Alliance partner K. Hovnanian Homes® is one the top ten homebuilding companies in America, building single-family homes and condominiums in Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.
The relationship between K. Hovnanian and IBACOS began in 2003, when a company called Washington Homes built its first test house through a partnership with IBACOS and the Department of Energy’s Building America Program.
Washington Homes was later purchased by K. Hovnanian, and in 2008 K. Hovnanian decided to continue that partnership with IBACOS in order to explore opportunities for continuous improvement in the performance and energy efficiency of their homes. The builder produced four homes in their Virginia and Maryland divisions, all achieving a 42-45% level of energy savings over similar type homes built to meet late 1990’s code requirements. In 2009, K. Hovnanian participated in another Building America project with IBACOS, building a test house in Ontario, California that achieved 52% energy savings.
And just last month, K. Hovnanian broke ground on another Building America test home near Sacramento that will achieve a HERS of 45 and will be approximately 30% more efficient than a home constructed to meet the 2009 code requirements.
As a result of their experiences working with IBACOS on these projects, the company has committed to several changes in its standard home design, including higher efficiency gas furnaces and electric heat pumps, closed cell spray foam insulation at certain locations to enhance building air tightness, and greater levels of airtightness in their ductwork. K. Hovnanian now markets some of its homes as High Performance Homes, and they also recently began offering solar power as an option on homes in Jackson, New Jersey.
But it’s their focus on fostering trade partnerships that makes K. Hovnanian really stand out, said Building Performance Specialist Kevin Brozyna, who worked on 6 of the company’s 7 project homes.
“They’ve done an outstanding job of bringing their trades together,” he said.
In 2004, the company formed the Trade Partner Council (TPC), which includes representatives from most of its subcontractors, suppliers and manufacturers. The TPC provides a forum for trade collaboration, including discussions about new construction practices and products, code requirements and changes, industry trends, and business plans and opportunities.
The TPC 2010 Mission Statement says that “candid, constructive communication” between builder and trade partners is the key to success, and that the trade partners are committed to working together and with the builder “to identify business performance improvement opportunities and implement positive change to produce increased homeowner, Trade Partner, builder, and employee satisfaction.”
Kevin pointed out that K. Hovnanian also uses TPC meetings to provide seminars and training for its staff and trade partners, and that the trade partners themselves are responsible for managing the council.
“They’ve gotten the trades to take ownership of the council, which helps to promote engagement and allows them the flexibility to set the agenda according to the challenges and experiences they face in the field,” he said.
For more on K. Hovnanian Homes, visit their website.
K. Hovnanian's Ontario, California test home
