2009 CFA Media Coverage

Sustainable Home of the Year - New!
Achieving a LEED platinum rating, the highest level, for a home means doing everything feasible to make it energy efficient and sustainable. For the Gallo residence in Minneapolis, which the owners named 5ive, that included concrete sandwich panel walls.

Below the Grade: Energy-Efficient Concrete Homes
All but the most ardent skeptics agree that climate change is occurring. Although the ramifications and causes are debatable, nearly everyone agrees that man-produced CO2 is a major contributor to climate change and global warming. It is a fact that the operation of residential buildings in the U.S. comprises 21% of our energy consumption. Other statistics are even more convincing. We must do more to reduce energy consumption, and thereby CO2 contributions, in our homes and buildings.

A Concrete Insulation Sandwich
CFA MEMBER: Very few concrete projects are challenge free. Kelder LLC of Scottville, Mich., recently completed a project that posed two challenges: building energy efficient, environmentally friendly walls and building one of those walls into a hill.

CFA Project of the Year Awards
In 1999, the Concrete Foundations Association (CFA) started its "Basement of the Year" awards to recognize contractors and projects in the residential concrete foundation business. In 2008, the award was changed to "Project of the Year" to recognize more than one contractor and include not only residential foundations but commercial and above-grade projects as well.

Reinventing Residential
In 2006, ABI Corp. was enjoying a busy residential market. With the five-county Kansas City, Mo., area seeing 13,000 housing starts that year, the ABI Corp. crews were installing six basements a day and the company was offering commercial work solely on request to existing clients. Fast forward two years and the story changes dramatically - 3,200 housing starts in 2008 and the ABI Corp. crews down to one basement a day. The game had changed, and ABI Corp knew it had to change, too.

Hit the Deck!
If you are a foundation contractor, one way to secure more work in this down economy, and into the future, is to do more work on the contracts you have. Your men are on the job, your equipment is there, the concrete pump is there—but you only cast the foundation walls and footings. Some of you have made the jump to abovegrade concrete housing and most of you have at least contemplated it. If you aren't quite ready to jump in with both feet, why not go part way—cast the deck (the main floor of the house) in concrete. You might not be able to increase the number of your projects this year but you can increase your gross sales. One contractor who has built several decks said concrete decks cost around 30% more than a traditional wood deck. So why would an owner spend more to get a deck and what is in it for you?

Pulte Homes agrees to buy Centex in $1.3B deal
Pulte Homes Inc. has agreed to buy Centex Corporation in a deal that will create the nation's largest homebuilder.

Residential Foundation Contractor Certification
The Concrete Foundations Association (CFA) recently unveiled its Residential Foundation Contractor Certification program. The program has been under development for nearly three years and its debut provides a measure of the experience, competence, and knowledge of companies involved in the residential foundation industry. The program is a company certification program but involves individual benchmarks in order for the company to be granted certification status. The program is open to all residential foundation contractors. After evaluation of the submitted information, a recommendation for approval or denial is provided by a third party. Approval is valid for a period of one year providing insurance and other stipulation requirements are maintained.

Harold Webster Smith award winner provides a sturdy foundation for firm
Mulready, 52, is one of the three small business owners in the region who will be honored Thursday at the 12th annual Harold Webster Smith Awards Breakfast. Mulready will be honored as Entrepreneur of the Year, while Beacon Falls Pharmacy will be recognized as Small Business of the Year and Traver IDC will receive the Manufacturer of the Year award. The winners, who were selected by the Waterbury Regional Chamber's Small Business Council, will be feted at the annual breakfast at 8 a.m. at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Southbury. CBJ Foundations is a 13-year-old concrete construction company that pours footings, walls and floors for new homes, additions, barns, garages and small commercial buildings. Mulready, who has been pouring concrete on either a full- or part-time basis for the past 35 years, launched the company in June 1995 with $30,000 she borrowed from her sister, June Stronk of Westbrook.

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