Novid Parsi | ProBuilder

Novid Parsi

Novid Parsi is a St. Louis-based freelance writer who covers a wide range of industries, including construction and technology.

RELATED STORIES

Sustainability

A Sustainable Home for Displaced People

Holcim and the Norman Foster Foundation have created a scalable prototype for affordable housing. The structure is covered in a rollable canvas containing low-carbon cement

Essential Homes affordable housing prototype

Technology

These AI Robots Can Help Build Homes

Automated Architecture, a London-based construction tech startup, has developed what it calls a robotic micro-factory to build high-quality sustainable homes at affordable prices

Shipping container homebuilding robots by Automated Architecture

Net Zero Homes

The LEED Homes Awards’ Single-Family Winners

The U.S. Green Building Council’s single-family winners include a remote refuge in the Catskill Mountains, a net-zero lakeside home in Michigan, and a high-tech Pueblo-style residence in the New Mexico desert

222 Hog Mountain Circle Fleischmanns, N.Y.

3D Printing

How Mud Dauber Wasps Inspired 3D-Printed Homes

A professor of civil and environmental engineering drew inspiration from mud daubers to imagine earthen buildings made of soil and the root-like structure of mushrooms

LSU Civil Engineering Professor Hai "Thomas" Lin

Healthy Home

Award-Winning Healthy Homes With Clean Air and Energy

A perennial winner of the Housing Innovation Awards, Virginia-based Healthy Communities looks to the DOE’s new definition of zero emissions buildings to boost construction of more efficient and healthy homes

Healthy Home

Sustainable Housing: Growing Homes From Fungi

To create off-planet housing, a NASA project grows fungi’s root-like structure so that it fills lightweight inflatables. The idea can work on Earth, too

Bricks produced using mycelium, yard waste and wood chips as a part of the myco-architecture project. Similar materials could be used to build habitats on the Moon or Mars

Builders

To Target Older Home Buyers and Sellers, Consider Their Emotions

A recent survey by Opendoor reveals that home buyers and sellers ages 55 and over are emotionally attached to their current homes—but enthusiastic about purchasing their new ones

close up of mature man and woman holding a key of a new home

Multifamily

An Innovative Financing Model for Affordable Housing

Maryland’s Montgomery County approved a $100 million fund to finance and speed the production of affordable housing

Affordable housing project exterior during the day

Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs)

San Diego Tackles Housing Affordability by Incentivizing ADUs

The City of San Diego’s Ivory Prize-winning ADU Bonus Program allows the construction of one market-rate accessory dwelling unit (ADU) for every affordable-housing ADU

Design

New Initiative Enables Builders to Reduce Embodied Carbon

Launched by the nonprofit RMI, HomebuildersCAN helps single-family and low-rise multifamily builders address an often-overlooked problem in home construction

High-performance building envelope home with prefabricated panelized construction

Builders

Prefab Plus Infill: A Formula for Homes People Can Afford in Places They Want to Live

California-based Villa Homes aims to be 'the Toyota of housing: It works really well, it’s durable, and it’s high quality for the money,' says the CEO

Builders

Light But Tough: MDLR Brands’ Building Panels

The Tennessee-based manufacturer creates durable, energy-efficient SIPs and builds modular homes ranging from ADUs to luxury residences

Boxvana modular homes with LiteSIP building panels, Monaco model

Building Materials

Combining Concrete and Offsite Manufacturing to Create Resilient Homes

Florida-based Onx Homes builds with low-carbon concrete that can withstand 175 mph winds and delivers homes in only about 30 days

Building Materials

Building Homes with ‘Legos on Steroids’

Stronger and lighter than concrete, RENCO USA’s composite blocks are simply stacked on top of each other and glued into place

RENCO USA Lego-like building system with composite blocks

Home Builders Institute's Schools to Skills Grant Application Open Through December

As Mortgage Rates Rise, Buyers Lose Purchasing Power

Renters Are Choosing Single-Family Homes for These Features