Green Builder Media CEO Sara Gutterman talks with Dvele CEO Kurt Goodjohn about VISION House Transcend, a prefab line of all-electric, net zero, self-powered homes, and why long-term value should replace price per square foot as the way we judge housing.
00:00:02:27 - 00:00:31:26
Sara Gutterman: Sara Gutman, CEO, Green Builder Media. And I'm here with my friend and colleague Curt Good. John, the CEO of Duval, which is a prefab home builder. I'm so excited because we have the opportunity to work with you and the double team to create transcend, a prefab line of homes that is all electric net zero, everything healthy, resilient, connected, smart, solar powered, plus storage.
00:00:32:00 - 00:00:57:06
Sara Gutterman: These homes are not only going to result in a demonstration project that we're doing here in the beautiful mountains of Colorado, where I live, but ultimately we have these homes for sale. I believe that we are creating a product in transcend that has the potential to transform the housing sector. So Curt Devil is a little different animal. Tell me what makes devil unique and special?
00:00:57:07 - 00:01:12:05
Kurt Goodjohn: We wanted to build homes unlike anything else on the market. We set out to build these homes that could be self-powered and really had to be electrified, fully electrified to do that. And it was a it was a bit of a battle at the beginning because people are like, I want a gas stove. I want a gas stove and have it.
00:01:12:06 - 00:01:36:24
Kurt Goodjohn: And we're like, unfortunately, it's just it's just not the products, not what we stand for, sticking to our guns. Back then, in the beginning of the company has really proven to be rewarding for us. But really in general, I mean, there's such a massive shortage of housing, and what we stand for as a company is about we're trying to solve this problem of the housing shortage, but solve it in a way that's going to be better for the future.
00:01:36:24 - 00:01:49:19
Kurt Goodjohn: And that's really the sort of the catalyst of this company. We all said, look, we want to leave this world better than we found it. And the best way we know how to do that is using our skills and business and housing to create this better future.
00:01:49:21 - 00:01:54:03
Sara Gutterman: What gets you excited about the transcend line of homes.
00:01:54:08 - 00:02:15:11
Kurt Goodjohn: With transcend? That? It really takes us to that next level. Here's a whole product line that is produced based on the backbone of that platform that we wanted to create for developers. We wanted to be a technology company, not a homebuilding company. And so it was brand of homes through transcend allows us to show. We created that platform and now here's the output of it.
00:02:15:12 - 00:02:22:17
Kurt Goodjohn: It's amazing. Homes and people can get that are smart and they're healthy. They're intelligent, and you can buy them over the internet.
00:02:22:24 - 00:02:30:21
Sara Gutterman: Tell me about some of the features of the Transcend Home that really stand out to you, including the devil IQ platform.
00:02:30:23 - 00:02:52:21
Kurt Goodjohn: The devil IQ platform, which you know today, it really is focused on proving the energy efficiency and the self-powered nature of the home, proving that the indoor air quality is better when compared to a typical home on the market. But like you, was developed to take data around the living experience to create a better, smarter home in the future.
00:02:52:21 - 00:03:16:20
Kurt Goodjohn: So what it is today will change over time as we collect more data around the living experience. It's going to inform the home when it can be more energy efficient. It's going to do things like tell you right now is peak power. Don't run your dryer. It's wait till later or your battery is totally full and you can use you can use that stored power to do whatever you want.
00:03:16:21 - 00:03:39:04
Sara Gutterman: I also really love that, you know, the baseline for the transcend line of homes is building science. Those products and systems and technologies that enhance energy efficiency, water conservation, healthy home elements, combined with that sophisticated technology is a winning combination.
00:03:39:05 - 00:04:02:03
Kurt Goodjohn: So we take a conservation first approach. There are about 87% more efficient than the typical home new homes built today. And that's really how we get to the point where we can be self-powered, because the homes just need less energy to begin with. But conservation and resiliency are sort of the backbone of the overall home, and it has more to do, more than just energy.
00:04:02:04 - 00:04:26:09
Kurt Goodjohn: It's conservation of water using smart fixtures. We're teaming up with people like who are creating ways to conserve water. I mean, I think that's the next big, big thing past energy is, is we only have so much fresh water. We need to start being smarter about it. And so these homes incorporate all these, this philosophy into them.
00:04:26:10 - 00:05:03:14
Sara Gutterman: I've been thinking about the fact that, you know, we've really been using this antiquated and really outdated metric of price per square foot or lowest upfront cost to value homes. And the truth is, when we use that metric, all we're saying is, look, this is the cheapest, kind of worst built home you can afford. Rather than shifting to a valuation metric that incorporates efficiency and sustainability and health and wellness and comfort and, you know, just a better occupant experience, a better homeowner experience and that long term value.
00:05:03:17 - 00:05:32:09
Sara Gutterman: And to me, that allows us then to do more with a home at a same price point, or possibly reducing the price point, but still providing a better home. So tell me a little bit about your thoughts on that concept and how we can think more creatively about the transformation of housing, rather than just focusing on this lowest upfront cost or price for a square foot in the trick?
00:05:32:11 - 00:06:04:17
Kurt Goodjohn: Well, I mean, really, it's what is the long term cost of not building better today? And I think it's more than just economics. If we don't change the way we're operating as a society and as a species, we're doomed. So yes, the upfront cost of the home, even if it's more expensive today, if it's more energy efficient and you're not having to pay electrical bills or utility bills for the entire lifetime of the home, that starts to add up a lot.
00:06:04:17 - 00:06:36:28
Kurt Goodjohn: And I think we do have to get more creative and sort of taking the solar and battery that we incorporate into the homes and transcend. You can take that off of the owners balance sheet and have that be almost like a micro utility on your home. You don't have to pay for the upfront cost. So it is I think it's important for us to, to get more creative so that we can drive costs down, but ultimately we're not going to build something that isn't healthy, isn't energy efficient just for price.
00:06:36:28 - 00:06:41:16
Kurt Goodjohn: And that's the mentality I think we need to have as an industry. And like I said, as a society.
00:06:41:17 - 00:06:47:08
Sara Gutterman: What are you seeing with respect to the demand for the type of product that you are?
00:06:47:10 - 00:07:09:13
Kurt Goodjohn: You know, sometimes we have to pinch ourselves. There's so much demand, we don't even know what to do with it. You know, we've been in this going on 15 years now, and we first got into modular and it's just a total paradigm shift. We first got into it, everyone equated to, oh, these are fancy trailers. Today everyone is realizing we have to build homes in a different way.
00:07:09:14 - 00:07:28:05
Kurt Goodjohn: Why? Why would we build our home out in the snow and mud and rain when every other product. You look around, the Abi is manufactured to precision. You know exactly what you're getting. It's more cost effective. So I just think people are more educated. And the younger generation too is this is what they want?
00:07:28:09 - 00:07:47:29
Sara Gutterman: Yeah, it's really incredible to see the transformation of the prefab industry over the past, let's say decade and even over the last just handful of years in terms of not only the advances on the manufacturing side, but really the advances on the perception side. Anything else that you would like to say about the transcend line of homes?
00:07:48:01 - 00:08:11:21
Kurt Goodjohn: The other thing is we didn't talk about are the transcend communities. So transcend communities by developing all these transcend homes, that that's where it starts to get super interesting when you're looking at creating these microgrids. So all these homes are producing their own energy and in many cases producing more energy than they're using, and they can start to share it across the community.
00:08:11:23 - 00:08:18:28
Kurt Goodjohn: You start to look at the conservation of water in a community. That's when I think starts to get super interesting.
00:08:18:29 - 00:08:47:18
Sara Gutterman: Absolutely. And I agree that I transcend home in and of itself is incredibly compelling. But when we can reach that scale and scope at a transcend community, at really any size, you know, we can do a lot, particularly in areas where maybe these communities don't have access to municipal infrastructure like energy and even water generation at a community scale.
00:08:47:23 - 00:08:49:00
Sara Gutterman: Like it's pretty exciting.
00:08:49:02 - 00:08:58:06
Kurt Goodjohn: If we can create transcend communities that are completely regenerative and completely off grid, it starts to open the possibilities for doing some pretty cool things.