EPA Bullseye: Smart Growth Targets Big Builders

"Because of their economies of scale, big builders are key players in markets throughout the nation. The top ten homebuilders in the US produce 25 percent of the country's new housing."

"By 2030 the nation will need 34 million new housing units and 78 billion square feet of new nonresidential space, said Lee Sobel of the EPA’s Office of Policy, Economics, and Innovation in a speech March 30 to the Congress for the New Urbanism New England Chapter. Many of those units, or the neighborhoods in which they sit, may have to differ considerably from what production builders built in the past. Families with children — traditionally the main customer base of production builders — make up a declining segment of the market. Consumer surveys say approximately a third of the public is interested in renting or buying in a smart-growth community. Consequently, EPA is hoping that builders will become increasingly receptive to this form of development."