Special Issue on Residential Construction

Residential construction is the largest segment of the building industry in the United States. The light-frame construction system typical for North America has not dramatically changed, and platform construction dominates the market. Energy has become a focal point of design, but despite major advances, our homes are significantly behind those in Europe in energy efficiency because high energy prices dictate developments in this area. Our homes are still relatively energy inefficient, with poor acoustic performance and high maintenance demands. On the other hand, they meet sustainability requirements because renewable resources are used in construction. The homebuilding industry is constantly striving to improve its products and has made significant progress in adapting green design concepts.

The vast majority of engineering programs throughout the country do not offer any courses that address issues specific to residential construction. Over 90% of all residential buildings are built as light-frame wood systems, yet a recent study of engineering programs in the United States shows that fewer than 15% of those programs offer a course in wood design. Thus, wood design is missing in 85% of the curricula and engineers are not trained in designing with wood. The reason for this alarming situation is relatively easy to identify: universities are run as research enterprises that place great pressure on faculty to secure significant research funds. In making decisions about new hires, universities consider the levels of funding that might be available in a particular field or discipline. At the federal level, little or no funding for fundamental research is available for research about housing or wood structures. The National Science Foundation, a major supporter of fundamental research, does not have a single program related to residential or wood structures. These disciplines are therefore not deemed a viable investment for any research-oriented university, and their decline is inevitable. Instead, the landscape in civil engineering schools is dominated by heavy construction and transportation, where funding is readily available. This results in a lack of the trained professionals so badly needed in the housing industry. The young generation of engineers is not exposed to the challenges of the residential construction industry. It is estimated that based on the levels of industry size, production volumes, and taxes paid to the federal government, the federal investment into residential construction and wood research should be approximately $150 million annually to make it comparable with, for example, transportation.

This issue of the Journal of Architectural Engineering contains papers that are related to residential construction that hopefully illustrate the breadth of research topics and the complexity of housing-related research. As an editor, I faced a high rejection rate of housing-related research papers by reviewers; fewer than half of the submitted articles were accepted for publication. It took more than a year to gather the papers contained in this issue. I believe that this rejection rate is related to the previously discussed issues, because the lack of funding does not allow for designing and conducting research that meets the standards of this journal. The included papers range from structural issues to economics and clearly show that residential construction is a rewarding research field in which the impacts are significant. It is my hope that housing research, so significant to our economy and the daily life of all Americans, will receive the level of attention it deserves.