The Crowd:Home construction speaker enlightens group

He began his address by asking the audience how long a home should last in America. The gathering in the private dining room at Santa Ana Country Club was silent for a moment. Then, from one end of the room a man called out 30 years. Then another called out 50 years. Still another offered a home should last for at least 30 years, but in today’s world they tend to be remodeled or torn down after 15 or 20.

The speaker responded a well-built home should be built to last for at least 200 years. His name was Mark LaLiberte, a nationally recognized speaker in the field of home construction, and he had come to the Santa Ana Country Club at the invitation of local builder Matt White, representing W Custom Homes.

“But this is California,” called out yet another man in the audience that was filled to capacity with architects, designers and builders, primarily from the Newport-Mesa community but also from other parts of Southern California. “In California, nothing survives for 200 years. Well, almost nothing. Especially not residential construction. This is the land of ‘new is better, get rid of the old.’”

LaLiberte responded, telling the crowd “it doesn’t matter if the homeowner wants to tear down or remodel after two years, it is the job of the builder to create a structure that is both lasting, substantial, environmentally sound, and worthy of the investment made by the homeowner.”

The some 100 professionals in the audience were on the edge of their seats. This normally seasoned and crusty crowd of men, used to wheeling and dealing in the home construction field, listened with rapt attention as LaLiberte advised them the future of home construction is “green.” He said, “We need to build great buildings that happen to be called green. The current terminology is to label these homes high-performance residences.

“Buildings must be efficient, durable, safe, healthy and affordable.” And he quoted Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in stating the California construction industry must lead the way for the nation.

Guests in the audience included Phil Hove of Hove Design Alliance, Don Jacobs of JZMK Partners, Richard Krantz of Richard Krantz Architecture, D.J. Farley of Weatherization Partners, Steve Dort of W Custom Homes, Josiah Fredriksen and Kevin Kelly, also of W Custom Homes.

LaLiberte came full circle, grabbing the attention of the crowd and making the point that green construction was not just about satisfying the needs of the client, and not just about adhering to environmentally sound principles, but also about creating greater profit for the building industry by reducing risk and increasing the value of the product through improved customer satisfaction.

He went on to state that in the Newport-Mesa market, with its very high entry-level price, $500,000 is still a great deal of money.

“A half a million dollars is a major investment for the majority of people in America. And while it may not be enough money to own a home in this region, it is beyond top dollar for most Americans. In other markets, $500,000 must buy an exceptional home.”

Following the luncheon at Santa Ana, the group traveled to Shady Canyon in Irvine for an on-site tour led by White and LaLiberte, of a project presently under construction by W Custom Homes. The architects, builders and designers were taken on a phase-by-phase tour illustrating some of the very latest building techniques and practices in play to create a better home.

LaLiberte waxed philosophic, “Building green is the right thing to do for the country and, indeed, for the world. The U.S. represents 5% of the world’s population and uses 25% of the world’s energy.”

To learn more about W Custom Homes, call Matt White at (714) 434-4371 or visit www.WCustom.com.