4/14/2006 4:00:00 AM The new face of home building Construction steps into the 21st century
By JASON SOIFER The Daily Courier
PRESCOTT The changing face of home building is visible in Bruce Roscoe's sunglasses.
Roscoe, director of sales and marketing with Entek Enterprises LLC, stood just a few feet away from a home construction site that is the antithesis of traditional stick-built homes.
The roughly 4,300-square-foot, two-story home in the Yavapai Hills subdivision has Styrofoam and steel walls.
"We use as little wood as we can on this whole project," he said.
Roscoe is quick to point out that the Styrofoam and steel walls cut down on termite troubles and receive a treatment to prevent fire and insect problems.
"They (termites) don't like Styrofoam and they don't chew into tubular steel," he said.
Roscoe explained that the manufacturer produces the walls in Hillside with a half-inch-thick piece of wood on the top of the walls where the walls meet the roof, and the walls go up in about a day.
"This is considered a site-built home," he said. "It's an extremely efficient home."
Roscoe said the homes cost about 3 percent more than stick-built homes. He explained that the homes are far more energy-efficient, and their heating and air conditioning costs are an estimated 60 percent to 70 percent less than traditional stick-built homes.
Roscoe said the foam and steel homes Entek builds last much longer and don't require the upkeep and maintenance a stick-built home does.
Ethan Edwards, executive director of the Yavapai County Contractors Association (YCCA), said there are other businesses locally that provide structural insulated panels building panels of rigid foam sandwiched between two structural skins of strand board, steel or other surface types.
Edwards said he expects more homes with this type of construction in the future.
"As contractors and building inspectors get more comfortable with the product, I would imagine that we would see more and more people installing that product," he said. "There are some design limitations with these products, but as architects and contractors get more comfortable with it, the design limitations become design specifications."
He said more people are asking about this product. "We are receiving an increasing number of inquiries into the YCCA office about this and similar products," he said. "It's just going to become a real popular product."
Jeff Zucker, architect for the home, said the foam-and-steel home is energy-efficient, resource-appropriate and has "really good" insulation and acoustics.
Zucker said it is a good alternative for affordable housing, and homeowners stand to save on their utility bills.
"Their energy bills are going to be really, really low," he said.
Gilbert Phelps, president of Alpha Construction, the general contractor of the home, said this is the first steel and foam home on which he has worked .
Phelps, vice president of the YCCA, echoed Zucker's sentiment about the drop in utility bills and is impressed with the home.
"I really like it, it's going together real well," he said. "The homeowner is definitely going to benefit from having this kind of system."
For more information, visit www.entekenterprises.com or call 778-0548.
