Meet the CEOs Behind VISION House Las Vegas: Crossing the Rubicon

Sara Gutterman, CEO of Green Builder Media, sat down with President & CEO of Beazer Homes Allan Merrill to discuss the rapid transformation of the housing market.

CEO of Green Builder Media Sara Gutterman sat down with Allan Merrill, President & CEO of Beazer Homes, to discuss the importance of projects like VISION House Las Vegas in demonstrating that constructing sustainable Zero Energy Ready homes at scale is not futuristic–it's happening now.

Younger generations are revolutionizing the housing market for the better. Rather than settling for the first affordable option, young prospective homeowners are strategically building their wealth to invest in their first home. They prioritize sustainable housing options to safeguard their health and lower overall homeownership costs.

Merrill shares that the desire to have “healthier air, a quieter home, and lower utility bills are the big three trends” he sees among homebuyers. As a result, the housing market is witnessing a shift towards sustainable housing.

Beazer has positioned itself as an industry leader and innovation champion, staying ahead of the other national production homebuilders. Most recently, Beazer has furthered its sustainability commitment by aiming to achieve Zero Energy Ready Home (ZERH) certification for all its homes by 2025.

Merrill notes that “we needed to have a clear North Star, and for us, given the inevitability of regulatory change and consumer preference evolution, we decided that we wanted to be leaders in energy efficiency. 100% of the homes we deliver will be Zero Energy Ready by the end of 2025.”

Beazer is rapidly making progress on this ambitious target with the vast majority of their homes already being 100% Zero Energy Ready. 

Merrill says that the partnership with Green Builder Media on the VISION House Las Vegas project is a way to “promote to homebuyers, competitors and regulatory authorities that this is not a science experiment, this is something that can be done to scale and it can be done within the combined restraints of consumer preferences, affordability, and the expectations of public companies to generate returns for shareholders.  The VISION House gives us the opportunity to tell that story.”

Gutterman concurs and notes that “Beazer is indeed crossing the rubicon for the housing sector, because there is no longer a world in which net-zero, all electric, healthy, connected, resilient, solar plus storage powered homes are not available at an attainable price point.”

Watch the full video interview here.