Building Sustainable, Equitable Communities

About this episode

Jonathan F.P. Rose discusses the challenges of affordable housing and sustainable development in America.

"If you work a full-time minimum wage job in America, there is not a single county in which you can afford to rent an apartment (2 bedroom) with a child." - Jonathan F.P. Rose Jonathan F.P. Rose has been revolutionizing affordable housing and sustainable development for over 35 years, long before ESG became mainstream. Rose discusses the stark reality of America's housing crisis, revealing that full-time minimum wage workers cannot afford rent in any U.S. county. "Our current economic system cannot build new housing affordable to the bottom quartile of renters," he explains. The conversation explores innovative building materials like mycelium insulation and mass timber, showcasing how the green building ecosystem has finally matured. Can sustainable real estate development scale quickly enough to address both climate change and housing inequality?

People in this episode

Host: Keith Zakheim

Guest: Jonathan F.P. Rose

Topics covered

• affordable housing
• sustainable development
• housing crisis
• green building
• climate change
• housing inequality

Keywords

• minimum wage
• housing affordability
• mycelium insulation
• mass timber
• economic system
• rental crisis

More episodes of Age of Adoption

• From Commitments to Measurable Action · June 9, 2026 · 22 min
• Net Positive · May 19, 2026 · 27 min
• The Business Case for Adaptation · April 8, 2026 · 24 min
• Scaling the Circular Economy · March 24, 2026 · 31 min
• Better Coffee, Lower Carbon · March 3, 2026 · 26 min
• Where Finance Drives Climate Impact · February 17, 2026 · 26 min