Novid Parsi is a St. Louis-based freelance writer who covers a wide range of industries, including construction and technology.

Credit: Essential Homes
Essential Homes affordable housing prototype

A Sustainable Home for Displaced People

Today, about 120 million people have been forcibly displaced from their homes. About three-quarters of these individuals live in low- and middle-income countries, straining host...
Oct. 14, 2024
Credit: Automated Architecture
Shipping container homebuilding robots by Automated Architecture

These AI Robots Can Help Build Homes

An unfortunate fact of stick-built home construction is that much of the wood ends up wasted. It’s estimated that around 10% to 15% of wood on new construction doesn’t get used...
Oct. 2, 2024
Photo © Edlinger/Timberland
9 L

The LEED Homes Awards’ Single-Family Winners

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGC), the developer of the LEED rating system, has announced the winners of its annual LEED Homes Awards, which recognize some of the world’s...
Sept. 23, 2024
Credit: Louisiana State University College of Engineering
LSU Civil Engineering Professor Hai 'Thomas' Lin

How Mud Dauber Wasps Inspired 3D-Printed Homes

A few years ago, Hai “Thomas” Lin was watching mud dauber wasps build nests on his newly purchased home. An assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at Louisiana...
Sept. 13, 2024
Credit: Healthy Communities
The Ridge In Williamsburg, Va, Winner Of The 2024 Housing Innovation Awards

Award-Winning Healthy Homes With Clean Air and Energy

This month, the US Department of Energy named Healthy Communities a winner of the Housing Innovation Awards, which recognize the leading edge of zero energy ready homebuilders...
Aug. 19, 2024
Credit: NASA
Bricks produced using mycelium, yard waste and wood chips as a part of the myco-architecture project. Similar materials could be used to build habitats on the Moon or Mars. Credits: NASA

Sustainable Housing: Growing Homes From Fungi

As NASA works toward human explorations of the Moon and Mars, any people staying off planet for long will need somewhere to live. They could build shelter the traditional way—...
July 29, 2024
Photo courtesy Adobe Stock
Adobe Stock 330369089

To Target Older Home Buyers and Sellers, Consider Their Emotions

“We hear directly from our customers just how emotional the moving process can be,” says Kerry Melcher, head of real estate at Opendoor, a company that buys and sells homes online...
July 15, 2024
Credit: Housing Production Fund
The Laureate Affordable Housing Project In Derwood, Md

An Innovative Financing Model for Affordable Housing

North of Washington, D.C., and southwest of Baltimore, Montgomery County in Maryland represents both ends of the country’s economic divide. It’s one of the country’s wealthiest...
July 1, 2024