFE DIRECTORS Joanne Carroll JMC Resources
Michael Palumbo ERI Building & Design
Jerry Effren The Greyrock Companies
Peter Gaboriault Bear Paw Builders
Gary Fanali City Carting
Terrence Beaty William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty
Peter Fusaro Preferred Builders
Chris Steiner Steiner, Inc.
MEDIA
2022 MEMBER DIRECTORY
Each year, the HBRA of Fairfield County publishes a Member Directory & Resource guide that is distributed to all current members and is made available throughout the year at events, in member’s showrooms, and by request. Your listing is included with your membership. We ask all members to complete the listing form to ensure the correct information is included and you are listed under the appropriate categories. We also have new advertising opportunities for our members. An ad in the directory is an investment that gives you year-round exposure to fellow members, industry professionals, and consumers. Plus the revenue generated from the ads helps the HBRA expand our services, events, and legislative advocacy opportunities so that we can better serve the members of the HBRA of Fairfield County.
Click here to finish your directory listing for 2022
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me at kerry@buildfairfieldcounty.com or at 203.335.7008.
MEMBER MIXER
May 4, 2022 | Two Roads Brewery 1700 Stratford Ave nue Stratford, CT 06615
6:00 - 9:00PM
Join us at our May General Membership Meeting and annual Member Mixer, back indoors in the Vault Room. Enjoy local craft beer and an appetizer spread, and network with the HBRA board of directors, committee members, and the businesses who make up the HBRA of Fairfield County. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Members $30 | General Admission $35
Week of event Members $40 | General Admission $45 Includes one drink ticket for beer or wine. Win additional drink tickets by playing Bar Bingo!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Bring a prospective member to the event and you both will receive an extra drink ticket on us!
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To register CLICK HERE or call the office at (203) 335-7008
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Andersen is proud to support the Home Builders and Remodelers Assn. of Fairfield County and its members.
JUNE GMM
HBRA CALEN DAR
Wednesday, June 1, 2022 | 6 - 9 PM | Ring’s End Darien
Featuring the HUBER PROVE IT TOUR highlighting the benefits of AdvanTech® & ZIP System ® products.
Don’t miss the networking event of the summer! LIVE DEMOS • FOOD TRUCKS • GIVEAWAYS • RAFFLES • PHOTO BOOTH
The first 120 people to Celebrate Ring’s End’s Fresh Lobster Rolls from 120th Anniversary with their arrive receive a FREE 16 oz. LobsterCraft & New Haven Teakwood S’well Traveler! Private Label IPA, “1902” Style Pizza from Marco!
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Ring’s End | 181 West Avenue, Darien, CT 06820 | 800-390-1000
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EARN 1 LU/HSW CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDIT HUBER ENGINEERED WOODS & RING’S END PRESENT
A HISTORY OF BUILDING PERFORMANCE A BUILDING SCIENCE SERIES SEMINAR
May 4, 2022 | 3:30 pm - 5:30 pm Ring’s End Education Center 160 Avon Street | Stratford, CT 06615 REFRESHMENTS PROVIDED
AGENDA
REGISTRATION // 3:00 – 3:30 Networking with refreshments & conversation A HISTORY OF BUILDING PERFORMANCE // 3:30 - 4:30 1 LU/HSW Continuing Education Credit BPC Green Builders // Ben Bogie Course Description
How we got to modern building practices through historical developments. This building science course will look at a 7500-year evolution of building through the lens of performance. Modern codes, elective building standards, and client directives are rapidly advancing the performance and potential failures of our buildings. To many, the subtle interactions are difficult to understand but are rooted in some basic principles. Today, building is the culmination of thousands of years of iterative advancements, and looking at their history and purpose sheds light on modern situations.
Learning Objectives 1. Identify the early building methods used to control the indoor environment - thermal mass, insulation, orientation, airflow 2. Identify the impact regional climates have on the development of building styles - evaporative and convective cooling, active heating methods 3. Assess the late 19th and early 20th-century mechanical advancements that changed the way we build 4. Compare the rapid development of the two fundamental types of “high performance” buildings - passive mass and glass vs. airtight super-insulated
Q & A / NETWORKING // 4:30 - 5:30 About Ben Bogie Ben Bogie is a second-generation high-performance builder working as a Project Manager for BPC Green Builders in Connecticut and New York. He has a passion for the work he does that leads him to study his craft in an effort to push his skills forward in all areas of homebuilding. His work has taken him from historical preservation of 18th-century buildings to cutting-edge high-performance new construction. He’s a frequent contributor to respected industry publications, speaks nationally at private and public events, and runs demonstration stages at JLC Live and The International Builder’s Show. His current work is focused on net-zero, carbon mindful, luxury residences.
SCAN TO REGISTER ONLINE
All attendees will receive complimentary admission to the HBRA Member Mixer at Two Roads Brewery following the presentation.
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Fixitup Residential Remodeling, LLC | Bepin Mgushi
Fixitup Residential Remodeling is a fully licensed, and insured contracting company offering home remodeling and new construction services throughout Fairfield County CT, Greenwich, Stamford, Norwalk, Westport, New Canaan, Westport, Weston, Wilton and surrounding towns. Read More
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Welcome to Our Newest Affiliates
Simply Easy Home Investments, LLC – Daniella Nelson-Johnson
List with a Member. • HBRA Member for 27 Years • Government Affairs Committee • 30-year REALTOR® • Fairfield County Focus
Terence Beaty, REALTOR® cell 203.913.3535 tbeaty@williampitt.com terencebeaty.williampitt.com
Scan QR to Visit my Website
Each Office is Independently Owned and Operated.
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P W B MEMBER SPOTLIGH T
Kim DiMatteo, CIC,MWCA Senior Vice President at Cross Insurance and President of Fairfield County Home Builders and Remodelers Association www.linkedin.com/in/kimdimatteocic-mwca-0aaa70b acbi-ins.com wakondafarm.com
Hi, I am Kim Marie DiMatteo, I am a Certified Insurance Consultant and Master Workers Compensation Advisor working in the insurance business for over 30 years. I act as a Trusted Adviser to my clients as well as a Strategic Alliance. Relationships are very important to me and giving back to my coworkers, clients, and business associates are top of my priority list. I specialize in Construction and Real Estate Insurance segments and pride myself in mentoring, an extreme multi-tasker, and in fact, my brain rarely shuts down. As a member of the Home Builders & Remodelers Association since 1990, I am the President of the local Fairfield County association, and also sit on board of directors of the State of CT, and the National Association of Home Builders. I have also served on the HBRA Executive Committee, the Membership Committee, Insurance Committee, Associates Council, PWB, Program Committee, and many other committees in addition to specific projects to help grow the associations, as well as help educate members in my field. Due to my commitment to the Home Builders Association, I have received many awards, including Fairfield County’s Women of the Year, Associate of the Year, Business of the Year and was inducted to the Hall of Fame. I have also been nominated for the Home Builders National Associate of the Year and was presented with the awards, Women of Fire and Citizen of the Year, for the Town of Bethany where I currently reside. In 2019 I received the highest award given by the Home Builders Association - John P. Rowins Meritorious Service Award I am also involved with my Family’s Foundation, The DiMatteo Family Charitable Foundation, where over the past 14 years they have donated more than $400,000 to local and national charities. One of my most rewarding givebacks is delivering Easter Baskets to homeless children in Fairfield County, which I have been doing for over 20 years with my children, Anthony, Jessica, and Michael.
Ria is a seasoned lifestyle public relations executive and is the Brand Ambassador of the Monogram Design Center at Aitoro Appliance. In her 20+ years in the public relations industry, she has handled the launch and the promotion of some of the world’s most well-respected luxury and consumer products brands. Her career began with working in several top Los Angeles based lifestyle public relations agencies supervising the publicity campaigns for luxury brands such as the Diamond Information Center, Salvatore Ferragamo, and Moet & Chandon to name a few. She later transitioned into an in-house PR management position at Mattel overseeing national public relations campaigns for the Girls Division. Ria relocated to Connecticut in 2003 and eventually joined the Barteca Restaurant Group as the Director of Public Relations overseeing PR efforts for the Barcelona Wine Bar and bartaco restaurant concepts in the country. In 2018, Monogram invested in opening the Monogram Design Center at Aitoro Appliance. She joined the Aitoro team as their Brand Ambassador for Monogram Appliances. Ria manages the showroom and conducts Brand awareness outreach programs for regional builders, architects, designers, and consumers via industry training sessions, cooking demonstrations, and special events. Over the last few years, she has cultivated long-standing relationships with homeowners and the design community beyond the showroom. Ria has taken her marketing experience and used it to create programs such as the Monogram Designer Collective, sponsoring target-right events such as the Innovation Design Awards, and developing an engaging social media campaign to generate excitement about the Monogram Brand. She is also an active community member and has served on the Board of the Westport Young Womens League and Westport Arts Center.
Ria Rueda
AITORO APPLIANCE ria@aitoro.com www.monogram.com www.aitoro.com 203-847-2471 @monogramappliances @ aitoroappliance
APRIL 2022 | HBRA of Fairfield County 17
OP- ED F ROM ERIC SAN TIN I JR
Opinion: Bill banning fossil fuels as primary source of heating, cooling new homes will hurt housing affordability There are few today who would argue that climate change is not happening all around us. And it is generally accepted that we, as a society, must make changes that lead to a more sustainable future. No one expects the transition to be painless, but neither should we arbitrarily make this evolution more painful than it needs to be. Yet, that is exactly what a proposed bill in the General Assembly — Senate Bill 292, An Act Concerning Heating Efficiency in New Residential Construction and Major Alterations of Residential Buildings — would do. During a recent marathon public hearing, members of the Housing Committee heard from numerous stakeholders, including homebuilders and representatives of the energy sector, who are concerned about the unintended consequences of SB 292, which would ban the use of fossil fuels as the primary source of heating and cooling in new residential construction, and prescribe heat pumps or costly geothermal technology instead. While the goal of SB 292 is well-intentioned — reducing greenhouse gas emissions from housing — using heavy-handed, costly mandates as a means of achieving it are ill-conceived and ill-timed. Why? Start with Connecticut’s housing affordability crisis. Construction costs associated with SB 292 will be substantial and consequential, disproportionately affecting first-time homebuyers, minorities and single-parent households seeking to build the generational wealth that homeownership can provide and which many of us take for granted. In its annual update on affordability, the National Association of Homebuilders estimates that in 2022, a $1,000 increase in the median price of a home will price 117,932 households out of the market.
With that said, a recent study conducted by Home Innovation Research Labs concluded that cold climate heat pumps (which would be needed to contend with our winters) are on average $8,000 to $9,000 more expensive compared to a gas furnace. In addition, a larger capacity heat pump water heater (80 gallon) with a mixing valve is needed to match the performance of a gas water heater in cold climates. These heat pump water heaters can cost as much as $2,800 more compared to a standard gas water heater. While the need for housing has arguably never been greater in Connecticut, production of new housing in the state is among the lowest in the country — and it’s been that way for a long time. Despite a modest uptick in 2020, housing production is trending in the wrong direction. According to the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD), which tracks housing production numbers, Connecticut builders pulled 1,100 fewer new construction permits in 2021 than they did in 2020. This lack of sufficient production has, in large part, contributed to the housing scarcity, which has led to the housing affordability and accessibility issues we are experiencing today. We often hear that 20% of total greenhouse gas emissions in the United States is attributable to residential buildings, but that statistic is misleading. Newly-constructed homes built to today’s strict and progressive building codes are 70% more efficient than existing residential homes. From an environmental perspective, policies aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and promoting energy efficiency in the state’s aging housing stock — among the oldest in the country — would be far more effective. Mandating electrification of heating and hot water systems on new construction will accomplish little to impact our housing stock’s impact on our climate.
Read More
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N AH B N EWS
Resilient AMERICA Act Would Help Retrofit NAHB Supports Rep. Homes, Provide States Flexibility on Building Westerman’s ‘No Timber from Tyrants Codes Act’ The U.S. House of Representatives yesterday approved NAHBsupported legislation that would strengthen the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) disaster preparedness programs and allow the agency to institute a pilot program through which states and localities award grants for hazard mitigation efforts.
Of particular note to the residential construction industry, the Resilient AMERICA Act includes legislative language that would allow state and local jurisdictions to retain control over building code adoption by providing flexibility to adopt one of the two latest published codes. This gives state and local governments the ability to amend the code prior to adoption. “This language will provide the flexibility needed for communities to take positive steps to withstand and recover from extreme events,”
Read More
NAHB today expressed strong support for Rep. Bruce Westerman’s (R-Ark.) “No Timber from Tyrants Act.” The legislation would ban wood imports of wood products from Russia and Belarus while ramping up responsible harvesting of American timber from federal lands. “Rep. Westerman’s ‘No Timber from Tyrants Act’ is a moral and economic imperative that needs to be enacted immediately,”
Read More
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APRIL 2022 | HBRA of Fairfield County 21
Helping you lead a better life. 401 Westport Avenue, Norwalk, CT l 203 847 2471 l Aitoro.com
22 HBRA of Fairfield County | APRIL 2022
N AH B N EWS
Millennial Home Buyers Want Larger Homes, Survey Shows
As the housing industry celebrates New Homes Month in April, millennials say their housing preferences have changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. More than a third (36%) of millennials are now in favor of a larger home and home builders are responding to this trend. According to the Census Quarterly Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design and National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) analysis, the median size of new single-family homes in 2021 was 10% higher since the Great Recession (2009) at 2,303 square feet. The shift aligns with NAHB’s home buyers’ preferences analysis, which shows millennials and Gen Xers prefer more bedrooms and are also interested in exercise rooms and home offices. “The home building industry expects to see home sizes continue to increase due to a shift in consumer preferences as more activities are taking place in the home in the post-pandemic environment,” said NAHB Chairman Jerry Konter, a builder and developer from Savannah, Ga. “Builders are trying to keep up with demand, but higher construction costs are hindering housing affordability.” NAHB’s fourth quarter 2021 Housing Trends Report revealed that buyer availability expectations worsened throughout the year across all generations. Only 34% of millennials expected that finding a home would be easier in the months ahead and a majority (67%) of active buyers are spending more than three months looking for a home. According to recent data by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau, the median new homes sales price in February was $400,600, up 10.6% compared to a year ago. New home prices have increased as building materials and other development costs have climbed due to supply-chain issues and elevated inflation pressures. In addition to construction cost challenges, higher mortgage rates in 2022 will further reduce housing affordability conditions.
Residential Building Worker Wages on the Rise Average hourly earnings for residential building workers continue to rise as the construction labor market remains tight. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), average hourly earnings for residential building workers was $28.66 in February 2022, increasing 6% from $27.01 a year ago. Earnings for residential building workers have increased significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic recession. Between December 2019 and December 2021, average hourly earnings increased about 12%. Jing Fu, NAHB director of forecasting and analysis, provides more in this Eye on Housing post.
Read More
Statement from NAHB Chairman Jerry Konter on Biden’s Push to Seek More Oil from Canada
Home buyers can access home buying and home building information and resources at nahb.org.
Jerry Konter, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder and developer from Savannah, Ga., today issued the following statement after the White House said it was seeking ways to boost oil imports from Canada...
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To address the affordability crisis, NAHB is calling on policymakers to seek immediate remedies to the lumber and building materials supply chain bottlenecks that will increase production and lower construction costs.
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N AH B N EWS
New Girl Scout Patch Program Introduces Young Girls to Careers in Construction Girl Scouts across the country can now participate in an exciting new patch program, The House That She Built, designed to empower girls to think about STEAM and construction by meeting real professional women in building. Created by Mollie Elkman, the author of the children’s book, The House That She Built, with support from the book’s publisher, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), this program is inspired by the same team of real women from NAHB’s Utah Chapter of Professional Women in Building Council who came together from around the country to build a one-of-a-kind home in Utah: The House That SHE Built. Many of the 100+ women who joined together from around the country to build this home are former Girl Scouts themselves. The intent of this patch program is to build self-esteem and develop skills through curiosity and hand on activities. The program hosted by the Girl Scouts of California’s Central Coast was first rolled out last week but is available to all Girl Scouts across the country.
Home Building Increasingly Shifting to Rural and Small Counties The market share of single-family and multifamily homes built in rural markets increased over the past year, and the growth seems to be accelerating. According to NAHB’s Home Building Geography Index (HBGI), 10.5% of all singlefamily homes built in Q4 2021 were built in rural areas, up from 10% in Q4 2020. In addition, 6% of multifamily units were built in rural areas compared to just 4.1% a year ago.
Read More
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APRIL 2022 | HBRA of Fairfield County 25
N AH B N EWS
Recession Risks are Rising Rising mortgage interest rates, spurred by expected, significant tightening of monetary policy by the Federal Reserve, will aggravate housing affordability challenges in 2022. This is particularly the case for prospective first-time home buyers, who face higher costs and elevated home prices without the benefit of gains in home equity and household wealth possessed by existing home owners. Similar to what occurred in 2018, higher mortgage rates will slow sales and construction in an otherwise positive demandside environment. For example, in the March NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index reading of builder sentiment, the measure of future sales expectations fell a notable 10 points for the month. Since the start of the year, the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage increased from 3.1% to 4.67% by the end of March — the fastest rate increase in percentage terms in decades Read More
Annual Inflation Hits 40-Year High of 8.5% in March Driven by higher food, gasoline and housing cost, consumer prices continued to accelerate in March, bringing the annual inflation rate up to 8.5% — a 40-year high. March was the sixth straight month for inflation above a 6% rate and it was the fastest annual pace since December 1981. Though gas prices have fallen slightly from their March highs, the pace of inflation will likely stay high in the months ahead as lockdowns in China threaten to exacerbate global supply-chain issues. Read More
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Have a sales question? Email Ed at ed.schultek@sandler.com.
APRIL 2022 | HBRA of Fairfield County 31
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