Looking at residential construction trends over the past 20 years, there’s been a significant shift in the values of both homeowners and construction companies. In the past, many contractors aimed to build the most cost-effective homes possible, while paying no mind to energy efficiency. This is no longer the case, with forward-looking contractors understanding that reducing the energy footprint of homes over the longer term must be at the forefront of the building process.
While many construction companies have adopted sustainable practices to take a proactive role in fighting climate change or comply with new regulations, there has also been a swing in the market and consumer preferences driving the change in mindset. Millennials, for example, make up the largest share of homebuyers—at an unprecedented 50 percent—and they’re more sustainability-minded than their predecessors.