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October 8, 2007
Got them Dade County Blues...
I first heard of the Dade County Blues last year while chatting with a couple distributors from Florida. These gents explained to me that the Miami-Dade County Building Code Compliance Office requires that every product to be used in new home construction be put through a rigorous screening process before it can be approved for use on the house.
The reason, I was told, was to make sure that everything built in that region could withstand the all too common problem of hurricanes. This means all roofing materials, windows, siding, heck the whole shooting match, had to be tested and verified by the M-DCBCCO (fit that on a baseball cap) before it could legally be sold and installed.
As told to me, the process of approval is expensive, time consuming, and, in their opinion, a big pain in the neck. Some of the loose unsubstantiated figures they were throwing around made it seem like any new product like the latest low-e window or new and improved shingle would cost tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars to get tested, documented and finally approved.
I checked out the product approval process and then breezed through the flow-chart and have to admit, it looks a bit complicated.
But I have to applaud the intent. In the end it is the community that also suffers if the houses built in the "danger zone" can't stand up to the inevitable whimsy of Mother Nature.
The idea got me thinking.
As we hear more and more about the "tipping point" of climate change and also wrestle with domestic energy demands complicated by foreign resources, how long will it be before a Dade-style approval process will be required for all products in home building? But instead of building to withstand hurricanes, what if every piece of the house had to be green?
Considering how much energy and natural resources a home uses during its life cycle, will we really be surprised if such demands on efficiency and sustainable building start to come down the pike in the next few years? How long before home buyers, municipalities, and the Federal government demand that all new homes and all of their components be:
-- Sustainable in nature
-- Carbon neutral
-- Domestically produced
Those working under Dade County type code stipulations might have some insight on how that would feel. But what about the other builders, distributors, and trades who don't build in such scrutinized environments? Could you handle a whole new layer of building code that covered products as well as design?
Posted by Andrew Hunt at October 8, 2007 11:27 AM
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Comments
THIS IS A DILEMA FOR MOST, BUT IN MY OPINION THIS
IS WHERE THE STEEL COMES INTO PLACE.AS A GENERAL CONTRACTOR I HAVE SPENT THE LAST FOUR YEARS TRYING TO FIND A SOLUTION TO THE HIGH WIND, WATER, INSECT INFESTATION AND GREEN ISSUE. WHAT I HAVE DECIDED ON USING IS THE FOAM PANEL SYSTEM,
IT IS THE NEXT GENERATION IN BUILDING. I HAVE DONE A LOT OF RESEARCH ON THE COMPANIES THAT PROVIDE THIS PRODUCT AND MY PREFERENCE IS THERMASTEEL. I JUST FINISHED AN 9K SF CHURCH IN THIS MATERIAL AND I AM COMPLETELY TAKEN ABACK BY THE STRUCTURAL RIGIDITY OF THIS BUILDING NOT TO MENTION THE THE THERMAL CHARACTISTICS. NO WONDER THIS PRODUCT IS ALREADY DADE COUNTY APPROVED. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CONTACT ME TJWRIGHT40@YAHOO.COM
Posted by: T J WRIGHT at October 9, 2007 8:24 PM
It's not only Dade county in Florida. All wind susceptable products have to pass the muster in all of Florida. Although Dade and the higher wind zones are the most stringent. Personally I think it's a good thing. Being very conscious of quality, I think the installation requirement that these products are tested at only do good for the owner and the designer and builder.
I like your comment about hopefully products will be "domestically produced". I think we've gone too far in all the imported goods. Just look at the steel problems the Metal Building Institute transmitted recently. Faulty China steel and the California schools.
Posted by: Pete Hetherman at October 10, 2007 8:17 AM
As a Miami native now relocated to Tennessee, there are many changes that the Hurricanes have forced building materials, practices and procedures to be reevaluated. Really many of the problems with pre Andrew construction was not so much in the design and materials of residential construction, but in faulty installation and workmanship. I had 4 nails per 4 x 8 plywood on my roof. However the heartache of the storms have forced better building practices and now newer materials can and will improve the safety of the homes. Now I am building in Tennessee and have found a whole new ball game .
Posted by: David Passmore at October 13, 2007 11:12 AM
Now if we could get the state to mandate windows with Energy Star qualification for the Florida zone, we could make some real headway in reducing energy consumption. Currently, only 52% of the windows sold into new homes in the U.S. have Energy Star Qualified windows.
Posted by: Randy at December 30, 2007 2:58 PM
