Home buyers want Green

Why is its new “green” product working? Home buyers are attracted to houses that offer energy savings, affordability, and sensible design choices. For the past four years, the nation’s largest study of home design conducted by AVID Ratings confirms this fact. In 2010, the “AVID Home Design Driver Report” was released at the International Builders’ Show and outlined the results of its latest survey. Following the show, the study was reported by Market Watch and MSN, and became a headline news article on Yahoo’s front page, making it one of the most read articles in the U.S. that week.

The study surveyed over 11,335 homeowners throughout the U.S. who built a new home in the last nine years or purchased a newly constructed home within that same time period. Since these people lived in a newly constructed home, they had a higher probability of buying new construction again. So, we asked them to rate various home features as “if they were in the market to buy a newly constructed home.” The study identified six buyer segments: first-timers, move-ups, displaced (moving due to death, divorce, or work), empty-nesters, second homes, and custom home buyers. Each buyer was then asked to categorize various home features into one of the following: must have, really want, tradable, or eliminate.

For homeowners in the 2010 study, home energy-efficiency features outshone all else. The questions in this research study focused on a number of areas including both renewable materials and energy-efficient features. Overall, the energy-efficient features were the highest-rated home design elements of the study. When compared to renewable materials, it is evident that the renewable aspect of “green” has not yet penetrated consumer demand to the same degree as energy efficiency.

Builders today should recognize the clear advantage of new, energy-efficient homes over the resale market. For the first time in many decades, buyers recognize that today’s new homes are built with distinct advantages over yesterday’s homes. Houses that help pay for themselves through energy cost savings are a clear winner in the eyes of the consumer and offer an unprecedented opportunity for builders able to meet this growing demand. If you compare responses about green design features to the other types of home features asked about in this study, it is clear that home buyers want efficient products in their homes.

From Builder Online –  https://www.builderonline.com

The Construction Manager at risk

RMR’s Construction Manager at Risk delivery program is similar to our Agency based program with the added benefit of having the CM completely manage the entire project on-site.  At RMR we promote a non-adversarial management approach, combined with a strong advocacy for the owner’s interests.

This process allows a client to select a construction manager based on qualification; make the CM a member of a collaborative project team; centralize responsibility for construction under a single contract; obtain a guaranteed maximum price (GMP) proposal; produce a more manageable, predictable project; save time and money; and reduce risk for the client, the architect and the CM.

Unlike the many general contractors acting as construction managers in the industry, RMR believes it is bad practice for a CM to furnish construction labor or do any portion of the construction work while acting as an owner’s representative.  This leads to a perceived and real conflict of interest that undoubtedly does not serve the owners best interest. Following the Project Management Professional (PMP) standards, construction managers should solely be owners representatives as construction managers – not acting as CM’s with the inside tract to general contracting for profit.

When paired with a Negotiated Contract GMP program, the Owner is afforded all of the benefits as they would if the CM was a direct employee looking out for every detail and dollar on the project: full management, value engineering, competitive bidding and no risk to the Owner.  The CM is not only a collaborative member of the team, but a true employee of the owner acting in their best interest.

Similar to our Agent Program, we handle the following and more:

  • Permitting
  • At cost estimating & bid evaluation
  • Buyout and procurement
  • Value engineering
  • Contract management
  • Office management
  • Scheduling
  • Construction monitoring & inspections
  • Post construction services
  • Real estate investment and financing consultation

RMR Construction Manager as Agent

Under the standard Construction Manager as Agent delivery program, RMR Group acts as a first party manager to the owner and a third party manager of the construction process.  This delivery method utilizes an open book approach, where owners have access to all of our project documents and are made aware of aesthetic, schedule and cost trade-offs before making program and design decisions.  Owners have the opportunity to be involved at each stage of the process from pre-construction and trade contractor selection through construction and closeout.

As a CM as Agent, we are typically brought on board to help with projects where a contractor has not been selected or started the project.  We simply work as a direct arm and agent for the owner to verify and oversee all aspects of the project.  Our clients are primarily from out of town and/or a group of owners looking for a local representative with extensive construction knowledge who can look after and manage scope as well as the full program.

The team at RMR Group has the combined knowledge, experience and capacity to guide our clients’ projects from design to close-out and occupancy.  Our CM as Agent program is set up to provide the owner with the best support team available to get the most out of the construction process.

We accomplish this with project teams that are comprised of project management and site supervision professionals with support from our office management personnel: estimating, buyout/procurement, scheduling, design, and engineering with vertical & horizontal construction support. Our team can manage all aspects of the project including:

  • Permitting
  • At cost estimating & bid evaluation
  • Buyout and procurement – materials at cost
  • Value engineering
  • Contract management
  • Office management
  • Scheduling
  • Construction monitoring & inspections
  • Post construction services
  • Real estate investment and financing consultation

Our primary goal is to ensure that each member of the owner’s team of specialists collaborates in a manner that serves the owner’s overall interest.

The Owners Representative explained

In its basic form, the Construction Owners Representative is defined as a qualified third party who provides construction leadership for a defined scope.  As owner’s rep, RMR will work as an agent for the owner to provide consultation and oversight on the project.  The key to as unbiased approach in this position is the real and actual lack of financial gain from any aspect of the project.  To achieve the highest results, we typically have an administrative relationship with the architect/engineer and general contractor (or prime contractors), but a contractual relationship only with our owner client.

As owner’s representatives, we provide comprehensive management and coordination of all construction project activities. Our primary goal is to ensure that each member of the owner’s team of specialists collaborates in a manner that serves the owner’s overall interest. We monitor and coordinate the efforts of all members of the project team, enabling the owner to achieve maximum value for each dollar expended.

Our experienced staff applies leadership skills to plan and direct the project team toward success.  Our proactive approach encourages designers, contractors and vendors to work together to achieve the owner’s quality, cost and schedule objectives.  We strive for positive working relationships among the project team members, facilitating timely resolution of the problems and conflicts that are common in the design and construction process.

The three major Owner Management programs RMR Group provides are:

Did your contractor skip town with your $

When a project is in trouble, usually an outside party is brought in because the problems on the project are bigger than the current project manager realizes or can handle.  By definition, troubled projects have major problems. These problems sometimes include:

  • Financial concerns and non payment of sub trades
  • Over billing by the General or Prime Contractor
  • Difficulties in meeting milestones and/or completion deadlines
  • Failure in delivering anticipated benefits
  • Failure or unwillingness to allocate resources to the project
  • The project is consistently and/or significantly behind schedule
  • Significant and/or critical technical issues with the project

When called in to address a troubled project, RMR Group will review the work in progress, analyze past performance, review contract documents and solicit input from the client.  After a thorough analysis of the problems encountered, RMR can make recommendations with a detailed plan to get the project back on track.  If the project can be recovered, RMR generates critical path management (CPM) schedules; detailed, short interval work plans, equipment utilization planning, cash flow and budget projections, subcontractor requirements, and the financial remedies needed to support the project.  In short, we set up a full Project Management package similar to our Construction Manager as Agent delivery program.

Our highly skilled team works with clients to mitigate and resolve claims while supporting project progress. Unfortunately, not all projects are recoverable without addressing disputed issues. When projects cannot be turned around, or disputes not settled – RMR assists its clients with documentation and strategic planning for dispute resolution.