For years, the housing conversation has framed affordability and sustainability as competing priorities. Build energy-efficient homes, the argument goes, and costs go up. Focus on affordability, and green features have to be scaled back.
But according to Bill Lazar, that assumption misses the bigger picture.
On The Impact Series podcast, hosted by Green Builder Coalition Executive Director Mike Collignon, Lazar—executive director of the St. Johns Housing Partnership and a Florida contractor with nearly 40 years of experience—argues that durable, efficient homes are the only path to long-term affordability.
Lazar has spent decades working on affordable housing projects across Florida, helping homeowners reduce energy use and improve building performance. Along the way, he’s seen firsthand how small improvements—like tightening a home’s envelope or addressing inefficient systems—can significantly reduce monthly costs.
At the same time, broader shifts in the housing market are making affordability even more complicated. Institutional investors are buying up single-family homes, the number of small builders has declined, and economic incentives often push the market toward larger, higher-margin homes instead of entry-level housing.
The result is a growing gap between the homes people need and the homes being built.
Lazar believes solving that gap requires a shift in thinking—from policymakers, builders, lenders, and communities alike. And it starts with recognizing that sustainability and affordability are not opposing goals, and maybe even trying a few ideas that worked in the past.
To hear the full conversation—and Lazar’s perspective on what it will take to make housing truly affordable—watch this episode of The Impact Series here or wherever you get your podcasts.