Cohousing-L Mailing List: Standardization (fwd)

[Cohousing-L listmgr (fholson]

Sherri Zann Rosenthal  Eno Commons CoHousing 
Durham, NC    enocommons [at] compuserve.com  
is the author of the message below but due to a problem it was posted 
by the Fred the list manager: owner-cohousing-L [at] cohousing.org
It was written  Tue, 25 Feb 1997


There have been questions about whether standardized designs save money. I
can answer that it unequivocably does, IF the right conditions exist. Eno
Commons just got back bids from four handpicked builders. At least two of
the builders told us that to build a single home like our smaller design
would cost at least $90 - 100 / sq. ft. The bid from our chosen builder
came in at a bit under $63.00 / sq. ft. That's a huge savings!

Here are the elements I think are needed to reap these savings:
*A 'production' builder, someone building about 100 homes a year, who buys
materials much cheaper than a more 'custom' builder producing about 10-15
homes a year. 
*The project must be structured in a way that makes sense for a production
builder. Many production builders will want to locate in a subdivision and
build about 20 units over a 12 month span. 
*The designs should be standardized, using the same materials and
construction techniques in each model if there is more than one model.

Here's how Eno Commons worked it. As developer, I hired an architecture
firm to work with the member group and develop two Eno Commons' passive
solar designs. A fairly structured participatory design process was used in
which the members came to concensus on the goals, and prioritization of
those goals, for each design prior to any 'design' work being begun.
Because Eno Commons is a "lot sale" model, the members will contract
directly with the builder for their home. A construction loan that rolls
over into a permanent mortgage will be used by each member, which is a
common format for home construction lending.

Early in the project, I started building a "no customization" group culture
by explaining (over and over) that in order to gain the economies of labor
and materials that were possible, until we had a builder on board, we
should assume zero customization except for finish material color choices.
Holding the line on expectations of individual choice was very difficult,
especially because the architects were oriented toward always saying "yes"
to members when the group wanted to punt on hard design choices by letting
individuals choose their own way.

A relief valve is that we allow anyone to build completely custom homes, so
long as their plans are approved by the members Architecture Committee.

The designs our group and architects came up with are pretty great: passive
solar, extremely space efficient, and each includes space that can be built
out in the future, rather than at initial construction. 

In community,
Sherri Zann Rosenthal
for Eno Commons CoHousing
Durham, NC                      enocommons [at] compuserve.com
Where the bulldozers are revving up, and the beautiful Indigo Bunting birds
in our meadow just heard that our street has been named in their honor:
Indigo Lane. Still nine lots available, each one a beauty...