The American Sustainability Initiative began in 2007 with a group of design and development professionals concerned about the dire state of household economics in America. Through our involvement in hundreds of housing projects we constantly saw pricing and value that didn’t make sense. The problem had been festering for quite some time but the recent years of escalating home prices accentuated the seriousness of what was becoming a national problem.
Prices were out of whack which was causing people’s budgets to get out of whack. For decades spending 30% of one’s income on housing costs resulted in an economic lifestyle that was manageable. That was the past. Now more and more households are seeing their budgets stretched to where that manageable 30% now exceeds 50%. To make matters worse stagnating salaries and escalating costs for healthcare, transportation, communications and taxes put an additional squeeze on budgets to a level that is intolerable.
As 2008 rolled in the AmeriSus team decided to confront the problem head on and see if there was a way or something we could do to get things back in check. We took a detailed look at all that was involved in housing from concept to occupancy. How were homes designed and built? Why were certain things done as they were? How much time did each task take? What did buyers want? What did builders promote? What did everyone really need? How should energy and sustainability needs be addressed? We went to existing homeowners. We talked with builders large and small. We conducted focus groups amongst prospective buyers and tenants of all ages.
Then we went back to the drawing board and started to think about housing in a much different way. Our priorities were focused on: affordability, energy efficiency, simplicity (saving time and money), marketability, sustainability and job creation. We developed a new product and then a proprietary implementation system for getting these homes built across the nation. We have changed the process so that buying and building becomes a modernized process where system and purpose work together so that all the parties involved (builders, lenders, buyers and tenants) become part of an exciting new experience – the AmeriSus Experience
It has been a long journey but we have only begun. Now two years later we have brought about a solution that is the single most revolutionary approach to home construction in the last 100 years.
Over the next 24 months AmeriSus will put in place 12,000 new homes. They will be recognized for not only their affordability but for their high quality and value embodying state-of-the-art systems for efficiency, unique designs for practicality and well thought out products and materials for sustainability. These smart homes will be attractive, comfortable, and fun. They will set the stage for a new era in homeownership where great joy is generated because of what one’s home can do for you rather than what you need to do to keep your home.
That’s a better way to live and it is what the AmeriSus Experience is all about.