Savvy Home

Savvy Homes, a semi-custom Top-100 homebuilder with a lean staff, cut overall framing times 50% by partnering with a component manufacturer and SAPPHIRE™ Viewer.

CUT OVERALL FRAMING TIME BY 50%

As George Aiken puts it, “Just with what we are saving in roof framing time, we are able to cut our overall framing time by 50%. Smaller crews above the sill… are spending less time above ground – lowering our risk…. Also, we don’t have material hanging around the jobsite, lowering our damage and theft. Trusses get delivered, and we set them right away.”

The Story


Process

HOMES BUILT IN 54 WORKING DAYS

Savvy Homes has mastered its process, building each of its homes in 54 working days – close to half the national average.

We use CAD and framing-design software that gives us a 3D view of the home, before it is built on site.
Founding Partner
George Aiken

BACKGROUND

A semi-custom home builder that maintains a lean staff and a laser-like focus on cost control, Savvy Homes was always on the lookout for process improvements. 

Challenge

You may think it’s counter-intuitive to assume a semi-custom homebuilding posture at the same time you switch to roof trusses over sticks. But trusses actually offer dramatic flexibility in custom design and today’s truss-design software can accommodate structural changes, even those made at the last minute in the buying process.

THE SOLUTION

SAPPHIRE VIEWER

In the middle of a recession, Savvy Homes needed an edge on the competition. By switching from sticks to trusses, they were able to trim framing time to half their former cycle time! “At a glance, we can understand where the load paths are, and where the uplift is, yet we don’t have to dig through 30 pages of Truss Pro to determine that.” – George Aiken

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