Seed Eco-Home FAQ
Value Proposition - Buildability, Cost, Ease of Build
What problem is the Seed Eco-Home solving for on the buildability question, in terms of higher coordination between architects and builders? Translated: Do architects hear of builders complaining about bad design, as in things that are not easily buildable, clash detection (parts can't be installed because of conflicts), etc? Is there any data on this, and is this something that is seen as an issue for architects or for builders? Answer from Elijah Pearce, architect: Yes. It is part of the job description for contractors to complain that architect's plans are not buildable, and for architects to complain that contractors don't build what they drew on paper. Aside from anecdotes I don't think there's a ton of data on that specifically, but I do think you might be able to find data on 'change orders' - when the contractor charges the client more money for changes that come up in the field. Lots of companies, systems, consultants, software all aim to reduce change orders and it is one of the common metrics tracked in construction - particularly publicly funded projects. I'm not sure if there is great data on residential, but ""change orders is where I'd start looking for some objective measures of poor coordination between drawings and reality.
Were Sears kit houses from pre-WW2 USA easy to build? Elijah Pearce says: not 100% sure, but I don't believe the Sears homes did anything in particular to make them easy to build. Their main selling point was that they shipped you everything you needed all together. I believe the actual construction was all traditional framing etc - nothing out of the ordinary.