Media Contacts:
Dr. David C. Tilotta, Dept. of Wood and Paper Science, 919/515-5579
Tilla Fearn, College of Natural Resources, 919/513-4644
Paul K. Mueller, News Services, 919/515-3470

Feb. 12, 2004

“American Home @ NC State” Will Benefit Buyers & Builders

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Imagine the ideal home: strongly built, affordable, energy-efficient, environmentally sensible and incorporating every “best practice” known to builders, plumbers, electricians, and other contractors. A version of that American home, a showcase of housing technology and ideas, will be built this year on North Carolina State University’s Centennial Campus, itself a showcase of innovation and enterprise.

The American Home @ NC State – a collaboration among NC State colleges, federal and state agencies, builders, suppliers, manufacturers, financial institutions and insurance companies – will encourage research, education and extension activities in advanced and affordable housing, with benefits for homeowners across North Carolina.

According to Dr. David Tilotta, project director and associate professor in NC State’s Department of Wood and Paper Science, the American Home @ NC State will function as an ongoing classroom of better-building practices and technology. “This facility will be an education and research laboratory for housing,” he says, “and will showcase industry and university innovations.”

The initial showcase home will be followed by a larger multipurpose building – also featuring wood construction and innovative furnishings – and eventually a “neighborhood” of specialty homes representing NC State research specialties such as textiles, design and engineering. Work on the first structure should be complete by late this year or early 2005.

The housing industry in North Carolina, Tilotta says, is a multibillion-dollar business, with more than three million existing homes, and housing starts increasing each month. “The American Home @ NC State will be both a test-bed and a show place for current and next-generation housing,” he said, “as well as a resource for the home-owning, home-improving and home-building public.”

Among the features of the modest-sized house will be flexible “science museum” exhibits; some Plexiglass walls that show different construction techniques; design choices that emphasize accessibility for the handicapped and the elderly; “envelope-pushing” technology; economical heating and cooling systems; environmentally sensible landscaping that boosts energy efficiency and reduces water use; and building methods and materials that balance affordability with maintainability and aesthetic appeal.

The American Home @ NC State will be framed in wood, says Tilotta, and use many wood-based products because of that resource’s importance to the North Carolina economy, and because most new homes continue to use wood-frame construction. The National Association of Home Builders estimates that the average American home contains more than 13,000 board feet of framing lumber, more than 6,200 square feet of sheathing and 2,300 square feet of exterior siding.

Dr. Michael J. Kocurek, head of NC State’s Department of Wood and Paper Science, emphasizes his department’s support for the project. “Because this area is so important to North Carolinians and the wood-using industries, our entire wood-products program will emphasize this initiative,” he said.

“Wood and wood-based products offer durability, affordability, flexibility and sustainability,” says Tilotta. “It’s a smart choice for the American Home.”

Also smart, says Dr. Larry Nielsen, dean of the College of Natural Resources at NC State, is the collaborative effort the American Home represents. “While our college is leading this project, we realize that a house incorporates many of the university’s research areas and skills,” he said. “The American Home @ NC State will benefit from the expertise of the College of Engineering, the College of Design, the College of Textiles, the College of Management, the NC Solar Center, the Department of Plant Pathology and other campus groups.”

Industry groups and government agencies will also be involved, Tilotta said. The Forest Products Laboratory of the USDA Forest Service, the North Carolina Homebuilders Association, the Advanced Energy Corp in Raleigh, and North Carolina insurance agencies are among the American Home partners.

The choice of Centennial Campus as a site for the American Home is appropriate, Nielsen said, because the thriving “technology park” is home to other enterprises focused on innovation, economic development and university-industry-government partnerships.
“We envision tours for contractors, builders, engineers, electricians, plumbers and heating-and-air-conditioning firms,” he said, “in addition to school children and the general public. We’ll conduct classes, on-site workshops and demonstrations, and engage in the kind of outreach that’s part of NC State’s land-grant mission.”

Tilotta says the American Home @ NC State will be used for research into issues every homeowner faces: mold and mildew, moisture flow and intrusion, termite and pest control, structural integrity, hurricane and flood recovery, construction techniques, product testing and operating and lifecycle costs.

“We’re doing this at the right time, too,” says Tilotta. “There are similar projects, such as the Forest Products Lab’s Madison House in Wisconsin, and the LifeWise Home in Maryland, that prove the concept and the need.”

In addition, NC State is a member of the national Coalition for Advanced Housing and Forest Products Research, a research extension arm of the Advanced House Research Center at the Forest Products Lab in Madison. “The American Home will be part of the Forest Products Lab’s national effort to develop such facilities,” said Tilotta. “After the home is completed, it will be linked to the Madison House so that our combined research can be integrated into that national effort to improve housing in America.”

Other evidence that the American Home has sound foundations includes the formation in 2000 of the National Science Foundation’s Partnerships for Advancing Technology in Housing (PATH) funding program; and this year’s inclusion of a new “Wood Housing Construction Initiative” in the Department of Energy’s Agenda 2020 program.

“The people of North Carolina should have advanced and affordable housing,” says Tilotta. “The American Home @ NC State will help accomplish that goal.”

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