Modular Plumbing Walls Reduce Building Costs

CoreWall is a new technology that centralizes all of a home?s plumbing and utilities. Its creator promises savings as well.

With skilled workers in short supply, builders are looking for prefabricated components that can be assembled by relatively unskilled crews. But while more and more of today’s homes are being built with such components, installing plumbing, electrical and mechanical systems remains an expensive, labor-intensive business requiring skilled tradespeople who charge top dollar.

But that could change soon. Philadelphia architect Michael Rosen has developed a prefabricated utility wall that he hopes will bring the benefits of plug-and-play to a home’s electrical, mechanical and plumbing systems. The “Rosen CoreWall” is a structural insulated panel (SIP) that has been laser-cut to accept all of a home’s utility connections and mechanical hubs: electrical panel, structured wiring box, home monitoring and security systems, sewer and water connections, HVAC supply, and return ducts, etc. Proprietary couplings let low-skilled workers connect standard plumbing fixtures and mechanical components to the connections in the wall. Rosen says this won’t limit the fixtures you can use.

He calls it “the home’s engine,” because it takes the utilities that “drive” the home and centralizes them in one place.

By speeding up construction and eliminating the cost of installing pipes, wires and ducts, Rosen claims that CoreWall can reduce the total cost of a home by 15 percent. “You don’t need rough plumbers or HVAC guys,” he says.

Some assembly required
The system does require some adjustments on the part of the architect, who has to design around the plumbing. “A good architect will already try to centralize mechanicals and to stack bathrooms,” Rosen says. “We take that process to an extreme by putting everything in one physical wall.” In fact, the only way to realize the system’s benefits is to group all of the home’s wet areas – baths, kitchens, laundry rooms – around the wall. With such a design, just dropping the wall into place completes most of the plumbing and wiring. “It’s a more efficient way to build because there’s only one wall with any plumbing and mechanical systems,” he says.

This is a decidedly technology-driven approach to design. "Typically you design a home to fit the needs of the homeowner, then add the technology," Rosen says. "What we did with CoreWall was ask the question, ‘What if you designed a house that revolved around technology?’"

Technology drives business opportunities
The system could even create new business opportunities for builders. “Today, if you want to offer technology to consumers, you have to hire a subcontractor,” says Rosen. But with CoreWall, if you want to add an electronic networking system, you simply order the wall. “The builder can become a distributor for some sophisticated stuff.”

CoreWall made its debut at the NextGen Demonstration home at the International Builders’ Show in Orlando in January, but Rosen already has orders from production and custom builders. The walls are custom-built by SIP manufacturers located around the United States, and require a four- to six-week lead time. Rosen also sells stock home plans designed around the system.

The table shows the reduction in home mechanical systems using the Rosen CoreWall on an average tract home.