Page 21 - Green Builder Magazine Nov-Dec 2019 Issue

THE STATE OF

SUSTAINABLE

BUILDING 2020

COGNITION Key Fact:

Reliability Blues

Even when building

companies do manage to
fill labor openings, they’re
unhappy with the
performance of their hires:

Q: WHAT IS THE BIGGEST ISSUE THAT
YOUR COMPANY STRUGGLES WITH?

STATE VALUE PER ACRE ($)
Labor shortages/lack 33.54%
of skilled labor
Unreliable contractors 16.46%
CREDIT: NELSON MINAR¡FLICKR
Rising construction/ 9.49%
labor costs
High material costs 2.53%

Access to buildable lots 2.53%
Growing pains. With many cities reaching maximum buildout, suburban areas are exploding in
popularity--bringing higher property values and ecological pressures with them.
SOURCE: COGNITION SMART DATA Other (please specify) 11.39% pinned on population pressures. Often, neighborhood in Portland, the Riverton
5.06%
Stringent codes
area. By combining Geographic Information
archaic zoning has locked out a signi†cant
Access to capital
6.96%
System (GIS) mapping with city records, we
area of buildable properties.
For example, in Portland, Maine, dozens
counted 300 empty, potentially buildable
“paper streets,” have stymied homebuilders.
that there may be room for many times that
COGNITION Smart Data of unrecognized streets, sometimes called parcels in this small area alone. This suggests
The issue is related to the building code. In number of new projects, if the building code
the mid-1980s, planners added a clause to were changed.
the local code that requires any would-be Instead, one of the handful of legally
home sales. developer to upgrade the entire street with “buildable” lots in the city sold recently for
Urban areas have seen the greatest curbs and pavement before adding even one about $90,000.
increase in land value. This is in part because new home. Portland is just one example of how
desirable metro areas have begun to reach Ironically, many of these uno’cial streets outdated codes and rules have made the
their maximum buildout, based on local are already maintained by the city, with housing crisis worse. But unlike labor and
zoning, to the point that teardowns often snow and trash removal, and water and material costs, it’s an area where building
o er the only viable way to break into an electric services on hand—and existing pros can make their voices heard, and push
existing neighborhood. homes in place. for solutions that could make other types of
But higher land costs can’t always be Green Builder Media analyzed one housing possible.

www.greenbuildermedia.com November/December 2019 GREEN BUILDER 19

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