2001 was launch year for TecHome Builder, the print magazine, which arrived as the official publication sponsor of the TecHOMExpo pavilion at the International Builders Show. Home tech was so much less than it is today. For builders, it was pretty much just a structured wiring can, homerun wiring and multimedia outlets and maybe a vanilla alarm system. Now tech permeates nearly every facet of the new home from smart home security to HVAC and IAQ, lighting and electrical, appliances, water management and more. But the TecHome Builder mission has been constantly about helping builders better their businesses by more aggressively and effectively incorporating tech into the new homes they build. Meeting consumer demand. Differentiating vs. used houses.
There’s at least another 20 years of service to be delivered under that mission. Builders, multifamily companies, tech vendors, let’s keep doing it together!
-John
Enjoy the Publisher’s Letter from the premier issue of TecHome Builder magazine.
Feb/March 2001
Technology for Better Builder Businesses
Twenty years ago, America's manufacturing industries stood on the brink of collapse. Foreign competitors had implemented total quality management programs and invested in new generations of technology, and they leap-frogged U.S. automotive, electronic, chemical, machine tool and other industries–and in our open market, they were eating our lunch! But, US manufacturers didn't fold up shop. They enthusiastically embraced change re-engineered their companies, put information technology to work, and injected high tech into their products like never before. In the 80s those investments in our manufacturing sector contributed to the creation of today's thriving high-tech economy.
Though not facing significant threat from global competitors, US homebuilders have a similar opportunity to take hold of their destiny. The quality manufacturing mentality of continuous process improvement has arrived for home building. To make more money, attract more capital and grow, builders, like manufacturers, must increase productivity. This is where technology pays off. On the business side, you've got to use technology to get marketing, sales and construction operations working together seamlessly, to squeeze the waste out of clumsy transactions and subcontractor engagements. You've got to use technology to handle rote tasks, and free precious labor to handle higher order responsibilities. On the consumer side, you've got to get technology into homes you offer in order to entice and satisfy your customers and to create new revenue and profit streams for your company.
That's what TecHome Builder is all about–helping you, the builder, use technology as an asset to building your business.
We here at EH Publishing are delighted to introduce TecHome Builder magazine and to debut as the Official Publication of the NAHB’s first tecHOMExpo at the 2001 International Builders Show in Atlanta. Since 1994, EH has been a provider of authoritative information on technology to consumers and contractors. Now, we strive to become a trusted and valued source for you, the home builder, on technology matters. We hope, too, that you'll share your technology experiences with us through letters, story contributions, and story leads. We need you to participate in this magazine, and the events we'll be part of, to create a community of like-minded builders who can prosper together in a new kind of home building market space—the tech home building market space. And so, on with the publication, on with the market-making, on with the business reengineering and “tech-ifying” toward a more profitable, high growth future.
Sincerely,
John Galante
