Builders have always had to evolve with the tide of new energy policies, but it can be challenging to keep up with the pace of new requirements. According to Harvard Business Review, adaptability is the new competitive advantage for businesses. Builders that reframe mandated changes as opportunities can be proactive and stay ahead of their competitors.
Consider these four best practices to ensure your business is resilient in our evolving housing market:
- When planning for mandated changes, state your opportunities and challenges: Set your business up for success by finding a balance between your opportunities, like code adoption and incentives, and challenges, such as cost. Builders looking ahead at future mandated changes may weigh the opportunities and challenges of installing above-code measures in their buildings.
- Describe your vision of the business’ future: Think ahead to the future state of homebuilding and develop a mission statement that will see your business through the next series of energy code changes. Brainstorm value propositions that are unique to your business and will help you stay relevant as the market changes.
- Evaluate your costs and benefits: It is important to be balanced when evaluating costs and benefits to determine what energy-efficient incentives are feasible and to turn challenges into sales opportunities. Builders can use Energy Trust of Oregon’s EPS™ New Construction offering to get ahead of changing codes with subcontractor trainings, incentives, technical support, energy modeling and more.
- Leverage subject matter experts: Host an early design assistance meeting with EPS New Construction verifiers and program staff who can help inform your decision-making and offer a new perspective to meeting and exceeding code.
Codes and standards change roughly every three to five years. Builders can use this knowledge to plan ahead and incorporate energy-efficient construction practices into their workflows to keep their businesses marketable.
EPS™ New Construction is one way to help you construct homes with high marketability, while earning cash incentives in Oregon and Washington along the way.
Email the EPS New Construction team to learn how to tap into Energy Trust incentives and prepare for changing codes and standards.