The present prescriptive system for regulating housing construction is a primary barrier to innovation and limits competition both nationally and internationally. U.S. housing products, components, systems, and know-how have not been widely accepted in the global economy. The creation of a well conceived and functioning performance based standards system for the procurement and evaluation of housing will more readily allow for and should encourage the use of innovative designs, products and processes leading to improved quality, lower life-cycle costs of housing to consumers and increased competitiveness for U.S. companies. The need for a performance standards system for housing is a priority component of the Residential Sector Strategic Approach, a report prepared by the NAHB Research Center and aimed at meeting the National Construction Goals.
Research is required to develop better criteria and methods for evaluating performance.
A suite of industry supported, national and international housing performance standards. BFRL is supporting the development of a coordinated set of individual standard guides for each of the 16 attributes identified as relevant to the specification and evaluation of the performance of housing. The drafts of these standard guides will be prepared by individuals from BFRL, other government agencies, industry volunteers, consultants, and others as appropriate. The draft documents will be reviewed by leading industry participants and used to define specific areas of research necessary to better define the appropriate criteria and evaluation methods. Present research topics include structural safety and serviceability, indoor atmosphere, durability, and economics.