Homeowners are taking into consideration air quality, non-toxic housing products, and other energy efficient and health-related features when planning home improvements and remodels. Due to short housing supply, high home equity, and other financial concerns, homeowners have been opting to improve upon the home they have to enhance their comfort, safety, energy efficiency and well-being at home, in addition to accommodating the growing percentage of multigenerational households.
In the past year, a sizable amount of home improvement activity has involved optimizing energy performance, increasing accessibility, improving indoor air quality (IAQ), repairing disaster damage, and other related objectives, according to our Healthy & Safe Home and Environmental & Energy Performance Attitudes Study, conducted in collaboration with Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.
However, this niche market is still in the early stages of growth, which means there are opportunities for manufacturers to increase sales through remodeling contractors by helping them get past barriers, such as specialized training and higher costs for materials. Your building materials company and channel partners can assist in both areas, paving the way for trade professionals to successfully integrate objectives regarding health, safety, and energy performance into their jobs and become more engaged in advancing market adoption.
How Engaged are Pro Contractors in Creating Healthy Spaces?
Our study on healthy homes takes a multi-faceted approach in assessing home improvement projects that impact not just physical or environmental health, but also mental, emotional, and social health aspects of occupants.
In the past three years, more than half of professionals installed or offered room additions or reconfigurations, specifically to accommodate multigenerational living, which was a new variable we tracked in 2024.
This reflects a larger trend currently taking place in the U.S.: The substantial rise of multigenerational living. According to data from the Pew Research Center, the share of the U.S. population living in multigenerational households was 18%, as of 2021. In light of the tight housing inventory, economic pressures, and other key industry drivers, the growth of multigenerational living is expected to continue.
Additionally, more than a third of projects completed by construction companies in the past three years provided disaster preparedness measures, accessibility improvements, and IAQ enhancements.
In terms of green remodeling, the top category installed or offered by companies in the past three years was energy efficiency retrofits and energy upgrades, which were involved in 40% of projects. Comparatively, the other two major categories—renewable energy installation and other green remodeling—were lagging quite far behind, with only 23% and 21% of companies, respectively, completing projects in these categories.
What Resources are Pros Using for Healthy and Green Home Information?
Contractors continue to perceive upsides in performing health and safety related improvement projects. Most contractors feel very or extremely confident in advising clients on green building projects. However, they are often reactive, rather than proactive, when it comes to discussing healthy or green home features and objectives, even though homeowners are perceived as being more knowledgeable about these topics compared to five years ago. In fact, only 39% of companies routinely initiate the conversation; 33% report that customers “frequently” start the conversation, while another 14% say that customers “occasionally” start this conversation.
Industry trends suggest this heightened awareness will continue. Younger consumers and families with children are driving the trend, with multiple factors affecting their attitudes and opinions toward health and well-being in their homes.
About 40% of home improvement professionals use Internet research or online references to obtain information on healthy or green-home work. Other top resources include colleagues and other remodeling contractors, as well as remodeler or building trade associations. About 34% rely on information from product manufacturers and 33% get information from product dealers and distributors.
By acting as a resource for manufacturers—and helping your suppliers and distributors to be the same—you can strengthen customer awareness and loyalty, for both your brand and your building products and materials.
Most Common Healthy and Green Home Projects in 2024
Over the past 12 months, contractors’ top healthy and safe home projects included bathroom accessibility improvements and disaster repairs, which each were installed by about 30% of contractors or subcontractors. Another 22% completed accessibility improvements to facilitate safer entry to the home.
Across all major healthy home categories, contractors feel like their business increased in the past year, with home automation installation and IAQ improvements being the two categories that, perceptively, had the most business growth.
Additionally, all three green home remodeling activities were considered—in an equal amount—as growing in the past year. The top green building projects completed by contractors in the past year were energy-efficient windows and doors (23%) and general or advanced air sealing and insulation (23%). About 17% of companies had completed tankless water heater installations and 17% also did work involving electric stoves, cooktops, ranges, or ovens.
Advancing Healthy and Green Home Projects in 2025
Most contractors incorporate healthy or green home objectives into fewer than 50% of their projects. About 12% do so for at least half of their projects.
However, contractors feel there are a range of benefits to their business as a result of offering remodeling projects, products, or services associated with residential health and safety or environmental and energy performance. The primary was increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty. Another 49% say it expands their customer base and 47% are intrinsically motivated, and believe it is the right thing to do. Other drivers include the perception that it gives companies a competitive edge and improves employee skills and expertise. About one in four contractors feel it increases their average project size.
Looking ahead, contractors perceive energy efficiency and renewable energy installations, along with technology integration, as the greatest opportunities for business growth, according to our Contractor Activity Tracker for Q4 of 2024. This trend highlights contractors’ shifting attitude toward sustainable, innovative solutions.
Primary Challenges and Obstacles for Contractors
Challenges—such as higher material costs and customers’ financial limitations—affect the type of home improvement activities that professionals can offer and complete. This is true for health- and safety-related projects, as well as green home activities.
Nearly half of contractors feel that materials being more expensive is a constraint for both types of projects. Roughly a third also responded that customers can’t afford healthy home or green features and projects. As material prices continue to change and transportation costs rise, allowances for premium finishes and add-on features are being eroded - which impacts choices made about energy efficient and green product options.
For green home projects, specifically, about 27% of professionals say they’re difficult to sell as a specialty, and another 27% feel customers don’t understand the benefits. A similar percentage believe the same is true for health and safety home projects. About 29% also cite the necessity of specialized training, which presents another challenge for contractors: the skill level and certifications of their employees and subcontractors. According to our data, about a third of employees and subcontractors were unsure about what certifications they had obtained.
For those that were aware of their earned certifications, the most popular credential was Certified Remodeler, Certified Kitchen and Bath Remodeler, or Master Certified by the NARI, which was held by 26% of employees and subcontractors. Only 20% had completed Indoor Air Quality Association (IAQA) trainings and only 19% possessed a Home Energy Rating System (HERS) or other home energy auditor certification.
As you work to develop products for remodeling contractors and create strategies for messaging and distribution, you have to consider both pricing and lack of specialized training as barriers to be addressed.
Addressing Residential Health, Safety, and Energy Objectives and Barriers
In light of industry trends related to healthy housing and enhanced energy efficiency, you can help ensure your brand remains competitive by engaging in product development that supports homeowner objectives regarding health, safety, and energy efficiency, while also addressing the cost concerns.
Additionally, you can position your company’s internal team members and indirect sales partners as the experts that trade professionals need to feel confident incorporating these elements and products into their residential remodeling projects. By doubling as a resource for information and product training, you can bolster your brand’s relevance and ensure you’re staying ahead of the curve as this niche market grows.
At The Farnsworth Group, we can help you dive deeper into these and other industry trends through custom market research to better understand your customer’s motivations, improve your product development and develop your revenue.
