Introducing the 2024 Builders Lab Cohort
Terner Labs announces inaugural Builders Lab cohort and strategic partnerships to build housing better
Today, Terner Labs announced the inaugural cohort of ventures for its Builders Lab. The Builders Lab is an accelerator program that works with innovators in architecture, engineering, construction and hardware to scale efficient, cost-effective and sustainable methods of housing delivery across the U.S.
Terner Labs also announced that industry leaders Eden Housing, Hilti, SCB, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), and Suffolk Construction have joined the Builders Lab as strategic partners. Their institutional expertise from diverse standpoints within the housing, construction and architecture ecosystem will support cohort members as they seek to scale and advance industry-wide change.
Terner Labs created the Builders Lab to address challenges faced by companies pioneering new approaches for building housing within the traditional entrepreneurial ecosystem: product-market fit, financing,and a complex regulatory landscape. But the ongoing housing crisis and growing focus on climate impacts make innovation in the sector a necessity.
Ben Metcalf, CEO of Terner LabsIt has become increasingly clear that our housing delivery system needs to significantly increase its scale and sustainability, and innovators must play a crucial role.
The program builds on the success of the Housing Venture Lab, which has supported more than 20 ventures advancing affordability, sustainability and equity in housing since 2019.
The Builders Lab will support a group of geographically diverse early- to middle-stage companies over nine months, offering coaching, curated curriculum, visibility to Terner Labs’ network of regulators and policymakers across government, and relationship-building opportunities with strategic partners and advisors. The programs will also host an international study tour to deepen cohort members’ familiarity with mature industrialized construction ecosystems.
This year’s cohort includes six trailblazing companies representing a diversity of approaches to industrialized construction across the United States: Villa, B.PUBLIC Prefab, MODS PDX, Cloud Apartments, Cycle Retrotech, and Hydronic Shell. Each brings unique potential for growing innovation in the architecture, engineering and construction sector.
“We are excited to work with our strategic partners to support these industry pioneers, and together we hope to drive meaningful change toward a more sustainable and accessible housing future,” said Ben White, Director of the Builders Lab.
“The Builders Lab will accelerate the delivery of innovative solutions to our housing crisis, helping make it more available, affordable and sustainable,” said Eden Housing’s President Linda Mandolini. “We believe everyone deserves a safe, affordable and healthy place to call home, and this collaboration will help create meaningful change for countless individuals and families.”
“At Hilti, we're committed to driving innovation in the construction industry. The Builders Lab program aligns perfectly with our vision of creating more productive, safer and more sustainable construction. We're excited to partner with Terner Labs and support these promising startups as they work to revolutionize housing delivery across the U.S.” said Antonia Soler-Blasco, Head of Hilti Venture.
“As an urban architecture firm, SCB is deeply invested in providing design solutions for housing that prioritize affordability and sustainability and enhance community well-being. We are excited to collaborate with Terner Labs on this important initiative and look forward to engaging with the innovative companies in the Builders Lab cohort. Together, we aim to advance techniques that will provide a measurable impact on the delivery of housing for communities across the country,” said Strachan Forgan, AIA, SCB Principal and Executive Director.
"We are proud to support Terner Labs' mission to pioneer new approaches to building housing," said SOM Architect Lisa Follman. "We look forward to leveraging our expertise in architecture, sustainable engineering, structural engineering, and urban planning as a strategic Partner to the inaugural cohort of the Builders Lab and extending our legacy of catalyzing policies that can enable housing innovations."
"Together, by pushing the boundaries of what's possible, we can build a future where sustainable and accessible housing is not just an ambition, but a reality for all. Suffolk is excited to form powerful partnerships, and leverage innovations to build not only faster and more affordably, but also smarter and more sustainably. Through collaboration, we are paving the way for a new era of housing that unites expertise with cutting-edge tools to transform communities for generations to come,” said Karri Novak, California Project Development Vice President at Suffolk.
The Builders Lab is a program of Terner Labs, an organization founded out of the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at the University of California, Berkeley. The Builders Lab has received generous support from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and JPMorgan Chase & Co, along with a growing group of senior-level strategic advisors and government supporters. To get updates about the Builders Lab and other initiatives, sign up for the Terner Labs newsletter and follow Terner Labs on LinkedIn.
More about the Builders Lab cohort:
B.PUBLIC is a sustainability-focused manufacturer of panelized building systems based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. B.PUBLIC is centered on advanced construction methods that are better for homebuilders, homeowners, and the planet. Their product design, materials specs, and industry training programming equip builders to implement sustainable building practices, counteract the rapidly shrinking construction workforce, speed up the adoption of carbon-appropriate materials, off-site construction, and NetZero building performance. This team of architects, building scientists, tradespeople, and innovators is addressing housing, climate, and labor crises through off-site construction.
San Francisco-based Cloud Apartments is a data-driven developer platform transforming the construction of multi-family housing into a repeatable, scaleable, and profitable process through a patented modular product and network of certified partners. Cloud leverages its innovation and business model to reduce the cost of construction, enabling cities to increase housing supply quickly & efficiently.
Cycle Retrotech, based in Brooklyn, NY, provides integrated energy and electrification retrofit solutions for multi-family buildings. Leveraging the products of an array of manufacturing partners, Cycle designs, plans and manages the retrofit process from building assessment through design, fabrication, installation, and monitoring. Their turnkey, replicable approach aims to meet the large and growing demand for decarbonization retrofits.
Hydronic Shell is a hardware technology provider based in New York, NY. They have patented a componentized roof- and facade-mounted HVAC system to unlock deep energy retrofit and electrification feasibility for multifamily housing. Their system includes all elements necessary to deliver complete heating, cooling, and ventilation to each unit in tall residential buildings, and by enclosing the components within the new facade, they avoid displacing residents during installation.
MODS PDX is a leading modular builder in the Pacific Northwest, manufacturing volumetric housing units using mass plywood panels, an innovative mass timber product. The company has worked with a diverse array of customers including developers building workforce housing and cities building temporary housing for the unhoused. Operating in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, California and Nevada, MODS PDX’s leadership brings 15 years of experience in modular design and delivery to their efforts to address the housing crisis.
Villa, based in San Francisco, is a next-generation homebuilding platform that applies modern offsite construction methods and technology to efficiently build much-needed housing in infill locations. Villa’s mission is to be the easiest, fastest, and most cost-efficient way to build quality homes. By partnering with a wide network of offsite housing manufacturers, Villa acts as a demand aggregation and fulfillment partner that provides a seamless customer experience through discovery, feasibility, permitting, installation (project management and general contracting), and post-completion service. Villa is currently a leading builder of ADUs throughout California and is expanding into building primary homes across a variety of ‘missing middle’ typologies.
