Written by Building construction in the United States is a very large and critically important industry. As a one trillion dollar business, construction contributes to roughly five percent of the United States’ Gross Domestic Product and employs over seven million Americans.[1] Aside from being such a tremendous part of the economy, the construction industry provides shelter for families, shapes the built environment, provides utilities for living, and builds facilities for working.
The single family housing sector is estimated to be roughly half of all construction projects. Peaking in 2005, home-builders constructed over 1.6 million single-family homes. Although the growth of the homebuilding market has been stifled in the last few years, there is still an expected population growth of nearly 50 million Americans by the year 2030. Demand for mass-production of new single family homes will still exist in decades to come; the architect has a responsibility and a renewed opportunity to be involved in the growth of our built environment through innovative housing design.
[1] LePatner, 7
