In 2005, concrete homes accounted for 17.9% of all new single-family detached homes, up from 16.3% in 2004, according to recent research from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and Portland Cement Association. “More than one out of every six new houses built last year utilized an above-grade concrete building system,” says Craig Schulz, market research director for PCA. The numbers, compiled from NAHB Research Center’s Builder Practices Survey and a number of industry tracking reports, show that concrete masonry gained almost 2% in 2005.

The different concrete wall systems comprising the 17.9% share are:

• Masonry—Concrete masonry units form the basic structure of the home.


• Insulating concrete forms—ICFs blocks or panels of polystyrene create stay-in-place forms for fresh concrete.


• Removable concrete forms—Forms, typically aluminum, are filled with concrete to create walls, and then removed once the concrete hardens.


• Precast panels—Walls are cast off-site, then assembled in large sections at the job site.


• Autoclaved aerated concrete—AAC lightweight units or panels are mortared together to build fire-resistant, well insulated walls.

Reconstruction is Key to Current Growth

In recent years, American homeowners were subjected to some of the most severe natural disasters the U.S. has ever experienced. Thousands of homes were destroyed by hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods. When it came time to rebuild, homeowners increasingly chose the one building material that offered the best value: durability, energy efficiency, and protection from storms, floods, and fires—concrete. And new concrete homes offer another lesser-known benefit: Insurance premiums are often 15% to 25% lower than for wood frame homes owing to concrete’s strength and durability.

Despite Housing Drop, Cement Intensity Increases Expected to Soften Decrease in Cement Consumption

The PCA fall 2006 forecast does not expect the sharp decline in housing to continue at the current rate. PCA’s Chief Economist Edward Sullivan says the recent downward change in the housing market was driven by the departure of speculators from the market. Their exit will actually help introduce a correction to housing prices and improve affordability for the average homebuyer.

According to Sullivan, the decline in the housing industry and softer overall economic conditions are flattening the cement market, but he believes "code changes in hurricane-prone regions, improved concrete products, and concrete’s growth as a 'green' building material will all contribute to 2% increased cement intensities (forecast) in 2007, despite the decrease in construction activity."

Cement consumption trend. Source: PCA’s U.S. Monitor, October 2006.

Robert Sitter, Executive Director of the Florida Concrete and Products Association, has seen considerable market share gains in the last 5 years. “Through the third quarter of 2005, we estimated 86% of all homes in this state were built with concrete masonry. Five years prior, that number was only 56%,” he says. Homes built with other concrete products, such as ICFs or removable forms, were estimated at 3%–4%.

He adds, “2005 was the best year in our history. We had a lot of pent-up demand, due to a lot of bad weather and a cement shortage in 2004. A lot of older, wood-frame homes were damaged in the four hurricanes of 2004, and those homes were replaced with concrete homes.”

Sitter expects 2006 to be another good year. “While the overall market has contracted some, we’re getting a greater share of what is being built. And that’s true of both single family and multi-family.” A lot of that progress is due to the $1.4 million radio and television ad campaign for the Web site. Traffic on the site has doubled since the campaign started. Sitter concludes, “We wanted to turn the volume up in this down market, and we think it’s working.”

Additional resources:

PCA’s Residential Web site
NAHB’s Concrete Home Building Council

 
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