Home Innovation Insights

Insider insights on what's going on in the home building industry.

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Michelle Foster
May 31, 2023

HUD Green and Resilient Retrofit Program: Making Affordable Housing More Sustainable

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has launched the Green and Resilient Retrofit Program (GRRP) to help make affordable housing more sustainable. The program provides funding for grants and loans to help owners of multifamily-assisted properties make energy efficiency, water efficiency, and climate resilience improvements to their buildings.

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Michelle Foster
May 24, 2023

What Homebuyers Want in 2023

The housing market is constantly evolving, and what homebuyers want is no exception. In recent years, there has been a growing focus on sustainability and environmental impact, and this is reflected in the latest trends in homebuying.

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Michelle Foster
March 9, 2023

Maryland & Chicago Say NGBS Green = 2021 IECC for Code Compliance

The 2021 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) provides an alternative compliance option for energy efficiency programs deemed to be equivalent and NGBS Green is gaining as a rigorous and desirable alternative in local and state jurisdictions.

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Michelle Foster
February 15, 2023

2022: NGBS Green Year in Review

Now that January is in the books, we’ve all gotten used to writing “2023,” and we are coming up on the middle of the first quarter, I wanted to take some time to reflect on 2022.

Despite lots of ongoing issues related to COVID and disruptions in the supply chain, our NGBS Green certification program had a strong year. While we certified fewer total units (homes + apartments), as shown in the chart below, we certified more buildings than the year before. Certified homes (represented in yellow) also grew year over year.

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Michelle Foster
November 29, 2022

Federal Tax Incentives for Energy Efficient New Construction and Upgrades

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022 is the most comprehensive and far-reaching federal investment to combat climate change to date, and the incentives for homes and multifamily buildings contained in the legislation can help transform the way we design, build, and renovate our homes and apartments for many years to come.

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Ed Hudson, MBA
September 8, 2022

Change in the Air: How Builders Plan to Navigate the Future

It’s very rewarding being a construction marketing researcher. I truly enjoy tracking, measuring, and predicting changes within the construction industry. But what I enjoy even more is helping our clients continue to reshape their businesses and product offerings to ensure they are providing the greatest value to their customers. This work requires regular interaction with builders and remodelers, keeping our “finger on the pulse” of the industry through interviews, focus groups, surveys, and jobsite observation. We listen and learn about their purchasing behaviors, problems at the office and jobsite, and the solutions they need or opportunities they are seeing.

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Ed Hudson, MBA
August 29, 2022

Smart Home Tech for All: New Builder Study Reveals Pervasiveness of Home Electronics

In December 2021, Home Innovation polled builders about changes to their business practices due to the pandemic – asking what they viewed as temporary, and what they considered a permanent part of their home building business going forward. While issues surrounding labor and materials took the forefront, and there was a notable boost in practices related to the outdoor living boom, there was another change reported that was a bit more unexpected – a wider embrace of “smart” home technologies. In their explanations, many builders said they had been caught off-guard by the expansion of home tech and were scrambling to keep up with the expectations of a new wave of tech-savvy buyers. I gave an overview of these study findings in my presentation to the Leading Suppliers Council at the 2022 International Builders’ Show.

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Ed Hudson, MBA
August 9, 2022

Latest Insights into New Home & Replacement Markets for Windows & Doors

Earlier this summer, I was invited to deliver the closing presentation of the WDMA 2022 Annual Technical and Manufacturing Conference. I shared 10-year market trends on window and door purchases in new and remodeled U.S. homes and insights into purchasers. As I have for more than 20 years, I sourced my data from Home Innovation’s annual trusted and industry-leading Builder and Consumer Practices Reports.

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Ed Hudson, MBA
July 21, 2022

Supply Chain, Labor Markets Creating Opportunities for Alternative Building Materials

Labor and supply chain issues have shaped the industry in recent years, particularly since the COVID pandemic. The net result has been longer construction cycle times, rising construction costs, and simply a much more difficult environment for building and remodeling homes. Our recent 2022 Builder Practices Survey sheds more light on how builder choices of home features, products, and materials has changed in response to these market conditions.

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Ed Hudson, MBA
June 16, 2022

Let’s Go to The Tape: Market Opportunities Presentation

Earlier this spring, I was asked to be a guest speaker at the Pressure Sensitive Tape Council’s Tape Week conference in Buena Vista, Fla. I provided the audience with an in-depth review of six key market opportunities for pressure-sensitive tapes and adhesives in residential construction, referencing our most recent Builder and Consumer Practices data trends and key drivers and market volumes for the six product categories. Below is a brief recap of the presentation takeaways:

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