Generational Marketing 2024

00:00:01:10 - 00:00:30:07
Mike Collignon: Do another Green Builder media webinar on this very special observation of data innovation. We gather here to hear about hot off the press data that offers insights into each generation's preferences and priorities, as well as their home and lifestyle choices. Yes, this webinar will help building professionals and manufacturers alike understand how to effectively communicate with different age groups and audience segments.

00:00:30:07 - 00:01:03:26
Mike Collignon: But who can share such wisdom with us? Why? That would be Sara Guttman, co-founder and CEO of Green Media. She is a former venture capitalist and graduated cum laude from Dartmouth College, and holds an MBA in Entrepreneurship and Finance from the University of Colorado. She has established a reputation as a visionary, thought leader and passionate advocate for sustainability, and she works closely with a diverse group of stakeholders, as you will see in the building industry, to develop impactful, long term green strategies that are simultaneously sustainable and profitable.

00:01:03:28 - 00:01:28:12
Mike Collignon: Now, our sponsors are also very innovative with their data. One such innovator is Power Shift by N.V. energy, which is a program that helps residential and business customers consume, conserve energy and save money on their power bills. Power shift is a one stop resource to find energy efficient products and services. For more information, please visit their website and the energy.

00:01:28:15 - 00:02:01:27
Mike Collignon: Shift. Now our other innovative sponsor is the Whirlpool Corporation. They are committed to being the best global kitchen and laundry company in constant pursuit of improving life at home in an increasingly digital world. The company is driving purposeful innovation to meet the evolving needs of consumers through its iconic brand portfolio, including names you probably recognize like whirlpool, KitchenAid, Maytag, console, brass, temp, Amana, Gen Air, Indesit and Incinerator.

00:02:01:29 - 00:02:18:06
Mike Collignon: Now you can submit questions for Sarah. Simply use that questions box. It's over in the go to Webinar Control panel. I'm going to review those questions and pose those to her during the Q&A time that we've set aside after her presentation. Sarah, it's been a while. How you been, Mike?

00:02:18:07 - 00:02:21:06
Sara Gutterman: I am fantastic. How are you?

00:02:21:08 - 00:02:26:18
Mike Collignon: I am doing well. I'm looking forward to this colorful presentation. I really am wonderful.

00:02:26:18 - 00:02:54:27
Sara Gutterman: Well, thank you so much as always for being such a fantastic webinar moderator and always our voice of God for all of our events. Also, I want to thank Mary Kestner, our wizard behind the curtain, our production manager extraordinaire, Mary. Thank you. We would not be able to really do anything without you. Thank you also to those of you who have joined us today, I am really excited about our second annual Generational Marketing presentation.

00:02:54:29 - 00:03:18:27
Sara Gutterman: I want to apologize in advance if any of you went to Design and Construction Week not last week, but the week before in Vegas. You probably know that people came home with a variety of ailments. I've heard from high fever to Covid. I came back with a head cold. I'm just getting over it. But if I have to sniffle or cough, please forgive me in advance.

00:03:19:03 - 00:03:54:26
Sara Gutterman: Fortunately, I am almost 100%. So back to generational marketing. For those of you who know me, you know that this is one of my very favorite topics to talk about. So a special thank you to whirlpool and to Powershift by end the energy for helping enable this second annual generational marketing presentation to happen. As Mike said, our generation, our annual Now generational marketing program collects data throughout the course of the year through Cognition Smart Data, which is Green Builder Media's market intelligence and data services division.

00:03:54:26 - 00:04:20:23
Sara Gutterman: So we collect data from our audience, which is comprised of over 200,000 of the most progressive building professionals across the US and up into Canada, and millions of early adopter and first mover consumers, the majority of whom now are Millennial and Gen Z homeowners and aspiring homeowners. So much of the data that I am going to present here is from our audience.

00:04:20:23 - 00:04:40:10
Sara Gutterman: So do keep in mind that this is the leading edge of the market. So with this data, you can certainly make more informed decisions today about what is happening today. But also it's kind of like having a crystal ball, so to speak, because where our audience is today is where the mainstream is heading in the next six, 12, 24 months.

00:04:40:10 - 00:05:07:09
Sara Gutterman: So there's a lot of analysis capability embedded in the ideas and concepts that I'm going to be presenting to you today. Also, with cognition smart Data, we are able to use an AI based platform technology platform that uses Watson's logic to track trends on the web and social media. It's not social listening. It's far, far, far more intelligent than that.

00:05:07:09 - 00:05:36:15
Sara Gutterman: But we track trends in topic areas like decarbonization, net zero, healthy home connected living, solar plus storage. And we gather those insights. We combine them with our audience data to create these insights, and then compile them into reports like this one today. Now, for those of you who saw my generational marketing presentation last year, you will notice that a few of the early context slides are very similar.

00:05:36:16 - 00:06:12:05
Sara Gutterman: A little bit updated, but it's important to first walk through the different generations so that we can understand their similarities and their differences and the unique opportunities associated with them with respect to building and the housing sector. And when we do that, we understand that each generation's preferences and behavioral patterns is really shift shaped and formulated by the experiences that they had while growing up, maybe in their early adult years.

00:06:12:05 - 00:06:43:25
Sara Gutterman: And that includes things like wars, recessions, elections, cultural events, and different trends that impacted the way that they view the world in general and the world around them. Now, what we're seeing is a unique dynamic in the West, and particularly here in the US, and that is that baby boomers who have worked for longer than their predecessors are now starting to retire in droves.

00:06:43:25 - 00:07:25:11
Sara Gutterman: And as they leave the workforce, as they leave politics, younger generations are taking those leadership positions and Gen Xers are poised to take those leadership positions. However, an uncontested ascension is not necessarily guaranteed, because what we're seeing is that a lot of entrepreneurial and enterprising millennials and Gen Zs are leapfrogging Gen Xers in certain areas and business and politics and taking on those leadership positions and the younger generation, as you'll see in the data, I'm going to present the more of a sustainability ethic they have embraced.

00:07:25:11 - 00:07:57:16
Sara Gutterman: And so the way that they make decisions, it is impacted both in their political and and professional world and also in their personal world and therefore in their homes and in their lifestyles. So I want to walk through the four generations that are really impacting the housing market. So that's boomers, Xers, millennials and Zs. I'm not really going to get into traditionalists who are older than baby boomers or alphas that are younger than Zs, because they don't really have as much of an impact on the housing market today.

00:07:57:16 - 00:08:30:21
Sara Gutterman: So we'll focus on the four main generational influencers in the housing market. So let's start with baby boomers that were born in the 1946 to about 64 range. There's a little over 70 million of them in the US, and they own over half of all US household wealth. There are about 42% of billionaire wealth, and they comprise the majority of senior leadership positions at this time in large companies, in federal and national elected official positions.

00:08:30:21 - 00:08:59:16
Sara Gutterman: They grew up in a relatively stable environment, and they very much have a work to get ahead mentality. In fact, some younger generations call baby boomers workaholics and as I mentioned, they've had longer careers, longer work lives than generations that are older to older than them. They haven't really retired at the age of 55 and gone to play golf and tennis like my grandparents did.

00:08:59:18 - 00:09:34:15
Sara Gutterman: And they are also what we call aging with gusto. So they're active, they have liquid wealth, they're educated, and they're really kind of redefining the concept of aging because they're actually starting second or third or maybe even fourth careers or jobs. Some are even starting second or third families, and they're very engaged in living and learning. They're becoming increasingly more technologically savvy, and they want to be independent when they are looking, for example, to downsize, say, into 55 plus communities.

00:09:34:15 - 00:09:57:27
Sara Gutterman: They're looking for activities like walking trails and being able to to spend time in nature. They're certainly also looking for enhanced home health care. I'll talk about that in just a second. Now, about 85% of people over 16 own their own homes, and they have an average household net worth of about 1.2 million. So clearly, this is an affluent generation.

00:09:57:28 - 00:10:25:10
Sara Gutterman: They are, you know, nearing the end or at the end of their careers. Now, we are starting to see that some aging boomers that are on a fixed income are struggling with daily expenses and housing costs. And so there are ways to address that. Again, I'll talk about that in a second. But this generation, more really than younger generations, tie their homes into their identity.

00:10:25:10 - 00:10:58:15
Sara Gutterman: That's just kind of how they were brought up. And about 70% are looking to age in place. And so a high percentage of them are either currently or they intend to remodel, and nearly 95% of them want energy efficient homes. So if you correlate that math, clearly, there's opportunity in this generation with respect to energy efficiency enhancement. So some upfront investment to yield lower ongoing cost of homeownership and utility bills over time.

00:10:58:15 - 00:11:27:06
Sara Gutterman: And then, of course, you know, there is the kind of normal 55, 60, 65 plus types of amenities that they're looking in their homes, like wider doors and hallways, maybe bigger windows for certainly first floor bedrooms and bathrooms and then very low maintenance exteriors and landscaping. Now, the biggest opportunity that we are seeing with respect to baby boomers is what we call assisted living technology.

00:11:27:06 - 00:12:12:27
Sara Gutterman: This could also be called home health care or technologies that enable boomers to age in their homes. We certainly saw during Covid and this has remained since Covid, a high level of interest in not going into assisted living facilities. And actually now, if you look at the numbers, the costs of moving into an assisted living facility versus investing in assisted living technology in baby boomers existing homes, the numbers actually work out for the investments in connected living in this connected home, health care, home health care, technology and other assisted living technologies, which might include sensors and monitors.

00:12:12:27 - 00:12:35:24
Sara Gutterman: So, for example, I haven't yet, but at some point I may put a sensor or a monitor on my parents refrigerator or on their toilet so that I can get a notification if they're not opening and closing the refrigerator or using their toilets, just to know that something is not functioning correctly. Now let's move on to Gen Xers.

00:12:35:25 - 00:13:04:01
Sara Gutterman: This is a little bit of a smaller generation, about 65.8 million in the US, and Xers have a spending power of about 2.4 trillion at this point. It's a very educated generation, and extras lead with respect to cultural power, which means that they have the most the highest number of leadership positions in media and the news and other elements that impact culture.

00:13:04:02 - 00:13:27:08
Sara Gutterman: They also have the majority of city Council member positions and small business executive positions. Now, extras also grew up in a relatively stable economy, and they too have that work to get ahead mentality. However, keep in mind this is the generation of the X games and so fitness and wellness is certainly top of mind remains top of mind to this generation.

00:13:27:09 - 00:13:56:22
Sara Gutterman: Now two really important notes to make with respect to Gen Xers one, they lost the majority of their generational equity in the 2008 recession. It was somewhere around the 80 to 85% of extra generational wealth that was lost in that 2008 recession, so it's made them very conservative home buyers. The second thing of note is that Xers right now are what's called the sandwich generation.

00:13:56:22 - 00:14:25:05
Sara Gutterman: So many of them are taking care of parents and children and in some cases grandchildren as well. So they have a lot of responsibility with respect to various different generations in their families. So how that translates into their housing choices is that they are looking for spaces where they can entertain and gather various different generations, their friends, their family.

00:14:25:07 - 00:14:52:03
Sara Gutterman: Now keep in mind, extras are at the peak of their careers. And so they're kind of winning the housing market, so to speak, right now with with respect to home prices versus their income levels. So they are able to invest in upgrades. They're looking for flexible homes that can accommodate those kind of multiple generations that they're taking care of, but also different phases of their lives.

00:14:52:03 - 00:15:21:11
Sara Gutterman: They're looking at buying their forever homes now, if they're not already in them, or enhancing the homes that they're already in so that they too can age in place. Now, as I mentioned, they are very focused on function and fitness. So home gyms are important to this generation as well as home offices. A lot of Xers do want to work from home, and they also very much want those seamless indoor outdoor spaces with, again, those gathering areas where they can bring together their family and their friends.

00:15:21:14 - 00:15:51:02
Sara Gutterman: Switching over to millennials again, large one of the largest generations, 72.1 million in the US. And if we think about it, 75% of millennials will come. Well let me sorry. Let me switch that around. Millennials will comprise 75% of the workforce by 2025. That's next year. I started quoting this stat a couple of years ago in 2025. Seemed like forever in the future, but that's less than a year away now.

00:15:51:02 - 00:16:20:12
Sara Gutterman: So clearly millennials, when we talk about millennials having the top influencer position in many different aspects, including the housing sector, that's just one data point that corroborates that claim. They have a spending power of about 2.5 trillion. It's actually bigger than Xers, even though they're not at the peak of their careers. There's just more millennials. But keep in mind, you know, this generation grew up in a less stable economic environment.

00:16:20:13 - 00:16:50:14
Sara Gutterman: They graduated during the Great Recession. I think, you know, many of us who have studied millennials know that they have sat on the sidelines for longer than older generations because of the chasm between wage growth and high home prices. But also keep in mind that this is a generation that very much values purpose, in many cases over paycheck, and they value deep relationships and social purpose.

00:16:50:14 - 00:17:19:06
Sara Gutterman: And so a lot of decision making that this generation makes is based on things like what's going to enhance their happiness, how can they help reduce their carbon footprint, how can they optimize their health and wellness? You can see from the chart on top here, they drink less and they exercise more than older generations. They've also really brought plant, plant based diets to the forefront of our national dialog.

00:17:19:08 - 00:17:46:21
Sara Gutterman: They believe that the failure to mitigate and adapt to climate change is the number one top global risk of highest concern. Now, keep in mind this question actually was asked about eight months ago. So I think if it were asked today, Covid would probably be smaller. I think economic instability would be much higher, but you can see how much higher their interest is in climate change and their concern for it, even over social instability, gun violence.

00:17:46:21 - 00:18:19:19
Sara Gutterman: I wish the water crisis was higher on this list, just because I think water is our crisis of the moment that we have not yet solved for. But you can see again here what their priorities are. So going back, though, to their economic realities and professional perspective. Again, millennials have been dealing with kind of the the dynamics of paying off student debt and rising costs of living with household formation and really needing to buy homes for starting or growing families.

00:18:19:22 - 00:18:46:26
Sara Gutterman: And so I think that that's really impacted the housing market. We'll talk a little bit more about that a little bit later. But one of the things that really stands out and this is constant, this is not an outlier response to one survey. It's kind of a constant response is that resiliency is two, three, four x times more important to millennials than other generations.

00:18:46:28 - 00:19:09:12
Sara Gutterman: And it's largely because they personally feel the impacts of climate change, particularly in the form of climate events, hurricanes, tornadoes, extreme temperatures. And they are reporting that they absolutely are experiencing negative impacts from climate based events.

00:19:09:14 - 00:19:38:18
Sara Gutterman: Now, with respect to housing, in terms of what millennials want, I like to say that they want the sustainability unicorn. They want compact homes that are easy to clean and heat and cool and maintain. They want healthy, connected, resilient, solar plus storage powered homes. Connected living is just kind of a baseline. They want homes that have indoor outdoor spaces with outdoor living areas where they can grow their own food.

00:19:38:18 - 00:20:01:21
Sara Gutterman: Again, it's really kind of they want it all. What they are willing to sacrifice, we're finding, is square footage. So they definitely don't even want McMansions. And then some of the traditional upgrades that older generations used to prioritize and spend money on. I think, you know, the kind of the cliche there are the granite countertops and the and the Jacuzzi.

00:20:01:23 - 00:20:36:13
Sara Gutterman: That's not even on the radar of millennials these days. They want a pleasant living experience. They want enhanced comfort. But they also understand that investing in higher efficiency and more sustainable products will actually increase their total value of home ownership and their and decrease their cost of homeownership over time. So I mentioned earlier that, you know, we like to claim that millennials have seized the top influencer position in the housing market, and this is another data point to corroborate that.

00:20:36:13 - 00:21:01:29
Sara Gutterman: So I only have data through 2002 at this point. But you can see the blue line are millennials. This is home purchase applications. Millennials represented 54% of home home purchase applications in 2022. Whereas the red line is Gen Xers. That's going down. Boomers are that yellow line. What's really important to note, though, is that little orange line that's Gen Z.

00:21:02:00 - 00:21:34:23
Sara Gutterman: They're just hitting the market. They're just hitting the housing scene. But you can imagine that those numbers are going to grow like a hockey stick over the next couple of years. The other thing we've seen in, well, we'll say last year into this year is an increase in boomers as buyers. And we've seen reports from, for example, the National Association of Realtors who have said that there was a period of time when boomers actually eclipsed millennials in terms of volume of home purchases.

00:21:34:25 - 00:22:07:08
Sara Gutterman: I really think that's really more of a blip as opposed to a long term trend. You can see the numbers here. Boomers are trending down, whereas millennials are trending up. I think that's going to continue to happen. So while it's important to pay attention to boomers because it is the most affluent generation, and they have been cash buyers over the course of the past two quarters, you know, I think that that's probably more of an ebb and flow, whereas millennials are on a solid track to continue to increase household formation.

00:22:07:10 - 00:22:42:10
Sara Gutterman: Now let's talk about Gen Z's again, a little bit of a smaller generation than millennials and even boomers. So at about 68.6 million individuals. So a little bit bigger than Xers. Their spending power right now is about 360 billion. So compare that to 2.4 2.3 trillion for millennials and Xers respectively. But that number again just like their housing purchases, is going to increase like a hockey stick over the next handful of years.

00:22:42:11 - 00:23:09:14
Sara Gutterman: Now, their childhood was marked by two crippling recessions in a global pandemic, and that has really led this generation to be very debt averse and budget conscious. They're considered to be discerning and sensible with respect to their spending patterns, and they've really kind of turned on its head. Things like brand loyalty, historical brand loyalty. They don't want to wear fashionable or recognizable brands.

00:23:09:14 - 00:23:43:08
Sara Gutterman: They don't really want to buy into the oh, well, so-and-so, you know, wears Prada or, you know, buys this brand or that brand. In fact, they're kind of the anti brand generation. What we know is that the number of Gen Z that are single living with parents and students are going down, whereas the number of Gen Z that are employed, that are parents themselves and that are married are going up, and you can actually see those two lines towards the bottom of this chart.

00:23:43:11 - 00:24:09:29
Sara Gutterman: The number, the gray line is actually the number of Gen Z that are parents. That's actually higher than the number of Gen Z that are married. That's that bottom line there. So they're both going up. But the number of parents is higher than the ones that that's married. So that's also a different dynamic than older generations. That was really a taboo for boomers and even a little bit for Xers, although certainly less so now.

00:24:09:29 - 00:24:35:22
Sara Gutterman: These are the most diverse generation in American history. The chart on the bottom right is not a cognition chart. This is from Pew. And you can see here that that the number of Caucasian Xers is about 52%, whereas Hispanic, black, Asian and other comprises about the other half. And so that just the numbers alone show that this is literally the most diverse generation in American history.

00:24:35:22 - 00:25:10:07
Sara Gutterman: And that's also translated into more of a kind of a liberal consciousness where equality is really a guiding principle. So equality and social justice is has shifted from a nice to have to a must have for millennials. But again, it's really even more fundamental forces. And so I think that that is going to continue to impact the way that Gen Zs make decisions in their personal, political and professional lives moving forward.

00:25:10:07 - 00:25:41:14
Sara Gutterman: And while only 17% of Gen Zs will be eligible voters in 2024, 35% will be eligible by 2036, and about 38% of Gen Zs have already entered the workforce, either full or part time. So again, we're starting to see the impact of Gen Z in the workforce. Now, when we asked Gen Zs about their priorities, they too are very concerned about climate change, racism, gun violence, pollution.

00:25:41:14 - 00:26:14:17
Sara Gutterman: But something that's really important to note about Gen Z is that they have a very high level of guilt and shame about their impact on the environment. And so they are they've brought about a new and emerging form of medicine and science, which is called eco psychology. This is a real thing. It's not my term, and it's really because Gen Z's are considered to be the loneliest generation.

00:26:14:19 - 00:26:52:17
Sara Gutterman: About 61% report feelings of sadness and anger and powerlessness and helplessness when it comes to mitigating impacts of climate change. A little over half, about 50% plus feel ignored when they try to express their climate anxiety to older generations. And many of them are pissed off at older generations for largely ignoring climate science. And yet, this is a generation that is most prone to anxiety and mental health conditions, but is least comfortable talking about their mental health.

00:26:52:17 - 00:27:24:22
Sara Gutterman: So there's a little bit of a disconnect between the way that they feel and their willingness or their ability to actually talk about that. And so, you know, that's important for those of us who are employing Gen Zs to understand that what they are looking for right now are cultures in their workplaces where they can interact and learn and they can be mentored, but also where they can be a mentor.

00:27:24:23 - 00:27:58:20
Sara Gutterman: They want to share their voices. They want to feel challenged. They certainly want remote working capability. I think that Gen Z have really erroneously been accused of being a little lazy or, you know, kind of quiet quitting jobs that they don't like. And what we found is that that's not true. Our Gen Z team, they are the hardest workers on the team, or at least as hard of those of us who are working.

00:27:58:22 - 00:28:29:00
Sara Gutterman: And they will be very passionate and dedicated and committed to roles and positions and companies that they feel good about, and they can actually help them alleviate that guilt and shame about, you know, what they're feeling with respect to their impact on the environment. Now, when we ask the various different generations what their number one metric is to define success, boomers, extras and millennials largely say a happy family life.

00:28:29:00 - 00:29:07:11
Sara Gutterman: Boomers and Xers. Now inner peace is on the rise. With respect to Gen Z. Understandably, career achievement is still one of the highest metrics of success because they're young and they have yet to achieve what they can and will certainly the successes in their careers. And when we ask what the most important job attribute is to the various different generations, boomers, actors and millennials say largely it's the ability to support their families and a pathway to financial success, whereas freedom and flexibility and the ability to support hobbies and other interests are the top two criteria for Gen Z.

00:29:07:12 - 00:29:36:07
Sara Gutterman: Now, that might change as Gen Z's grow and form family families and have kids and need to prioritize that support of their families. But right now, you can see kind of the difference in career success and attributes. Now, staying on the topic of Gen Z's The American Dream is very much alive within the Gen Z generation. About 80% have their sights set on homeownership.

00:29:36:07 - 00:29:57:26
Sara Gutterman: And this chart again, not a cognition chart. Everything that I don't call out is a cognition chart. The ones that I do call out are not cognition chart. So this one's from Rocket Homes. And you can see nearly 45% of Gen Z's want to own a home within five years. Think about the impact that that will have on the housing market.

00:29:57:27 - 00:30:26:14
Sara Gutterman: Now, there are a few obstacles to Gen Z's buying homes. The first is a pretty big chasm between what Gen Zs expect homes to to cost versus what they actually cost. So the expectation is about 223,000 versus the national median average price, which is over 417,000. Now, that was from the fourth quarter of last year. That's come down a little bit first quarter of this year.

00:30:26:14 - 00:31:07:03
Sara Gutterman: But still you can see that's a pretty large difference. And clearly, with just the fact that Gen Z are just entering the housing market, there's a large gap between their wages and wage growth versus home prices. They too have student loans and credit card debts. And so Gen Z are now being forced to purchase homes and tertiary, secondary and tertiary markets not in the highest priced primary markets, which makes sense because they can just first by homes, but then certainly, you know, get more for their buck in those secondary and tertiary markets.

00:31:07:06 - 00:31:46:04
Sara Gutterman: Gen Z's two want the sustainability unicorn with respect to their homes. But whereas millennials want to have net zero, all electric, smart, connected, resilient, healthy, solar plus storage homes Gen. These really have just a fundamental baseline requirement for a lot of these sustainability upgrades. Now keep in mind they are absolutely struggling with the the cost and the the cost of homes, the cost of just daily expenses, again, because of where they are in their careers.

00:31:46:04 - 00:32:18:25
Sara Gutterman: So there is this dynamic within Gen Zs that they want the most sustainable home possible, but they can't necessarily afford high end bells and whistles. And so what that does is it puts the onus on building professionals, those of us who are designing and building homes, to really rethink the way that we are offering homes to these younger generations with the benefits and amenities that they're looking for, but at a price point that they can afford.

00:32:18:25 - 00:32:55:18
Sara Gutterman: And so as we work with our builder and developer and even our manufacturer partners, we're really trying to help them plan for this Gen Z generation and the flood of Gen Zs that's going to be coming into the housing market over the next handful of years. So we talk with them about, okay, what are the trade offs that you can offer where you provide more energy efficiency and electrification, energy efficiency upgrades and electrification, and healthy home and connected living upgrades, and maybe scale back on other things in order again to kind of meet that magic unicorn desire.

00:32:55:21 - 00:33:27:08
Sara Gutterman: So let's shift gears and talk about economic realities for the various generations. This is a recent kind of hot off the press Cognition survey, where we ask the different generations about their home ownership. And you can see that boomers, Xers and millennials in that order are the largest single family home owners. And not surprisingly, Gen Zs. Our you know, they they report that they are renting homes and condos and apartments.

00:33:27:10 - 00:34:00:27
Sara Gutterman: All of the generations are struggling with inflation and high interest rates, which have caused them to curb spending in areas like dining out and travel entertainment. I think that extras actually are reporting the the largest problems and the biggest struggle just dealing with daily expenses. And that is because, again, they are that sandwich generation. They're taking care of multiple generations, whereas Gen Zs might not have those same kind of spending requirements.

00:34:00:27 - 00:34:28:02
Sara Gutterman: They're not taking care of parents, grandparents, children, grandchildren. So they're cutting back more in areas like travel and entertainment. And we're seeing that on average, each of the generations are telling us that they've cut back 10 to 20, 11 to 20% on these various different household expenses. And again, we see here Gen Xers are having problems just affording daily expenses.

00:34:28:02 - 00:34:59:17
Sara Gutterman: Baby boomers as well, certainly home renovations across the board. And then, not surprisingly, the younger generations are struggling with childcare, college loans, etc. and again, because Gen Xers lost a lot of that equity in the 2008 recession, they are the most conservative home buyer right now, and they are also the generation that thinks the economy is getting worse, whereas Gen Z actually think it's getting better.

00:34:59:19 - 00:35:32:00
Sara Gutterman: So a little bit more optimism in the younger generations than the older generations. We see that Gen Z and also millennials are planning to wait and see what interest rates and the economy does for the next few months before they, they purchase homes or before they really engage in or resume home buying efforts and initiatives, whereas Boomers and Xers tell us that they either own a home and they're happy with it, as is all.

00:35:32:04 - 00:36:04:09
Sara Gutterman: They own a home, and they're looking to remodel it. Now, let's talk about how each generation and the younger generations in particular, influence corporations and businesses. So keep in mind that millennials and Gen Zs, these younger generations, feel very strongly that companies should take a stand on environmental issues. 93% believe that 87% are worried about climate change in the environment, 78% prefer purchasing products from sustainable brands.

00:36:04:09 - 00:36:39:19
Sara Gutterman: And this one really gets me 56% of Millennials and Gen Z's. And again, these are our early adopter and first mover. Audience members think that humanity is doomed because of climate change. That's not 6% or 16%. That's 56%. That's just a shockingly high number to me. So probably not surprisingly, there's a very high level of awareness about decarbonization in the millennial and Z generations versus Boomers and Xers, and the younger generations really have no questions whatsoever.

00:36:39:19 - 00:37:08:19
Sara Gutterman: They believe that decarbonization is helpful to business is. Whereas if you look at boomers, it's about, you know, 40 to 38% that believe, you know, harm, helpful versus harmful, you know, in terms of decarbonization strategies with respect to business. But again, younger generations believe that decarbonization results in enhanced innovation, yields greater financial returns and generates positive brand equity.

00:37:08:21 - 00:37:48:23
Sara Gutterman: And the younger generation, the more that environmental, social and governance or ESG factors into their decisions. When making decisions about purchasing products for their home. So if you look at the green and the blue, that's extremely important and very important. And you can see the younger the generation, the larger those bars are, you know, collectively. And so what that is doing is it's starting to pull through the need for things like environmental product declarations for products that are being purchased in homes, partly because of the consumer demand, but also partly because of builder demand.

00:37:48:23 - 00:38:19:19
Sara Gutterman: And we'll talk about that in a minute. You can see younger generations want manufacturers to take a stand on environmental issues as well as social issues. Younger generations really generations across the board want manufacturers now to use locally sourced materials, electrify, electrify their transportation, produce products using renewable energy, make products with sustainably harvested materials. Keep in mind. These were not necessarily priorities.

00:38:19:25 - 00:38:47:08
Sara Gutterman: You know, five years ago, certainly not ten years ago. So all of these have gone from zero to something in the last, you know, 3 to 5 years. But here's the rub. We are at an historically low level of consumer trust. 78% of our readers believe that it's extremely important or very important for companies to have transparent and ethical business practices.

00:38:47:11 - 00:39:20:10
Sara Gutterman: You can see here about 70% of millennials think that companies greenwash very often. So it's really a pivotal time for companies, whether that's builders and developers, architects or certainly manufacturers, to understand one, that it's more important than ever that they have a strong sustainability story, but two, that sustainability story has to have data. It has to be authentic, and it has to really resonate in the minds of consumers.

00:39:20:10 - 00:39:54:18
Sara Gutterman: And I will tell you right now that every single Surette focus group survey that we do, a audience of all generations, particularly the younger generations, tell us that they would rather hear a story from a company, that they are making progress, and they're not quite there with respect to their stated goals and commitments, or that they've stumbled, but they've learned a good lesson and they're trying again, rather than a message that overshoots and green washes.

00:39:54:20 - 00:40:37:12
Sara Gutterman: So my advice to anyone listening is tell the story, but make sure it's real and it's okay to be, quote, human. And I'm putting that in a quote because I'm talking about businesses and that that's a whole other conversation. Are businesses do they have, you know, personal and individual rights? I'm not going there. But simply what I'm saying is that be real in the messaging, because right now, in the time of just the chaos and the bedlam of this moment, divisive politics, fake news, gun violence, runaway climate change right now, younger generations, they need some hope.

00:40:37:13 - 00:41:01:02
Sara Gutterman: They really need to feel like the future is going to be better. And 81% of millennials and Gen Z believe that companies are a pivotal part of the climate change solution, and just the solution to getting to a more unified dynamic in the world. 85% want to be engaged with companies to develop better solutions. They want to be involved.

00:41:01:02 - 00:41:26:29
Sara Gutterman: So engage these younger generations, hear what they have to say, listen to their ideas and opinions because they have good ones. And 82% say that the more socially and environmentally responsible a company is, the more motivated and loyal they will be as an employee, as and as a customer. So you can see here that sustainability is a strong purchase driver.

00:41:27:02 - 00:42:01:19
Sara Gutterman: But more than that, it's a strong loyalty driver. And really right now trust is it's everything. You know, trust drives behavior. And ultimately the success or the failure of a business. And if you were to ask Harvard Business Review, I took this from Harvard Business Review. You know, they're kind of four components to build trust as a company, involve perceived humanity, transparency, capability to deliver on your stated goals and then reliability.

00:42:01:21 - 00:42:37:21
Sara Gutterman: Are you putting out consistent products and messaging? And I think that right now, because younger generations will comprise the majority of purchasing power in the US and really globally, you know, within the next 2 to 3 to even five years, we'll say that it is it will never be more important and never be more timely than right now, today, to craft a solid sustainability strategy, backed up by action and then backed up by authentic messaging.

00:42:37:24 - 00:43:07:03
Sara Gutterman: The level of awareness about sustainability has never been so high. But it will. It's it will never be as low as it is today as well. We're only moving forward with respect to trust, with respect to perception, and then with respect to the loyalty that is created, especially by younger generations when companies have solid sustainability strategies in place.

00:43:07:06 - 00:43:50:23
Sara Gutterman: Now, the other thing that's really important to note here is that while consumer demand and investor demand is really pushing through a lot of progress with respect to corporate sustainability, environmental, social and governance strategies, environmental product declarations, the other thing that is now here is climate risk disclosure requirements. So the state of California, a couple of months ago passed climate risk disclosure laws that by next year, companies over a certain threshold of revenue are going to have to report scope one, two and three emissions.

00:43:50:23 - 00:44:40:20
Sara Gutterman: So that's similar to what the EU has in place with respect to climate risk disclosure requirements. So that is involves climate emissions directly from the company's activities, climate emissions from energy that is sourced by the company, but then also the emissions from all of their supply chain partners and vendors. So if you want to do business in the state of California or with companies that do business in the state of California, you are going to have to create ESG strategies and reporting so that you can pass those along to the companies that are going to that are going to be required to report this.

00:44:40:20 - 00:45:07:25
Sara Gutterman: So this changes the game entirely. We also saw last week that the SEC approved their climate risk disclosure requirements just for scope one and two. They did not approve scope three, which honestly, I understand that would have been a very heavy lift, I think. I hope that at some point they will approve that. I think I can understand where they wanted to just walk before they run.

00:45:07:27 - 00:45:52:03
Sara Gutterman: But again, here, even though scope three, which is that vendor and supply chain requirement was not approved, you can rest assured that climate risk disclosure and as a part of that, ESG carbon offsets and a scope of other corporate sustainability elements are going to continue to be required as we move forward. We're not rolling back from there. And so if you haven't already, I would say leave this webinar, go directly into your, you know, CEO, your board, your VP's, your colleagues offices, bang on the door and say, we must talk about this now.

00:45:52:06 - 00:46:16:10
Sara Gutterman: Change is happening now. Systemic long term change, irreversible change. Exciting change. There are plush, cushy seats in the bar car on the train. Let's go get them. Let's not wait until the train is left the station and run behind it and try to catch up. Let's ask ourselves the hard questions now. What do our consumers want? What does the world need?

00:46:16:11 - 00:46:53:02
Sara Gutterman: How can my brand actually create true value? How can my company shift from a model of extracting value by exploiting people in nature to creating value, by enriching the lives of shareholders and the environment? How can we embrace diverse perspectives and widen our representation and create deeper connections with those that we serve? Whether it's our employees are investors, our customers, our communities that we function in, all of these entities with sustainability as the true north.

00:46:53:02 - 00:47:39:16
Sara Gutterman: Because right now, if you're not doing that, sorry to say sorry to break it to you, but somebody has to. And if not me, who you're already behind the eight ball. Because right now it is so important that companies lead from the front that companies are transparent and honest, not just in their messaging, but internally about what their role is with respect to these urgent environmental and climate and social challenges that we have and how your brand is perceived today, how it will be perceived with respect to sustainability, with respect to how you deploy your human and financial capital to uplift and support and collaborate with causes and communities.

00:47:39:18 - 00:48:07:16
Sara Gutterman: Now enough preaching. Forgive me, I'll get off my soapbox and get back to data. Let's talk about climate priorities, because what we're seeing is that as younger generations emerge, as the market transforms certain purchase drivers, as I mentioned earlier, they're hitting the scene that never hit the scene before, right? So when we talked about product purchase drivers five, eight years ago, it was quality.

00:48:07:16 - 00:48:38:02
Sara Gutterman: It was performance, it was warranty, it was cost. But now it's circularity, its life cycle assessment and environmental product declarations. It's decarbonization and sequestration. These are brand new words in terms over the last handful of years that are rising quickly with respect to priorities, product priorities and even kind of home and community purchase drivers and priorities within the leading edge of the market.

00:48:38:03 - 00:49:04:13
Sara Gutterman: I would not say that they're mainstream yet. I don't want to overpromise on that front, but what we are seeing is that our audience, they're taking action themselves. They are increasing the energy efficiency of their home, turning their homes all electric, installing solar, driving electric vehicles, eating less meat, eating organic, traveling less, purchasing carbon offsets, and growing their own food in order to decarbonize their lifestyle.

00:49:04:14 - 00:49:34:22
Sara Gutterman: These are things that they are telling us that they're doing in order to meet the challenges of the moment. The other important thing that we're seeing is that across the board, we see a higher willingness than ever to invest in decarbonize solutions for homes, vehicles, consumer products, flights, packaging. Interestingly, Boomers and Xers say that they'll spend a lot more for Decarbonized packaging than millennials.

00:49:34:22 - 00:50:04:25
Sara Gutterman: But again, you know, the the willingness to invest a handful of years ago was close to zero. Now we're seeing it, you know, in much, much higher levels. And these numbers are continuing to grow. We also see that our audience believes that their food supply and their water supply will be most impacted. And actually, it's the reverse its water and then food, and then followed by personal safety and security and energy supply will be most impacted by climate change.

00:50:04:25 - 00:50:36:24
Sara Gutterman: And so we are watching solutions that will enhance water availability and quality within the built environment. And then certainly, you know, we're seeing a big increase in homeowners interest in growing their own foods in gardens and even in pots on decks. We see that across the board. Each generation believes that their area is grappling with water quality issues, water shortages and availability issues, or both.

00:50:36:26 - 00:51:18:22
Sara Gutterman: And then again, we're starting to see climate action priorities like restoring ecosystems and habitats to protect wildlife, funding climate beneficial farms that act as carbon sinks, removing PFAS from soil, air and water, and harvesting and recycling ocean plastic as purchase priorities. So all of a sudden, we're starting to see this translation of values into decision making. And then certainly other product priorities nontoxic, made with sustainably harvested materials, made with recycled materials and renewable energy.

00:51:18:22 - 00:51:52:05
Sara Gutterman: All of these things, again, are increasing in desirability. Now let's translate this all into how this impacts the housing market. So we know conventional thinking is that bigger is better and that all home home buyers are looking for lowest upfront costs. And they want these kind of luxury upgrades. What is actually happening now is that certainly during Covid and since then, there's been a change in the consumer psyche that our homes are sanctuary.

00:51:52:06 - 00:52:29:17
Sara Gutterman: It's our most intimate space where we are supposed to feel best. And so we're seeing and we started seeing this before Covid, but even more now. So an increased interest in a willingness to invest in sustainability upgrades, if it will yield a higher ROI by reducing ongoing costs, increasing resale value and just increasing general experience and comfort. Now, when we ask the various generations what they're more focused on when purchasing a home, it always used to be upfront price and cost per square foot.

00:52:29:17 - 00:53:09:27
Sara Gutterman: And honestly, that is certainly still the case for Gen Z, just given where they are in their careers and their ability to afford homes. But you can see here boomers and even millennials are at about 5050. They tell us that long term value and operating costs is actually more important now than that upfront cost per square foot. And we can see that the younger generation, the more they are willing to invest in sustainability upgrades like energy efficiency, electrification technologies, healthy home water innovations, solar plus storage, smart technology and resiliency products if those upgrades will lower their ongoing cost of homeownership over time.

00:53:09:27 - 00:53:35:11
Sara Gutterman: So there's a connection now in these younger generations in particular minds, that investment now yields long term ROI and benefit. And here's I'd like to show this. This is just what I just showed. I just showed the individual charts for these different elements. But you can see that the dark line on the right in each of these categories are Millennials and Gen Z's.

00:53:35:12 - 00:53:57:25
Sara Gutterman: The blue line in the middle are all four generations put together. And then the green line are builders. And so the two younger generations will always, you know, kind of consistently across the board, say that they will invest in these sustainability upgrades more so than all consumers when lumped together, and certainly more than what builders think that they will invest.

00:53:57:25 - 00:54:24:14
Sara Gutterman: And there's, you know, kind of the biggest chasms in areas like energy efficiency, electrification, healthy home, etc.. Now, I mentioned resiliency earlier and how important just the topic in general is to millennials. I kind of want to put it in a little bit of a different context here. So the interest in owning a home is pretty similar across the four generations, let's say on average 80, 81%.

00:54:24:14 - 00:54:52:24
Sara Gutterman: But the younger generation, the more they have considered moving due to climate change, the more they're concerned about climate change impacting the value of their home. And now the more they are reporting that they're having trouble getting insurance for their home. Look at this difference between 16% of boomers telling us that they have problems getting insurance for their homes because of climate events, versus 77% of Gen Z.

00:54:52:26 - 00:55:22:20
Sara Gutterman: Now, I look at this when I interpret this data. To me it means boomers are in their homes. They have existing homeowner insurance policies that are in place. They've been in place for years. Insurance companies maybe think that those boomers are a safe bet, whereas geez, Gen Z are new customers, and insurance companies have a very different equation right now that they're using when they are assessing risk, especially when it comes to new policies.

00:55:22:20 - 00:55:44:01
Sara Gutterman: So you can see the insurance. We already know that the insurance industry has changed dramatically as climate events have ramped up. We've seen national insurance companies pulling out of states like Florida and California because of super storms, hurricanes, flooding, mostly on, you know, in the eastern half of the country, whereas it's wildfires in the western half of the country.

00:55:44:04 - 00:56:19:07
Sara Gutterman: But this is a pretty shocking statistic to me. Now, again, you know, we see that younger generations emphasize sustainability upgrades like net zero carbon, all electric. But these changes aren't necessarily just for consumers. When we ask our builder audience if they have noticed an increase in demand for ESG compliant homes, so homes that are energy efficient or all electric or have some kind of a certification either for the home or the or products within the home, you can see our builder audience.

00:56:19:07 - 00:56:43:29
Sara Gutterman: Over 80% of our Millennial and Gen Z builder audience say that there has been an increase in consumer demand, but maybe even as well. More important, but at least as important, is the chart on the bottom right here, where our builders tell us that they are seeing an increase in demand from their lenders when they actually go to get financing for homes.

00:56:44:05 - 00:57:09:08
Sara Gutterman: With respect to having ESG policies in place and across the board, when we ask our the various different generations about what kind of ESG investments in the building sector they think will experience the greatest growth. Generally speaking, it's water conservation technologies and then HVAC, energy efficient HVAC system technologies like heat pumps.

00:57:09:11 - 00:57:30:16
Sara Gutterman: People feel good about energy efficiency upgrades. They're interested in home energy audits. Again, the anger, the generation, the higher the level of interest. I love to show this chart. Those of you who have seen me speak in the last year have seen this chart. 100% of our Gen Z audience want to live in an all electric home 100%.

00:57:30:16 - 00:57:57:21
Sara Gutterman: And this is constant. This, again, is not a response to one survey, and it's because Gen Z, they have no ambiguity about this. They equate all electric homes with Teslas. It's a high value product to them also, again, across all generations they want to go solar, mostly to reduce their environmental impact and to increase their self-sufficiency, whereas saving money is a little bit lower on the priority list.

00:57:57:21 - 00:58:22:05
Sara Gutterman: And then across all generations, they want to use IRA rebates and incentives to fund energy efficiency and electrification technology upgrades. Now, I think I have about two minutes left and then we'll we'll spend a few minutes just answering any questions, but just bear with me for the last two minutes. I'm just going to wrap up with a very brief forecast.

00:58:22:07 - 00:58:48:23
Sara Gutterman: Fortunately, we anticipate that sales will continue to grow in 2024. They're projected to grow by about a half a million over 2023, which was already an up year. We do anticipate that housing prices will slightly drop. No big free falls. We don't have to, you know, brace for impact and that mortgage rates are going to end up in the 6 to 6.5% range by the end of the year.

00:58:48:26 - 00:59:17:21
Sara Gutterman: We do see that the lock in effect will persist, meaning people that own homes that got very low interest rates or mortgage rates during the pandemic and, you know, after the pandemic will remain in their homes. So that will drive new construction like it has over the last year, year and a half. But the good news is that when we survey our builder audience, 75% of them are very optimistic about this year and into the future.

00:59:17:21 - 00:59:43:24
Sara Gutterman: And 80% of them believe that the Inflation Reduction Act will have a positive impact on their business because it will pull through energy efficiency and electrification technologies. But 85% of our builders report stable finances, and they still have a pretty strong backlog stemming from the pandemic, even though they are grappling still mostly with labor issues and certainly high material prices.

00:59:43:24 - 01:00:16:13
Sara Gutterman: Things are just so expensive right now, but we certainly see that when we survey our consumers, they are more inclined right now, given current economic conditions, to make their homes energy more energy efficient and remodel their existing homes than to move. They also have interest in purchasing electric vehicles, which means pull through for EV chargers and even battery storage and solar, and then making their homes all electric.

01:00:16:16 - 01:01:05:10
Sara Gutterman: And when we identify the opportunities based on the data that we have, certainly it's in those energy efficiency and electrification, technology upgrades, working from home spaces, remote working is not going away. Certainly those aging in place upgrades and then resiliency, disaster mitigation, preparation, preparedness and of course repair and enhancements. So lots of opportunities to design, build and offer new homes because of the luck and in fact, but also to address the existing housing market and the existing built environment by particularly tapping into that IRA funding the rebates and incentives, which has been kind of elusive.

01:01:05:10 - 01:01:44:29
Sara Gutterman: We're hoping that it becomes clearer moving forward about how to access those incentives and rebates, but we anticipate that that will be the case on a state by state basis. But certainly when we ask our builders, they're seeing increased demand for things like more energy efficient insulation, windows and doors, lighting, HVAC systems, heat pumps, solar plus storage. And finally, you know, I think the thing that really makes us most optimistic about the housing market, not just this year, but for years to come, is that we're about 3.2 million units short in this missing middle segment.

01:01:44:29 - 01:02:13:00
Sara Gutterman: So let's say for all practical purposes, that's about 70%. Am I to say about 170%? Am I or average median income in this chart? We're saying 90 to say 150%. But this is the segment where millennials and Gen Z are really looking for homes. They don't necessarily need affordable housing, and they don't want million dollar plus homes, McMansions, you know, that are big and hard to heat and cool and clean and maintain.

01:02:13:08 - 01:02:36:01
Sara Gutterman: They're looking for more modest homes in this missing middle. And we are so short with respect to inventory that we do believe that this is going to boost the new housing, the new home market, again for for many years to come. Most of our builders recognize that nearly 70% plan to fulfill or already fulfilling this missing middle housing market in their area.

01:02:36:03 - 01:03:17:10
Sara Gutterman: But, you know, I think just final thoughts as we see this generational shift, both with respect to those positions of power in business, in politics and culture, as well as the wealth shift, there's tens of trillions of dollars that is shifting from boomers, traditionalists and boomers to Xers, millennials and Gen Z. We are absolutely going to continue to see a change in the way that consumers make decisions because of the awareness of interest in and commitment to climate solutions that these younger generations have.

01:03:17:10 - 01:03:38:05
Sara Gutterman: So if you have any doubt about, say, the ebbs and flows or some of the political discourse that's happening with respect to ESG, you know, that's kind of just going to ebb and flow. But generally speaking, the growth line is is up and to the right if you look at a chart. So fortunately, it's an exciting time in the building industry.

01:03:38:05 - 01:04:24:26
Sara Gutterman: And all of the data that I presented translates into opportunity in the housing sector, because it means that we have to rethink the way that we are designing and delivering homes for today's homeowners, namely those younger generations. We have to stop thinking and using erroneous and outdated and antiquated metrics like price per square foot and lowest upfront cost, and start thinking about houses as a panacea for our mental health crisis, for improving physical health and wellness, for creating generational wealth, for creating a built environment that is appropriate for the climate, the changing climate that we are absolutely in right now.

01:04:24:29 - 01:04:49:23
Sara Gutterman: And so what that means is that there is ample room for innovation, regardless if you are a builder or a developer or a contract, or an architect designer or a manufacturer or a lender or a homeowner, let's think differently. Let's think better. That is the way forward, my friends. Now, as usual, I have taken up too much of your time.

01:04:49:29 - 01:05:07:29
Sara Gutterman: You have been generous listeners. Mike, why don't we just take about five minutes for questions and then you all can see my email there. Feel free to shoot me an email if we don't get to your question. And I am happy to respond after after the webinar. So Mike, take it away.

01:05:08:01 - 01:05:20:29
Mike Collignon: All right. Thank you. We do have a question in from Jeremy. You want to know if you can talk a little bit about what goes into generational equity. Is it just buying power or is there more to it than that?

01:05:21:02 - 01:05:53:15
Sara Gutterman: Great question Jeremy. And hello Jeremy, I think I know who you are. So it is if we're looking at housing equity, that's literally the amount of equity that homeowners have in their homes. Pretty straightforward. But if we look at generational equity, there are layers to it. It is kind of the full spectrum of investments, including homes. But it could also include stocks and bonds and other types of investments, as well as just household wealth in general.

01:05:53:15 - 01:06:01:25
Sara Gutterman: So it is the comprehensive metric if we're looking at full generational and spending power.

01:06:01:27 - 01:06:14:11
Mike Collignon: And Susan was curious, what do you attribute the knowledge of Gen Zers when their parents don't seem to believe in the same things?

01:06:14:13 - 01:06:42:10
Sara Gutterman: So, you know, I wouldn't say that their parents don't necessarily believe in the same things. I think that, you know, boomers were actually the generation that kicked off environmental awareness. Look at hippies, right. Like there's there's really no more, you know, there was no movement that was, say, closer to the closer to the earth and natural than that movement.

01:06:42:15 - 01:07:12:15
Sara Gutterman: And I think that that that inclination did translate down into Xers. I think Xers were the first generation to really promote recycling and, you know, certain sustainability priorities. And then I think millennials and Gen Zs then took that mantle and just absolutely, you know, took the ball and ran with it and converted it into a way of being.

01:07:12:18 - 01:07:45:29
Sara Gutterman: So I wouldn't necessarily say that, say Xers and Boomers don't believe in sustainability. And I think more and more they, especially boomers, believe more in sustainability now than ever because they want to leave a positive legacy for their children and grandchildren. What I would say the difference is that it has now become a guiding principle and a major decision driver for the younger generations in a way that it is not necessarily a decision maker, this decision driver for older generations, if that makes sense.

01:07:45:29 - 01:07:55:02
Sara Gutterman: So it's not so much just the belief system. It's really more how that how it's how it's shifted from a nice to have to a must have.

01:07:55:04 - 01:07:55:19
Mike Collignon: Gotcha.

01:07:55:20 - 01:08:40:14
Sara Gutterman: I also think that when I talk with Zs, they they are worried, they're mad, they are riled up their youthful right. So they have youthful exuberance about climate action, but they believe that they are the generation that has to step up and act because of the changing climate. And I think that's a fundamental difference, too. I don't think that Boomers and Xers saw climate change in the same way, and to the same extent that millennials and certainly Gen Zs see it today, where we have, you know, daily climate events, you know, that's reported that are reported on the news, you know, around the world, whether that's, again, flooding or wildfires or sea level rise, it

01:08:40:14 - 01:09:05:28
Sara Gutterman: just wasn't as prevalent. And then certainly with social media making everything so in our face, you know, I think it's just it's a much more visible topic. And therefore it's something that that Gen Zs have really taken on to say, look, if we're going to have a better future, we're the ones that are going to have to step up and implement the solutions.

01:09:06:00 - 01:09:32:14
Mike Collignon: All right. We got two more questions for you, Sarah, and then we'll wrap up. Alana, I wanted to know a little bit about the data set. You talk about the difference in breaking out in age and generational, but there was curiosity about the size of the samples or other demographic variances, and also just to their locales, like, is this just a North American audience or is this a more global audience?

01:09:32:21 - 01:10:08:10
Sara Gutterman: Yeah. So the data that I present today is really a us, mostly a US based audience. It is pretty evenly spread throughout the US and they are large sample sizes way past statistically valid. We really don't report data unless we have, you know, a minimum of a couple thousand responses just because we feel like that's statistically valid in our eyes, even though, you know, if you look, if you were to ask my statistics professor at business school, he would cite a much smaller, statistically valid sample size.

01:10:08:12 - 01:10:33:27
Sara Gutterman: But if you have questions about the specific data sets, as you can imagine, we get very nuanced with respect to cognition from our data. So you can shoot me an email and ask me specific questions. But again, most of us base pretty evenly spread across the US, you know, kind of across genders and ages.

01:10:34:00 - 01:10:52:10
Mike Collignon: All right. So last question goes back to Jeremy again. Do you think that the willingness to talk about mental health correlates to where people are in their lives as far as age goes?

01:10:52:12 - 01:11:24:13
Sara Gutterman: You know, that's a great question. I am not a mental health professional, although my father is a psychiatrist. So I get to talk about these things. You know that, Mike, I get to talk about these things pretty extensively with him. I my real answer is maybe. However, I don't think so because, you know, I think that there's a little bit of a shift in our culture and our society.

01:11:24:13 - 01:11:53:07
Sara Gutterman: I think when boomers were the age of of Z's, it was actually very taboo to talk about mental health. And I think that these talk about mental health in general, and they want to talk about it in their workplace. They want access to mental health care. They want mental health days, like being able to take off because they're not feeling in a good mental space.

01:11:53:09 - 01:12:10:05
Sara Gutterman: And that didn't really happen. I know, like even when I was really on in my career, I was in venture capital, and if I would have told my bosses that I wanted a mental health day, they would have been like, yeah, get back to your desk. Ha! And that maybe was just because of the industry that I was in.

01:12:10:05 - 01:12:29:21
Sara Gutterman: But but I think I think there has been a shift and I think it has been a I think there's a lot of dynamics. I think that's another whole hour of conversation and I've got a lot of thoughts. And so, Jeremy, if you want to shoot me an email and schedule another time, we can talk about it. But but I do think it's partly cultural.

01:12:29:23 - 01:13:00:20
Sara Gutterman: I do think we're in a very different space now, talking about mental health and accepting the fact that certain people are just more sensitive than others. And you know what? You don't always have to just buck it up and get back to work that maybe, you know, sometimes the best solution is to just take a break and a breath and to walk away and to come back to work or to a situation or a conversation, because you're going to be your better self when you come back after a break.

01:13:00:23 - 01:13:09:27
Mike Collignon: All right, sir. Well, thank you so much for taking the questions and sharing these wonderful insights into the cognition data with us today. We really do appreciate it.

01:13:10:05 - 01:13:24:26
Sara Gutterman: Well, Mike, thank you. It is always a pleasure to be here with our audience and with you and with Mary. Mary, thank you again. Thanks to everyone for taking your time today. And please don't hesitate to shoot me a note if you have any follow up questions.

01:13:24:28 - 01:13:45:14
Mike Collignon: And thank you also to Power Shift by Envy Energy and Whirlpool for their generous sponsorship of this webinar. We're going to be right back here again in two weeks. For another webinar. We're going to be joined by representatives from Rheem and also Pearl, as we discuss how to unlock your home's value using high performance systems and home certification.

01:13:45:14 - 01:13:57:24
Mike Collignon: So please join us on March 27th at 12 p.m. Eastern Time. Now, note that is an earlier start time, 12 p.m. Eastern Time. And so next time, stay safe, stay healthy, and take care of so long.