With a historically active hurricane season underway, it’s increasingly apparent to us as industry leaders and elected officials that with natural disasters, including fires and earthquakes, on the rise, traditional homebuilding methods alone are no longer sufficient to ensure the safety and stability of our communities, as well as families’ financial futures as homeowners’ insurance costs rise and becomes more difficult to obtain. In fact, in 2023, American homeowners suffered $1.8 billion in property damage from winter storms, $4 billion in hurricane property damage, $5.6 billion in wildfire damage, more than $50 billion in damage from severe weather, and $9.2 billion in damage from floods.
Simultaneously, we race to build so we can meet the inventory shortfall generated by the housing crisis. The question is: How do we address the resilient building issue at the speed and volume necessary to help millions of Americans achieve a safe roof over their heads?
Fortunately, advancements in construction technology now enable us to build homes more quickly and at scale, which are significantly more resilient and environmentally friendly. However, to fully leverage these innovations and address the housing shortage effectively, the construction industry and government must work together. By collaborating on the creation and implementation of forward-thinking regulations that enable innovative solutions, we can safeguard home buyers' interests while fostering industry growth, ultimately paving the way for a sustainable and secure future for us all.
The housing crisis
2023 brought 28 separate billion-dollar weather and climate disaster events in the U.S., the highest number recorded in 44 years of analysis. As is increasingly apparent from the economic devastation of these events, traditional homebuilding methods are simply not designed to handle these extreme weather events, necessitating a shift towards more resilient construction practices. In addition to the lack of resiliency of the homes that currently constitute the housing supply in the United States, there is an increasingly urgent shortfall of homes in general. The housing crisis has resulted in a deficit of between 4 and 7 million homes in the U.S., according to The Pew Charitable Trusts, with a growing number of families struggling to find affordable homes.
The gap continues to widen as population growth outpaces new construction. This shortage not only places immense pressure on families but also hampers economic growth as businesses struggle to attract and retain employees due to housing constraints.
Solving simultaneous challenges
Together, we can support the implementation of pioneering new construction technologies that enable the rapid, scalable building of resilient homes. For instance, we are now applying advanced methods and cutting-edge materials to construct homes that can withstand extreme weather conditions while being built in a fraction of the time required by traditional methods.
The solutions offered by modern construction technologies not only protect families but also reduce the long-term costs associated with disaster recovery and insurance claims. Communities with resilient housing are better positioned to recover quickly from natural disasters, ensuring economic stability and continuity.
As such, the industry has been making deep investments in research and development, leading to breakthroughs that make housing faster to build, more affordable, and more resilient. For these technological advancements to have a meaningful impact, we need a regulatory framework that supports innovation while ensuring safety and efficacy.
Collaboration between the government and the construction industry is essential to tackle our housing crisis. Over the past few years, legislation such as Florida’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund, the Housing Finance Corporation Act, and the Live Local Act has been instrumental in addressing affordability and increasing home inventory.
By adopting forward-thinking policies that encourage the use of cutting-edge technologies and resilient building methods, we can build on these legislative successes to create affordable, durable homes that withstand extreme weather, ensuring a secure future for our communities. By working together, government and industry can share the risks and rewards of innovation, accelerating the development and deployment of resilient housing solutions.
What the solutions look like
Innovative construction companies face significant challenges, including regulatory red tape and a lack of funding for innovative projects. Government support is crucial in overcoming these hurdles. Elected officials are the liaisons between their constituents and the body in which they are elected to serve. As such, they are obliged to abide by the unique responsibility to collaborate with constituents, community stakeholders, and private entities to design and legislate creative solutions to our most pressing issues.
The housing crisis is undoubtedly the most consequential of the issues we have endured over the last several years. In attempting to solve this crisis, we are forced to face several key issues simultaneously: rising insurance costs, rising property costs, and the looming threats that natural disasters pose to the safety and security of our communities.
When discussing ways to alleviate the severity of these issues, our responsibility to collaborate with outside groups is one of the most central aspects of the process. In doing so, we can succeed in serving the needs of our districts while utilizing—to its fullest extent—the availability of creative solutions offered by industry leaders. By collaborating, the industry and government can create a conducive environment for innovation that benefits all stakeholders.
To best steward our communities for the next generation of homeowners, we advocate for advancing resilient construction technologies as a team. As industry leaders, let’s continue to implement advanced materials and construction techniques that enhance home resilience and energy efficiency.
As government partners, we can advance pilot projects, funding initiatives, and regulatory reforms to support resilient home construction—such as making home construction permitting efficient while promoting urban planning that creates and preserves communities. This will bring higher-quality inventory into the market while supplying to solve shortages and easing price pressures. In partnership between industry and government, we can allocate resources to research and develop new technologies and construction methods that improve home resilience and reduce costs. Together, we can help attract capital for resilient community building by creating and applying green bonds and other financial instruments.
By working together to create and implement forward-thinking regulations and policies, we can safeguard public interests while fostering industry growth. This partnership can lead to the development of resilient, affordable, and scalable housing solutions that ensure a sustainable and secure future for all. Now is the time for action, and together, we can build a resilient future for our communities.
More must-read commentary published by Fortune:
- An economic catastrophe is lurking beneath Russia’s GDP growth as Putin ‘throws everything into the fireplace’
- The ‘sustainability recession’ will end soon—and not by choice
- ‘Godmother of AI’ says California’s well-intended AI bill will harm the U.S. ecosystem
- The most underrated leadership skill, according to Jake Sullivan
The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune.
