RESEARCH CAPACITY ASSESSMENT
NAHB
Research Center
Introduction
The
NAHB Research Center is the only full-service product
commercialization consulting company for the home building
industry. Its mission is to promote innovation in housing
technology to improve the quality, durability, affordability,
and environmental performance of homes and home building
products. What does this mean to builders and manufacturers?
We help drive innovative new building products into the
marketplace, to improve the quality and affordability
of housing.
Since its founding over 40 years ago, the NAHB Research
Center has realized that quality building products are
the first step to high-quality housing. The Research
Center ’s third-party testing and quality assurance
capabilities provide the industry with solutions that
optimize performance, reduce product failures, and improve
quality and customer satisfaction.
Created in 1964 as a subsidiary of the National Association
of Home Builders (NAHB), the NAHB Research Center has
established itself as the source for reliable, objective
information and research on housing construction and
development issues. The company’s unique relationship
with the housing industry, and the breadth of technical
expertise, provides an unrivaled depth of understanding
of the housing industry and access to its business leaders
to fulfill the industry’s research needs.
Our
Approach Sets Us Apart
The NAHB Research Center relies on four key resources
and our interdisciplinary team approach to provide flexibility
in its research capabilities.
- Technical Expertise
-- The
NAHB Research Center staff really knows the home
building industry. Its nearly 90 full-time employees
have specialties in all related disciplines—building,
remodeling, all types of engineering, architecture,
applied sciences, planning, land development, market
research, educational development, and communications.
- Full-Service ISO 17025 Accredited
Laboratory -- The Research Center offers a
full range of material and structural systems testing
services. Its headquarters includes a full-service,
accredited laboratory with a wide variety of testing
capabilities—from
stain resistance of countertop surfaces to compressive
strength of full-size walls with loads up to 400,000
pounds.
- Research Home Park
-- The Research Center is a builder, too—and
the company understands builders’ problems.
Just around the corner from its corporate headquarters
and laboratory is the NAHB National Research Center
Home Park , where, as a licensed builder in the state
of Maryland , the Research Center is able to put
its research results to the test in the real world
of home building.
- Strong Relationship with the
Industry -- The Research Center has access
to the business leaders and innovators of the home
building industry. As an independent affiliate
of NAHB, the company is in a unique position to
draw from the experiences of the 225,000 members
of NAHB and to involve those members in research
efforts across the country and around the world.
These resources have helped the NAHB Research Center
develop a strong core of research capabilities to respond
to the changing needs of the home building industry.
Research Capabilities
Areas of expertise for the NAHB Research Center include
the following:
- Engineering Services
- Engineering expertise—electrical, civil,
mechanical, energy, structural, materials
- Natural disaster damage assessment
- Building code & product standard development
- Building code consulting
- Performance/durability testing
- Building systems optimization
- Laboratory & Certification
Services
- IS0 17025 accredited product testing laboratory
- Accredited to conduct over 70 ASTM/ANSI tests,
including the following:
- Material properties testing
- Structural systems & component testing
- Building envelope testing
- Plastic plumbing fixtures testing
- PS2 testing for OSB
- ANSI ADA compliance testing
- Prescriptive guidelines development
- Product certification & listing
- Plastic plumbing products
- Insulation materials
- Third-party quality assurance certification
- Contractor quality management system certification
- Applied Market Research
- Proprietary & customized market research
- Focus groups and roundtables
- Domestic & international clients
- Syndicated Annual Builder & Consumer Practices
Surveys
- Qualitative & quantitative research
- Quality Assurance Consulting Services
- Founder of the National Housing Quality Program
- Quality assurance training & consulting
- National Housing Quality Award
- Industry roundtables on emerging issues
(e.g., insurance cost and availability)
- Land Use & Development
Research
- Thorough understanding of development process
from acquisition to finished lots
- Expertise in related areas:
- Low-impact development
- Resource-efficient development
- Green building practices
- Regulatory impediments to innovative development
techniques
- Home Building & Remodeling
- Field evaluations & national demonstrations
- Industry relationships
- Best practices assessment & promotion
- Licensed builder in state of Maryland
- National Research Center Home Park
- Condition Assessment & Master
Planning
- Residential inspection capabilities—neighborhood
conditions, environmental analysis, energy usage,
accessibility, interior & exterior structural
conditions
- Computer modeling of maintenance/modification
cost
Existing Programs
With these capabilities as the foundation, we have
developed the following programs:
- The National Housing Quality Program
- Annual Builder and Consumer Practices Surveys
- Product Certification and Labeling
- The National Center for Seniors’ Housing Research
- The National Center for Land Development Technologies
- U.S. Military Housing Assessment Program
- Product Development Research Program
Contact Information & Links
For more information on the NAHB Research Center ’s
activities, capabilities, and partnerships, visit www.nahbrc.org,
or call (800) 638-8556 .
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