ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) reporting has become an increasingly popular way for companies to show their commitment to sustainability and social responsibility. In an effort to track diffusion of this practice among home builders, Home Innovation Research Labs, in collaboration with Professional Builder Magazine, surveyed 300 home builders in September 2023 about their current and anticipated ESG reporting practices and motives for adopting ESG reporting.
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Most researchers associate discrete choice methodologies with surveys where the objective is to measure the “What” of buyer preference. But in qualitative research, where exploration is a common objective, discrete choice methodology can be applied to better understand the “Why” of decision dynamics and to identify what tradeoffs buyers are making when choosing building products or services. Home Innovation offers clients this powerful way to explore decision making through discrete choice qualitative research.
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Greenwashing. Unfortunately, it’s not a new form of consumer deception. But, fortunately, there are both new and improving means of shining a light on those who seek to deceive, as well as recognizing and rewarding those who provide true value with high-performance, green building.
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Home Innovation Research Labs recently announced a data sharing agreement with my company, Pivotal Energy Solutions. The announcement may have seemed inconsequential at the time, but I’m convinced that what this agreement represents is a critical next step in the marketing of energy-efficient homes and has potential to impact your business in a BIG way.
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According to Home Innovation's latest Annual Builder Practices Survey, the home building industry is finally climbing out of the doldrums, and some exciting and unexpected opportunities are revealing themselves. For over 30 years, our annual survey and reports have tracked market shares of building material categories. Find out what the latest data tell us.
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Imagine a buyer expecting you to provide a proposal for a new home without knowing what size or type of home they want you to build. Ridiculous! Impossible! Well, that's not too far off from what often happens in high-performance appraisal requests. Find out how to take full advantage of the "Residential Green and Energy Efficient Addendum" recently issued by the Appraisal Institute to ensure your appraiser can properly value your NGBS Green Certified home by knowing the details of the construction and the high-performance features.
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A recent national consumer insights study estimated that 60 percent of Americans, roughly 185 million people, are interested in green and healthy living. OK. So you build green homes. But are you doing your best to reach those green-hungry consumers? Don't go to the effort of having your home NGBS Green Certified and then keep it a secret. Following some simple green home marketing rules can help you get the most out of your commitment to green by helping buyers better understand what they will get (and what they won't be lacking) by buying a green home.
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Some builders are adamant that homebuyers don’t care about green. They rationalize this conclusion because homebuyers don’t typically ask for green features explicitly. However, market research consistently confirms that a majority of mainstream Americans do care about sustainable choices. One national consumer insights study estimates that 60 percent of Americans, roughly 185 million people, are interested in green and healthy living. So what's missing? Builders need to apply the basic tenets of effective marketing to their green home marketing -- deliver the right message to the right audience in the right way.
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Homebuyers want much more out of their homes than just energy efficiency. The research findings proving this point are irrefutable. Yet there are still builders who put all their marketing might onto the single-point message that their homes are energy efficient and will provide a tangible, monetary payback. That's leaving a lot of unclaimed marketing chips on the table for the home features buyers value even more than energy and the related cost savings. Isn't it time to face the facts and deliver what homebuyers really want? Homes that provide a healthy place for their families, comfort, and contribute to a sustainable lifestyle — truly green homes.
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As a building product manufacturer, it’s important to base your assessment of market change on reliable data and not the latest industry hype. Find out how our product usage data helps vigilant product managers spot changes as they're beginning to happen, when there's still time to act and not just re-act.
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One of the most significant obstacles to green home building is the prevailing builder myth that ALL consumers ONLY care about energy efficiency because an energy-efficient home will cost less to operate. It's just not that simple. While many consumers do care about energy efficiency, and a portion of those care about it specifically because a more efficient home, apartment, or car will save them money, that only tells part of the story. Find out more about the other pieces of the green home marketing puzzle that builders must learn to solve.
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With new single-family housing starts up 16 percent from the previous year, 2013 brought some needed relief to a beleaguered industry. What did that mean for building products usage? After comparing data from our 2013 Annual Builder Practices Reports to the previous year, what we saw largely met our expectations. However, there were a few surprises that may signal some fundamental changes in builder preferences for new home materials. Take a look at what we observed for residential exterior materials.
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Some U.S. manufacturers of building materials have overlooked Canada as an important part of their market development efforts, instead concentrating on expanding their presence into new U.S. geographies or penetrating deeper into existing markets. This may have been rational, for example, in 2005 when the Canadian housing market about 1/10th the size of the U.S. market (measured in new homes completed). Last year, Canada’s housing market was about 1/5th the size of the U.S. market. The stability of the Canadian housing market is also noteworthy, and the anemic rebound of the U.S. new home market are more reasons to take a closer look at Canada.
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A successful year for your company may mean a couple percentage points gain in market share against your competitors. But how do you know your competitive position with any certainty? Are sudden changes in sales affecting only your company, or is the entire market or product category up or down for some reason? Since most companies' product category sales and production figures aren’t made public, companies often resort to conducting their own brand share study to answer these and other questions.
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Today’s housing market presents builders and remodelers with lots of changes. More stringent energy codes. A shortage of skilled labor. Changing consumer preferences. Advanced building science technologies. Rising land and material costs. As a result, builders' and remodelers' practices are changing at a similar pace.
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New consumer research by NAHB and GuildQuality, a leading provider of customer satisfaction surveying for the residential building industry, offers unique insight into how green homeowners feel about their homes – particularly regarding overall satisfaction and promotion.
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I saw an ad recently that was so good I watched it several times on the DVR. It not only made me feel more positive about the brand, it made me want to use the brand more often. Don’t you hope all the ads you have a hand in crafting are this effective? We can help.
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It’s not always easy to collect the right kind of information from the right kind of respondents for the residential construction industry. But with 50 years of expertise on the ins and outs of the housing industry, we have the know-how to overcome the potential difficulties that come with getting meaningful, actionable data.
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Over the past decade, we've undertaken dozens of market research projects to uncover what consumers know or don't know, like or dislike, want or don't want in green homes. Find out what insights this long-ranging look at consumer preferences has given me, and some of the most meaningful and easy remedies to barriers that might confront builders heading down the green home path.
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Elvis was right. “Changes are a-comin', for these are changing days.” The housing industry is no stranger to change; many of our clients have successfully navigated the cyclical housing market. But it certainly seems the pace of change within our characteristically slow-to-change industry has accelerated.
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Home design may be holding onto to tradition on the exterior, but on the inside, consumers are yearning for more and different all the time. Find out how some recent data from a builder survey may reveal where the action really is for home innovation -- after all, it's what's on the inside that counts!
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While cost is always a factor with home builders, we've seen through data collected in our Annual Builder Practices Survey that value is often an overriding consideration. See what we've found for how builders address the cost vs. value equation when increasing R-value in their new homes.
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In this third and final in our series discussing our recent consumer survey on garages, I cover some of the "wish list" items consumers say would help them enjoy their garages more. There are potential market opportunities for product manufacturers and other industry professionals.
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In this second of a three-part series, find out some of the demographic differences we found in terms of how people use their garages. There are potential market opportunities both in what has changed and in what has remained the same.
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We investigated all-things-garage in a recent survey commissioned by the Wall Street Journal, and found some interesting market opportunities for product manufacturers who can satisfy the garage makeover needs of today's homeowners, renters, and buyers. In this first of a three-part series, find out some of the regional and demographic differences we found in terms of garage size and type.
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And I thought it was tough naming my four kids -- that was nothing compared to renaming/rebranding our company! Find out a little more about the process that resulted in the NAHB Research Center becoming Home Innovation Research Labs.
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The International Builders' Show is an outstanding place to gather market intelligence and uncover current trends shaping our industry. Learn six tried and true ways to enrich your show experience from a market researcher, analyst, and IBS veteran.
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Don’t throw in the towel on the luxury home market just yet. As single-family housing is coming back to life, some hints of a strengthening luxury home market are appearing as well. Find out what's keeping me optimistic about a bright future for building product manufacturers and suppliers.
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The multifamily market is booming and the forecast is bright. So why is voluntary green certification for multifamily also booming now? See what's driving this decision in many markets.
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What's lurking in those dark attics and creepy crawlspaces just in time for Halloween? Market opportunities, if you know what to look for. An Home Innovation Research Labs nationwide survey of builders earlier this month showed some interesting new trends in unvented attics and crawlspaces.
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Don't be fooled – just because prospective homebuyers don't ask for "green" specifically, doesn't mean they don't want the benefits that living in a green home can provide. A homebuyer survey we conducted earlier this year proves that green marketing can be very successful as long as you don't leave the meaning of green open to interpretation.
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