Learn and Adapt

The best residential builders and designers never stop learning. And, this week, we want to hear from you: Take our one-question poll and share how you're testing and integrating AI in your business.

On our Women at WIRC podcast, Michal Porter from DuPont tells us that conversations about lifecycle assessments and embodied carbon are picking up steam in residential projects, reshaping how we'll be approaching sustainabilty in the years to come.  

And we also feature two case studies: a Phius-certified net-zero passive home that blends rigorous performance standards with real-world living, and a Seattle Craftsman renovation guided by lessons a family learned during Covid lockdowns about how they actually use their home. 

—Pauline Hammerbeck, Editor

Signals: What We're Tracking...

⚡Power Outages Getting Longer

Power outages are lasting longer across the U.S., according to a recent JD Power Associates study that found the average length of the longest outage increased in every region since 2022. The South was hit hardest (18.2 hours), followed by the West at 12.4 hours. 

Why it matters: Backup power used to be an afterthought, but destructive weather events and a strong push to electrificiation on an already aging power grid are likely to make it standard.

Heard!

“I couldn’t live in a house like that ... I’d have to come home, clean up my clothes, hang them properly. I thought it was snotty and effete.”

—Architect Frank Gehry, who died this week, speaking about the iconic Farnsworth House in Plano, Ill. While Gehry's project portfolio included the design of a multitude of single-family homes, including the "crude" Santa Monica bungalow he lived in for four decades, he was best known for his commercial work, most notably the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain.

🐜Architectural Immunity? Ants design nests to stop disease

A study in the journal Science found that black garden ants renovate their nests once a pathogen gets in, spacing entrances further apart and creating compartments to isolate infected members and slow transmission across the colony.

Our take: The growing focus on wellness in residential design is typically proactive, with fresh air, natural light, and healthy materials working to prevent illness and boost mental health. But are we thinking about ways homes can flex to protect residents when illness does strike (multiple entries, sick rooms, etc.)?  

Meanwhile: Analysis by the Global Wellness Institute found that wellness-focused residential properties at the middle and upper ends of the market command a price premium of 10–25%.