An energy-saving building technology embraced by a local builder can be explained in terms even a toddler understands.
Think sandwiches and Legos.
Gary Freytag, construction manager at Omega Builders in Temple, said hollow blocks made out of a product similar to Styrofoam are assembled and locked together on the home’s concrete slab. Workers then fill the inside with cement, which completes the concrete sandwich.
“We use 2-foot long sections. You stack them up almost like Lego blocks. You fill it full of concrete and you are done,” Freytag said.
After the Legos are stacked and the concrete sandwich has been poured, workers cover the exterior walls with two layers of plaster that resemble a stucco exterior.
Home building professionals call the technology insulating concrete foam, or ICF. They say it is mold and termite free because traditional 2-by-4 studs and other wood products are not used. The “high-performance concrete walls” are also more energy efficient - concrete and foam make insulate better than wood, bricks and stone.
ICF homes are also more likely to withstand tornadoes, Freytag said. And the rock-solid walls make a quieter home, muffling the sounds of traffic and barking dogs. ICF can also be used on first floor ceilings of two-story homes, which creates an almost soundproof barrier between floors.
Freytag said although an ICF house costs between 5 and 10 percent more than a traditional home, the residence should carry a higher resale value.
Regarding a real-life example of ICF technology at work, Omega design consultant Rachel White likes to tell this story.
One day last summer, she stopped by the ICF home Omega had almost finished in the Villas of Lakewood, near Morgan’s Point. Workers were taking a break, sitting in the living room on plastic buckets. They explained how nice it felt inside the air-conditioned home. What they didn’t know - the A/C wasn’t operational, Ms. White said.
Omega’s emphasis on energy-efficient homes - called SuperStar Energy Homes - isn’t confined to just what’s between the walls. There’s more above them.
Up in the attic, they recommend foregoing that itchy, pink Fiberglas insulation that comes in long sheets or can be sprayed in bulk that rests between ceiling joists. Instead, they use a spray-on foam that sticks like a blanket to the underside of the roof.
Ms. White said the insulation looks like clouds.
Daren Degner, co-owner of DEK Insulation in Lorena, said he’s sprayed several homes for Omega.
“Foam is the future - no doubt about it,” Degner said. “I can’t say it’s new, but the last five years people are really looking into it.”
Degner said with all other building components identical except foam insulation, electric bills should be significantly less. Although foam insulation costs between two and three times more than Fiberglas, Degner said a homeowner can recover the costs in lower utility bills, depending on the size of the home, in about three to four years.
Omega was so eager to champion both the ICF and foam insulation technology that the company built its new office on FM 2305 with it.
Thursday, with the bank thermometer next door registering 39 degrees Fahrenheit, the inside temperature in the attic above the storeroom was a balmy 66 degrees.
“There is no air infiltration whatsoever,” Freytag said.
Combining both building methods - the Lego sandwiches and cloud-like foam insulation - Freytag said it won’t take a homeowner long to recover the initial investment.
Home sales hold steady in Temple
Published January 20, 2008
TELEGRAM MANAGING EDITOR
The alarm sounded by news outlets across the nation about dramatically dropping home prices should fall on deaf ears in this part of Texas, according to experts.
They see a continuing strong market in Bell County in general and in Temple in particular, with no dip in sight.
Their observations are backed up by a just-released report from The PMI Group Inc., an international mortgage insurance company.
The report includes the PMI U.S. Market Risk Index, an estimate of the probability that home prices in specific metropolitan areas will be lower two years from now than they are today.
Bell County and Temple fall in the least risky category, along with other metro areas in Texas.
That, of course, is not the trend for housing prices on the coasts, where home prices have tanked and bankruptcies and foreclosures have soared.
Twenty-one of the nation’s 50 largest metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) moved into higher risk categories on the PMI index in the new report. None moved toward less risk that home prices will drop.
The areas with higher increased risk were in Florida, California, Nevada and Arizona, but also in the Rust Belt of the upper Midwest.
“This really confirms what we’re thinking,” said Terri Covington, president of the Temple-Belton Board of Realtors. “People see on TV or read the national news and assume it applies to the whole nation, but our general area has remained fairly positive.”
More troops headed to Fort Hood
Posted on: Thursday, December 20, 2007
by Kevin M. Smith - Killeen Daily Herald Staff Writer -
FORT HOOD – The Army's largest post will get even bigger as a net gain of more than 3,000 soldiers is expected over the next three years, Brig. Gen. Frederick Rudesheim said Wednesday.
The U.S. Army announced Wednesday afternoon that it plans to increase the number of active-duty, Army National Guard and Army Reserve soldiers by 74,000 overall, with the active-duty force growing by 65,000 to a total of 547,000.
"This is good news for Fort Hood and our neighboring communities," Rudesheim, installation commander, said during a news conference.
By 2011, Fort Hood will be at near-maximum capacity and operating at its optimum level, Rudesheim said.
U.S. Rep. John Carter, R-Round Rock, said in a news release that the exact number will be 3,273 new soldiers and Defense Department civilians, bringing Fort Hood's total population to 49,632 by the end of 2011.
Toyota to open Temple facility
by Robert Stinson
Reprinted With Permission From The Temple Daily Telegram - November 16, 2007
City officials announced that a Toyota and Scion vehicle-processing center will be built in Temple’s Rail Park at Central Pointe, bringing in a $50 million investment and initially employing at least 240 people.
The announcement came prior to the city council meeting Thursday at the Municipal Building. During the meeting the council approved conveyance of a 317-acre tract to the company for the plant as part of negotiations.
According to city officials, Gulf States Toyota, based in Houston, will invest at least $50 million in phase one of the new facility, which will serve as a centralized location for receiving, accessorizing and distributing Toyota and Scion vehicles in the five-state Gulf States Toyota region composed of Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Mississippi.
“This is a fabulous day in the city of Temple, Texas,” Temple Mayor Bill Jones III said in making the announcement.
“A lot of people have worked very hard for a number of months to bring this project to fruition,” Jones said, singling out Temple Economic Develo-pment Corporation, Reinvest-ment Zone Number One and city staff members.
“It’s a premier example of what ‘team Temple’ is all about,” he said.
Gary Cole, director of transformation integration at the private Houston company, said the company would build a modern facility that will process thousands of cars in its first year.
The timeline calls for master planning to begin in early 2008, with groundbreaking in 2009. The center would be completed and in operation in 2011.
“The facility we will be building here will be a state-of-the-art facility with a start-up associate number of 250,” he said. “We will be processing and accessorizing about 100,000 vehicles in that first year and that will grow to many more over the years.”
Company officials said the center would be phase one of a project that could eventually double in size. The first phase of the project will consist of a 100-acre site holding 230,000 square feet of buildings. The center will be the second one in the Gulf States company.
According to Michael Owen, vice president for vehicle processing with Gulf States, the company expects the Temple plant to eventually be bigger than the center in Houston, which employs about 600 people and is undergoing expansion.
All of the Gulf States officials and Temple city officials agreed that the presence of rail service in the city’s industrial zone and the efforts the city and the TEDC and the reinvestment zone have put into building up “shovel-ready” sites in the industrial area were key to the company’s decision to locate in Temple.
“We looked at 20 different cities,” Owen said. “What sealed the deal,” he said, “Was that Temple had a total responsibility solution. Rail. They had the physical ground. They had the infrastructure and potential employees,” he said. “Rail is absolutely key. It is the essence of our business.”
He said all of the vehicles brought to Temple for work would arrive by train. The site is served by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe main rail yard.
Lee Peterson, president of the Temple Economic Development Corporation, agreed that rail service to the area was key to the deal.
“Most of the negotiations revolved around the infrastructure, what it was going to be and when it was going to be in place,” he said. “We are putting major infrastructure there for them to be able to use on that site… so it was very important to them how it all lays out,” he added. “It’s just a wonderful opportunity for Temple,” he said. “These guys are great corporate citizens. They will be involved in the community in many, many ways.”
Omega Builders Enter Nolanville Market
Omega Community Builders has aquired an interest in the upscale community of Bella Charca in Nolanville, Texas. Company president, Jim Howe, said that "Bella Charca offers our homebuilding company, Omega Builders, an opportunity to geographically diversify into west Bell County, something we've been interested in for a long time."
Phase I of Bella Charca features homes constructed by some of the areas finest home builders. Omega Builders will enter the custom building market while continuing to make lots available to area builders and individuals, for homes in the $300,000 - $500,000 price range.
A master plan is being developed for the remaing 200 undeveloped acres of beautiful, wooded, rolling hills of Bella Charca.
FIGURES SHOW NO ECONOMIC SLUMP IN AREA
by Laura Frase
Reprinted With Permission From The Temple Daily Telegram - November 4, 2007
As residents across the nation struggle to deal with a housing slump, inflated prices and a slow job market, Central Texans seem to be largely avoiding such economic problems.
Over the last three quarters, the region has recorded positive numbers in the the housing market, unemployment rates and even retail sales. Jonathan Scott, marketing director for the Temple Economic Development Corporation, had just one word for Temple’s economy: “Outstanding.”
“There’s a solid job market, professional leadership, stable economy, medical. It’s got all the right ingredients for stable and continued growth,” he said.
“We have access within two to three hours of 18 million people,” Scott said.
One major difference here, too, is growth in the housing market.
“If you look in this area, homes are still being built and sold,” said Dr. Paul Stock, University of Mary Hardin-Baylor assistant professor of economics. “Even though there’s a housing slump, it hasn’t seemed to affect Texas.”
And it hasn’t hurt Bell County, either.
“Central Texas is still doing very, very well,” said Ryan Hodge, president of the Temple-Belton Board of Realtors. “When you look at the nation, it’s kind of doom and gloom.”
Realtors in the Temple-Belton area sold nearly 20 more houses in July this year than they did last July, and Hodge said he hopes the trend will continue. “Two thousand eight is looking to be a good year,” Hodge said. “I expect us to beat the national market.”
Scott said he has seen major residential expansion west and south of Temple, which could ultimately tie Temple, Belton and Salado together.
Plus, Hodge said prices here are rising strongly and steadily, but the area’s builders and property owners are not seeing the “astronomical appreciation” that’s taken place in California.
Retail sales have risen more than $184 million over a one-year period, hich could be related to the recent Bird Creek Crossing development near I-35 and Loop 363.
“That’s the most obvious and more people see,” Scott said. “It brings people to town, and it captures dollars that might otherwise leak out.”
Besides the businesses blooming in Bird Creek Crossing, Primus Real Estate in Austin lists a potential Subway, SportClips, Taco Cabana and Bank of America to plant roots there, too.
“Rather than traveling to Killeen or Georgetown or Waco to go to a specific store, now they’ll have the opportunity to spend their money in Temple,” Scott said.
Harker Heights has also seen hints of big business with a large lot already cleared for construction. A key business with plans to build is Target.
Aside from commercial buildings, Scott said the industrial side in Temple is on the rise, pulling people to the region. “Texas is growing when other states are in decline, or stable at best,” Scott said. “Right now, from a purely statistic standpoint, Texas is one of the top growth states in the union.”
AREA HOUSING MARKET IN GOOD CONDITION
By Janice Gibbs (Reprinted With Permission From The Temple Daily Telegram - Sunday, October 21, 2007)
The new-housing market may be lousy elsewhere, but it’s in excellent condition here, according to Temple area builders and a national economist.
What makes this area different?
Inventory and price, said Elliot Eisenberg, senior economist with the National Association of Home Builders.
Eisenberg was in town last week to talk to area builders and present an analysis of home construction’s economic impact in Temple and Belton. The study was conducted by the National Association of Home Builders.
The average cost of a new home in the Temple and Belton area is $170,781, making this area “phenomenally” affordable, Eisenberg said. (The average sales price for a house, regardless of when it was built, in Temple last year was about $138,000.)
“This is one of the most affordable communities in the country, and that’s what gives you the competitive edge,” he said.
The NAHB report showed that construction of 700 homes, the number built here in 2006, translated into general local income of $74 million, $4 million in new tax dollars and 1,880 jobs.
The first year’s economic impact of building 518 multi-family units, including the ripple effect, was 644 jobs, $1,5 million in taxes and $25.9 million in local income.
“It’s important for us to look closely at these numbers,” said Mike Pilkington, president of Temple Area Builders Association. “We’ve been saying for a long time that local home builders are doing their part to build community, and these numbers show that we are a very important player in the overall economic health of the regional economy.”
Eisenberg pointed out that the fourth-largest employer in Belton and Temple is the home construction business.
Keeping speculative building to a minimum has helped protect the area’s home construction market, Eisenberg said.
“You have to look at how much speculative building there has been in the last few years,” he said.
Places feeling the pain are include Phoenix, Miami, Las Vegas and parts of California, Eisenberg said.
“Southern Florida may well be in a recession because home building is doing so badly there,” he said. “There was a huge amount of spec building and now that the party is over, they’re all vacant.”
The price of the housing is another issue.
With a tight credit market, it’s difficult to get loans for houses in the price ranges found in the more expensive markets, he said.
When the price of a home exceeds $417,000 it no longer qualifies for the plain vanilla mortgages from Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae, Eisenberg said.
In areas like California, Washington, D.C., and Boston, new houses cost a lot more than $417,000, Eisenberg said
“They’re all caught in this grip of unaffordable mortgages,” Eisenberg said.
Yet another factor that helps the Temple area housing market is immigration within the country.
The population is moving from the Northeast and Midwest to the South, Eisenberg said.
“So you have immigration on your side, not much debt-building on your side and low-cost housing on your side,” he said. “You put all that together and you can see this recession is not going to be all that bad here.”
Nevertheless, Eisenberg foresees a dropoff in Bell County.
“The pain won’t be as bad here, and the duration won’t be as bad,” he said.
STUDY: ABOUT 1,700 JOBS CREATED
Reprinted With Permission From The Temple Daily Telegram - Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Home construction generated about $74 million in related business in Temple, Belton
A new house represents far more than a roof over the heads of members of just one family in Temple or Belton, as the dollars ripple through the area economy. Last year, new-home construction led to the creation of nearly 1,700 jobs and $74 million in related money.
That’s according to results of a study of this market by the National Association of Home Builders.
The NAHB report was given Tuesday to the Temple Area Builders Association. About 700 new homes were built in Temple and Belton in 2006.
Each 100 represented $10.6 million in local income for 16 tracked industries. Each 100 created a half million dollars in taxes and other revenue for local government. And each 100 generated 240 local jobs.
The Temple and Belton data are based on numbers from a variety of area, state and national sources. Those numbers are crunched using an NAHB template.
An executive summary included with the results describes the model: “The model captures the effect of the construction activity itself, the ripple impact that occurs when income earned from construction activity is spent and recycles in the local economy, and the ongoing impact that results from new homes becoming occupied by residents who pay taxes and buy locally produced goods and services.”
Instead of reflecting the cost of construction alone, then, the NAHB tries to estimate the entire economic impact.
The $74 million is the impact for 2006 alone.
The study also considers, though, the ongoing annual economic impact after the construction of homes.
For the Temple and Belton area, that would amount to $2.5 million in local income for each 100 houses built, the payment of more than $500,000 in local taxes and creation of 63 new jobs.
New-home construction is one part of a sturdy foundation for economic growth.
Lee Peterson, president of the Temple Economic Development Corp., said construction is one major component in the building of a growing and healthy economy.
Along with the money put into brick and mortar, the new taxes help provide additional services, he said.
Mayor Bill Jones III said that home builders have an impact above and beyond the dollars they put into the economy.
“The Temple Area Home Builders as a group participate in our city and make significant contributions to the improvements to the community,” he said.
The NAHB used these assumptions for the Temple-Belton-area study: A new single-family home price of $171,000; built on land valued at $4,300; with permits costing $850; and annual property taxes of $3,200.
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