It’s hard to sell much of anything in Michigan these days, let alone $500,000 homes, but green building with insulating concrete forms helped make it possible for one building group to have its best year ever in 2007.
Battle Creek-based Summit Investment Group recently had success with a development it called The Ridge at Cedar Creek, which featured energy-efficient homes in the half-million-dollar range.
Summit mainly uses Polysteel forms. Owner Daniel Kiefer says he prefers Polysteel forms – although he is willing to try others – because they come in bigger components and he likes how they are put together structurally.
While Michigan’s economy has been the worst in the nation for several years, Kiefer said quality building and competitive prices – helped by a recent reduction in the prices of green building supplies – have made it possible for Summit to buck the state’s economic trend.
“We are bucking it because we’re building in a price range that’s not nearly as economically labored as some others,” Kiefer said. “Our houses in this particular development start in a half-million range. We also do a lot of commercial construction, and I find that if we work hard and we’re a quality builder, and we associate with customers that are of the same mind – if you do a good product, there’s always a market for that. Even in the worst of times.”