andrewksu

I help do recruiting at LANL if you are looking for something specific, just let me know.

Average US build time is 4-6mos for production builders. In areas like CA, it's closer to 12mos.

The vast majority of lots can be addressed with a handful of designs. No need to solve for all outliers.

Complete bespoke design can be wonderful, but comes with high cost and time.

Fixed designs can also be wonderful, and much more accessible.

Check out https://www.acre.co as an example.

Disclaimer - I'm a founder.

Labor is still quite high in most major metros. NorCal is $250/sqft just for labor, $350+ turnkey.

Metal goes 100+ yrs. Doing the same thing (asphalt) and expecting different results = insanity.

Recent CA costs for a framer range $65-125/hr. That adds up fast.

Most modular just does it wrong. Doing fixed design is a great opportunity for better, deeper design. Think Apple or Tesla type design and engineering. Not many complaints around cookie cutter Audi RS7's or even Hyundais

The status quo is a home depot and it all gets figured out on the fly. We would be in a much better place with engineered kit as you describe Ford doing.

Most of the value is in the land, and the homes are no different than $200K homes in the midwest. However, they are worth more and cost more because of very high demand and limited supply of labor and land. Putting a standard new home on a property that just sold for $1.6M (a home that should, anywhere else cost $300K) allows you to flip that property for $3.2. That's in Redwood City in a decent, but not over the top (for the Peninsula) neighborhood. Same home in a different market is worth quite a bit more.

Bare minimum for non tract construction is about $250/sqft or 3x the rates in the middle of the country. For high performance homes, $600+ /sqft is not uncommon.

Construction is not perfectly competitive, especially here in the bay. Guys (builders/trades people) pick their rates because demand on them is so high. Regulation, permitting and crazy processes mean the barrier to entry are higher than ever before. It's not fixable with day labor and a spunky attitude.

That said, our current line is the Tesla Model S of homes, late next year we'll be able to offer our Model C range for a much broader market.

Thanks for the well wishes!

Certainly in the short run those are more cost effective and less intensive options, but homes built 50 years ago do have a very short lifespan remaining and will consume gobs of energy every day until they are plowed under. Zero Energy refits are cost prohibitive, so at best, you'll have a band aid. Ultimately, It's a sunk cost fallacy.

We're not the solution to the entire problem, but I entirely confident that we are a fantastic value for our customers and the most efficient home available at this price/performance.

Yeah, KC and much of the middle of the country, there is very little fat in pricing and slow growth. Our first home built in KC was for $145K. Same general concept and performance, but a much more simple/affordable material and finish package. Slim margins for a fledgling company!

We'll work at the higher end for a bit, which can accelerate our growth and allow us to make some leaps with our product and tech.

We'll then be able to come down market and offer home that are much more accessible and honestly have much more positive impact on families and the environment.

Embodied energy is certainly worth considering, but major retrofits of homes built in the 60's or earlier are hugely inefficient and result in a home that looks better, but performs no better energy wise. You CANNOT retrofit to Zero Energy with out significant cash outlays or at all.

Putting a new carb and a dash mat on a 70's Oldsmobile will not justify the embodied energy argument. Melt that sucker down and build a Tesla that lasts 3x longer, can be powered by the sun and is better for you in the meantime.

Our homes are also much healthier for the owners, with proper ventilation, filtering, and low/no voc materials.

It's all relative. In Des Moines it's outrageous (although still worth it!), but in the Bay Area or similar market it's a steal. Comparable homes out here can be 2-3x.

We did our fist home at $145K for 1200 sqft and can offer than again late next year. Margins are too slim to grow at that rate, re:Tesla.

Here, take a look, pick your options and we'll stuff it in a stocking!

http://bit.ly/acrecatalog

Thanks! We're toiling away to that end. Here's our home guide to see more detail of what's inside.

http://bit.ly/acrecatalog

Prefab is a struggle and why we specifically avoided it. For us it makes much more sense to focus on product and supply chain and partner with local builders to execute in the various markets.

Our system is built for speed and that is where we derive savings. Between our wall/roof system, MEP systems, and delivery method we can slash construction time 60%.

Happy to continue conversation on your experience.

Hey, this is Andrew (Acre Founder). Thanks for the comments.

Price is entirely depended on location, in Kansas City (our original hometown), our homes are in the upper most price tier. In the Bay Area we are at or below market rate for typical homes and significantly under for anything comparable in quality and efficiency.

In Austin and Portland (our other two focus markets for 2017) we are about at parity and a good fit for the sustainable cultures.

But alas, we are not currently a fit everywhere and for every home buyer. It's part of our vision, but just like Tesla, we have to focus on a higher end product before we can create the every-mans product.

Regarding commute, we have an option to easily and affordably add capacity to allow for 6,000 miles of EV charging with ability to go beyond. Tis the future.

Keep posted next year for our tech that stretches beyond our own walls.

If you're really interested in a home, we should talk! Would love to have an advanced user to help showcase the tech features. Email me: [email protected]

R-Values. Exponential going the wrong direction. After R-15 or so you slip into the long tail.

Good article here- http://www.energyvanguard.com/blog-building-science-HERS-BPI...

PH is performance based, but the religion is a bit excessive on R. I do greatly value the air tightness and the quantitative approach.

High R-Value walls are tough to build and get expensive quick. Double wall, exterior sheathing, more parts, more fasteners, etc. We use SIPS walls/roof that have very good R, very little thermal bridging and outstanding air tightness while being fast to build.

Nice.

We have a Crestron Pyng as the central hub with attached goodies.

We also have our own Raspberry Pi based data logger that captures up to 40+ channels of temperature, humidity, luminance, occupancy, and thinking about a thermal imaging camera. Also can capture circuit based power usage and PV production to get a better sense of consumption/production cycles.

Keyless locks Dropcam Operable shading Lutron Pico wireless light switching with scenes Leak Detection Remote management/security (AirBnB) features. Whole home media etc.

We are looking at appliance connectivity, but want real function not just gadgetry. It's an quickly changing landscape, so the list will grow and morph, but pushing for real utility and performance enhancing tech.

6 sales total with a couple of developments and a influx of individual buyers in the wings.

Please do, we've got some options right in your lane. Thanks

Clarification: The current version (Origin series) is the Tesla Model S of homes; high end, luxury, max performance, premium tech, blowing most Mercedes and BMW's out of the water in every way.

Next year we will offer the Tesla Model 3 version in addition to our premium version. Average price, above average performance, cool tech and blows away Acura's, Fords and Chevy's, but lacking the flash and bells and whistles of the higher end.

Agree, there would only a handful of days where the combo of temps and solar gain would provide the right boost.

PCM's (phase change materials) might work better in this application. However, air tightness and a consistent insulation layer is best.

LEED is not my fav.

Yes, blogging is due, much to share.

Reducing consumption is first step, not getting caught up by what's cool is a big factor too. Rigor is required

Imo, air tightness trumps r value. Hard to do either consistently with traditional construction. Stay tuned I'll try to more on the blog.

Herein lies the business model magic that hopefully give us an edge.

We work with local builders, providing the fully designed/engineered packages, with ALL materials needed to build that specific high performance home.

You are right, trying to do this in a fully centralized and detached from community is not workable. We think our take leverages the strengths of both parties and allows us to do this much more broadly.

Regarding technical challenges, we engineer our SIPS shells for seismic by default and can accommodate most snow loads (Tahoe project in the works). HOA's are a PITA no doubt, but urban infill is possible and green field is always going on regardless.

From floor down is all local and must be adapted, so not so turn key there But hey, can't have everything.

Gotta run, but like your approach. Maybe more later.

Not so much at scale or at a good price. Less than 1000 in the country built over the last 8-10 years. California will have to switch to building 40,000 per year in the next 4, so major pain point.

Just like there were a few electric cars before Tesla, but none ready for prime time. It's going to take a lot of hard work to change a very outdated market.

The model would work, but it's a volume game. Not quite there yet. We would probably license the model and tech to regional organizations that could better respond to specific needs.

We should have the second design with 3 new sizes up next week and a 3rd design in March.

Check out the news section for a home we just completed with video of the build process. Maybe we'll push that up front a bit more. It's at a different price point, so have to battle that, but its good example.

We'll also have a model home complete late summer and available for people to AirBnB. It's hard to map out all of the differences online and in text, but the open house we had for the last home left fantastic impressions.

It will still be an early adopter audience, but we can add content to build confidence.

Homes were designed for the Kansas City climate initially, so will handle most weather. Easily adapted for northern and southern extremes. A custom, architect designed home of this nature will cost much more and be a long process, we are trying to amortize those costs over many homes. Maybe a couple of comparisons would help gel the differences?

It's tough trying to qualify buyers in this context with out being too blunt or too wordy. Experiment away!

Thanks for your analysis!

We'll get there next year, but to take the price leap, we have some new tech to get ready for market.

CA has Title 24, which mandates net zero for new homes, so that is the long term focus.

Check out the home we just completed for $145K, looks great, great performance and very comfortable. It's just hard to do at scale with out a bit of a war chest.

As you know, blowing foam, sealing leaks, upgrading HVAC, and good windows will run most folks close to $60-$100k to upgrade. That will still leave it fairly leaky, have an un-insulated foundation and be an older structure. Wish there was an easier solution to upgrading existing homes, but that is a tough business.

Yes, started with PH and applied a formula to value engineer the end result. PH is a bit academic and we are exploring where diminishing returns kick in for R Value.

For us air tightness takes a bit of precedence.

Note taken: Point was to shift status from size to smarter lifestyle. It's always hard to see stuff when you live it.

Thanks