IN THE LAST 75 YEARS, NOT MUCH HAS CHANGED IN HOUSING

Think about all the things from the 1950s that would feel so antiquated and out-of-place today. Rotary phones. Gingham tablecloths. Waiting for your favorite song to come on the radio. Families of five surviving on a single income. Women who have dinner waiting on the table every night when their husbands get home from work.

Over the past 75 years, a LOT has changed. But the way we build homes has been remarkably consistent. The basic methods of building houses—using wood framing, bricks, concrete, and traditional craftsmanship—have endured, largely unchallenged.

Wood-framed construction has dominated in home-building since after World War II. Back then, housing demand surged, and wood was readily available. This method, known as “stick framing”, involves assembling homes on-site using wooden studs, joists, and rafters.

Despite the availability of steel framing or modular construction, stick framing remains popular because builders know it. But these new methods could save time and money, not to mention trees, and materials like zero carbon concrete or metal frames are way more likely to survive a wildfire.

The home-building industry is very traditional, with many preferring the customization and supposed sturdiness of homes build onsite. But today we have all kinds of material shortages from the over-harvesting of forests and higher labor costs from doing everything onsite.

Modular or prefabricated homes – which are built in sections in a factory and then assembled onsite – haven’t caught on yet. But maybe it’s time. They shorten construction times, lower costs, and generate less waste. Recently, we’ve seen a renewed interest in modular homes, driven in part by the housing crisis and labor shortages. While these innovations are promising, they still represent a small fraction of the overall housing market – an industry which is slow to change or embrace innovation.

Then there’s the construction process. Information modeling allows architects and builders to create more accurate digital models of homes, reducing the likelihood of errors during construction. 3D printing has real potential as well, with companies like ICON using it to construct homes quickly and efficiently. But it’s still in its early stages and has not yet spilled into the mainstream housing market.

Energy efficiency is one area where we are making gains. The introduction of spray foam insulation, double-glazed windows, and LED lighting are all pretty widespread today. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, because of these advancements, homes today use roughly 30% less energy than those built in the 1970s.

To make these improvements universal, building codes everywhere should incorporate energy efficiency requirements like most of California and a few other progressive states and cities. Regulations have nudged the industry toward more sustainable practices, but they have not revolutionized the way homes are built to be climate-conscious and resilient the way they could or should. The time is now.