For a High-Performing Business, Focus on High-Performance Homes

(NAHB) – Who hasn’t wished for a peek into the future to help determine the best business strategy going forward as the market strengthens?

Lacking magical skills, the next best thing is a carefully constructed market analysis with practical – and achievable – recommendations for taking best advantage of emerging trends to provide the products that will appeal most to consumers.

That’s just what McGraw Hill delivered in its recent Smart Market Report, Green Multifamily and Single Family Homes: Growth in a Recovering Market.

A detailed analysis of green building practices among single-family and multifamily builders and remodelers, the report is based on a nationwide survey primarily of NAHB members that was conducted last fall.

In addition to analyzing various aspects of green building such as determining which products builders find most effective, the analysis provides recommendations for those who are looking to capitalize on growing buyer interest in higher performing homes and solidify their presence in the market.

For single-family builders, the report recommends creating a strategy to deal with consumers’ increasing expectations for green homes. Because the market is rapidly evolving toward higher performance homes, such a strategy is especially important for builders re-entering the market who didn’t hone an approach to green building during the Great Recession.

Single-family builders should also prepare to accommodate the preferences of Generation Y, 20-somethings on the cusp of homeownership who believe environmental concerns are very important and will want their homes to reflect that belief.

Multifamily builders, the report says, will need to sharpen their green skills to stay competitive and they will need to accommodate increasing expectations that high-end units will also be green.

Multifamily also offers considerable opportunity for remodelers, the report notes. As new green units come on line, existing multifamily will need to be updated to stay competitive.

The report also offers advice for building product manufacturers and suppliers. Most important in both the single-family and multifamily sectors is to emphasize the combination of energy performance and affordability.

Suppliers are also cautioned to be prepared to deal with a diverse set of customers: both highly experienced and inexperienced green builders in the single-family market.

For multifamily, the advice to product manufacturers and suppliers is different: Emphasize sustainability and how your products can differentiate builders in the multifamily market.

Green Multifamily and Single-Family Homes: Growth in a Recovering Market was published by McGraw Hill Construction in partnership with NAHB, with the support of Menck Windows and Waste Management. View the full report here.