Page 4 - Green Builder Magazine Nov-Dec 2019 Issue

EDITOR’S NOTE By Matt Power

The Inside Scoop Editor-in-Chief
Caption. Text

To House the Many, We Need

Smarter Data

A perfect storm of labor, regulatory, land and materials costs have crushed the
housing market to half its former size. Can data transparency revive the boom times?

UILDERS OFTEN TAKE the heat price north of $365,000.”
for high housing costs. But often, Franks notes that it’s not like builders aren’t
they’re playing the role of reactors, trying to create entry-level product. They know
not actors. That’s not to say there that’s a huge, eager market. But they can’t seem
B aren’t some operators out there to make the numbers work. In some cases,
who ask too much in terms of margins and do they’re moving to lower-quality materials,
inferior work that’s destined to cause heartache smaller lots, less-desirable neighborhoods and
for homeowners. so on. My concern is that this could swiftly
But by and large, these are not the readers become a “race to the bottom,” where buyers
of Green Builder. What’s facing our sector— end up with ticking time bombs, and builders
the high-performance segment of the end up with class action lawsuits.
homebuilding industry—are powerful external The situation clearly has to change. But how?
forces, including labor shortages, radical tari s The more we understand the forces behind the
on lumber, a dysfunctional lending system and trends, the more we have the ability to make
populations migrating toward urban hubs. political, geographic and building science
To borrow a little data from an article by choices that will bring housing a ordability
Erik Franks, “In 2003, before subprime lenders broke the rules, back into the mainstream.
half of the new homes in the country were priced below $191,000. For example, why do materials cost more? Which states have the
Today, half of new homes are priced above $313,000, and 15 of the best value per acre for land? What’s causing the labor shortage?
18 largest publicly traded home builders sport an average sales Where are the “hidden” land values and untapped markets? Where
do codes and sustainability intersect?
COGNITION Smart Data Answering questions like these is
the purpose of this new addition to our
Green Builder toolbox. Our ˜rst annual
State of Sustainable Building report takes
advantage of our proprietary data service,
COGNITION Smart Data, to dig deep into
the trends behind the trends.
So take a tour through the “back end” of
the home building industry with us. We
hope you’ll come away with new ideas
about how and where to bring more-
diverse housing projects to your region,
and a sense of where the white space
of building lies. It’s still a big country.
Opportunities still abound, but you have
Getting ‘Smart.’ Data services such as COGNITION Smart Data are playing a key role in helping contractors, to know where to look, when to act, and
manufacturers and consumers understand crucial trends in sustainable building. how to access the smart data. GB

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

2 GB 1119 Editor's Note.indd 2 11/19/19 12:48 AM