Voice of the Customer
J.D. Power and Associates and The Alberta New Home Warranty Program have announced that they will be teaming up to publicly measure customer satisfaction ratings of Alberta builders. The first set of results from the J.D. Power survey will be announced at the 2008 Awards of Excellence in Jasper at the CHBA - Alberta Conference. Almost all builders with over 100 single family starts and over 60 multi-family units in Edmonton and Calgary will be surveyed and the customer satisfaction rankings will be made public. In other Alberta locals, JD Power's Power Circle Ratings will show potential customers how builders are faring in different areas from the builder's sales staff to the quality of the home. J.D. Power currently measures home builder customer satisfaction ratings in 34 US markets and entered the Canadian market a few years ago in Toronto. Here is what its rating system looks like for the Toronto market.
Business Plan Approved
February 13 was a great day for the association as the first-ever business plan was approved. It was developed using the strategic goals and objectives set at the Strategic Planning Session (SPS) held in January. The Board thoroughly examined the proposed business plan and asked hard-hitting questions prior to its approval. The plan will provide Board and staff clear direction and solid accountability. In the next few weeks, each CHBA - Alberta member will receive a brochure communicating the SPS with the association's six strategic goals and objectives.
National Meetings
Several Alberta volunteers and staff start four days of meetings this evening in Charlevoix, Quebec. The meetings are a lead-up to the Annual Meetings of Members for the Canadian Home Builders' Association, which are held just prior to the annual conference starting this weekend in Charlevoix. Everything from lower taxation of housing, to the new National Building Code, to revised membership criteria and the Corporate Social Responsibility initiative will be discussed. Committee representative provided a written report to their respective committees to view the reports click here.
Building Tomorrow's Workforce
The Province of Alberta has developed a ten-year labour force strategy - Building and Educating Tomorrow's Workforce - to ensure Alberta has more workers, better trained people and innovative workplaces. A Ministers' Symposium was held in Edmonton in September 2006 bringing key stakeholders together to discuss industry best practices. Lead government ministries are now working directly with several industry sectors to develop concrete actions and initiatives to achieve the outcomes of the strategic framework: Inform, Attract, Develop and Retain. Mary Kenny, Director of Human Resources Development for CHBA - Alberta, has been appointed to represent the residential construction industry on for the Construction Sub-Strategy. She has provided input to the draft working background document that will be reviewed by the full Committee at a meeting on March 16th in Edmonton.
Task Force Update
The Alberta Affordable Housing Task Force has had two days of orientation to prepare for community consultations which then started in Grande Prairie. The Task Force will hold eight more hearings to gather comments on social housing and housing affordability. View the meeting times and locations here.
Make sure your regional perspective is bought to the table. The issues are different in each region and it's crucial that the task force hears from each of the local HBAs. Written submissions can be made to the Alberta Affordable Housing Task Force at affordable.housing@gov.ab.ca.
Pilot Projects
Congratulations goes to Avalon Master Builder of Red Deer and Calgary and Laebon Homes (Canadian Housing Energy Sustainable Solutions) in Central Alberta on being two of twelve homebuilding teams selected by CMHC to build pilot demonstration homes throughout Canada. EQuilibrium homes (formerly Zero Energy Healthy Housing) combine resource- and energy-efficient technologies in order to reduce their environmental impact. They also provide healthier and more comfortable living spaces for their occupants. EnerVision is proud to have worked with Avalon and Laebon on their projects. EnerVision is also working with another builder who is developing a Net Zero home outside of this CMHC initiative.
Past President's Remain Involved
It has been a banner week for CHBA - Alberta's Past Presidents. This Sunday night, Dave Benbow (1997 President) will be honoured in Charlevoix for his year as President of the Canadian Home Builders' Association. This coming Friday, John Hrynkow (2005 President) will likely be named 1st Vice President of our national association and will take over the reins in a year from now. Burke Perry (2002 President) became the new Chair of the Board of the Alberta New Home Warranty Program last Thursday at its Annual General Meeting, succeeding Harry Stepper (2001 President). Our immediate Past President Allan Klassen is now on the Executive of the Warranty Board. Congratulations to all and thanks for your continued involvement in our industry.
