The Concrete Homes Council, a part of the Concrete Foundations Association, held its first regular meeting on May 24th in Kansas City, Missouri. Representative of form manufacturers as well as PCA, Hanley-Wood, CFA contractors and other interested parties attended.

The primary function of the CHC (Concrete Homes Council) is the promotion of concrete homes using removable or reusable forming systems. All funds raised by the group will go exclusively to marketing and promotion activities. Basic expenses such as telephone, office space, etc. will be handled using existing Concrete Foundations Association staff and facilities.

The afternoon of the 23rd was spent touring several concrete homes and buildings under construction as well as a completed home and the manufacturing facilities of Wall Ties & Forms and Western Forms. The meeting focused on formative issues such as goal setting, committee staffing, initial marketing efforts, target markets, and planning.

The following committees were formed: Marketing, Technical, Fund Raising, Education, Government Relations, and Statistics. Carl Engelken of Wall Ties and Forms is the chair of the Concrete Homes Council and Ron Ward of Western Forms chairs the fund raising committee. Joe Nasvik of Hanley-Wood and Ed Sauter of the CFA will serve as staff members and contacts.

Committee membership classifications were also discussed. Four levels of membership were established. They are:

• System Suppiers (forming systems, equipment, concrete placement)
• Builder/Developer Members (real estate companies, developers)
• Contractor Members (builders and installers)
• Material Suppliers (cement, ready-mix, chemicals, reinforcement, insulation, shippers)

Council members must be members of the CFA in order to participate in the CHC. The cost of membership was set at $10,000 for System Suppliers; $1,000 for Builder/Developers; $1,000 for Contractor Members. The cost for Material Supplier members was still under consideration. Over $35,000 was pledged by those in attendance at the meeting and over $60,000 has now been raised. This will go a long way towards meeting the marketing budget goal for the first year of operation.

The CHC voted to hire Wendy Shannon of Shannon and Company to develop a two-phase marketing plan for the first year. The plan would be based on a budgets of $50,000 and $100,000 and would include development of a brochure, web site, media kits and events, logo development, and articles for placement in publications. Ms. Shannon has produced several concrete homes brochures for contractor and manufactures of concrete homes.

The potential for above grade concrete housing in tremendous. Only recently has the public began to accept it for the value it provides. Approximately 6,300 concrete homes (non-ICF's) will be constructed in 2001 and those numbers are expected to grow to at least 12,000 by 2003. The excitement generated by this potential was evident by the unselfish enthusiasm displayed by those in attendance. Everyone had the feeling that we were on the verge of something that could change our industry, and the housing industry, forever.

The next meeting of the CHC is scheduled for Thursday, July 26th, the day before the CFA Summer meeting. A two-hour presentation on above grade housing has been scheduled for the CFA Summer meeting in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Come to Niagara to learn more about concrete housing.

The telephone for the CHC is 319-895-0761. You can also reach the office by calling the CFA toll free line at 866-232-9255.