How do you build a house that lasts 300 years?
Las Vegas—After a rousing national anthem, detailed business statistics and high-production-value videos documenting the company’s initiatives, the Builders FirstSource 2025 National Event general session went into interactive mode.
That’s when CEO Peter Jackson responded to customers’ questions, which had been submitted in advance of the event. The Q&A touched on construction methods, the labor market, engineered lumber and more. Here is an edited transcript.
Question: How can we drive the industry toward using fully engineered lumber for our builds and incorporating the best building science practices to build homes that will last 300-plus years and have minimal maintenance in that lifespan?
Jackson: So that’s a pretty easy and straightforward question, no problem. (Audience laughter) It is a great question, and I think it's one that requires both scalability and affordability.
So offsite construction is a practical solution, and I think it supports that scalability. It reduces costs and improves quality, all while minimizing the environmental impact.
But this is something that's gonna take a village, and none of us can drive it alone. We'll need perhaps an entire value chain to get connected. The people in the room today are going to need to think through how we drive this all the way back to the home buyer, who needs to recognize the value.
All of us I think, share a commitment to innovation. You’re here because you're curious, you're leaning into learning something at a trade show like this. The mentality of the folks in this room is the mentality that’s going to get us where we need to be. But ultimately, it's reaching that level of longevity and sustainability at an acceptable price point; that's a challenge we all face every day.
Question: How can we standardize construction methods, materials, and design across different regions of the country?
Jackson: Any effort toward standardization is really a balance. It’s uniformity and regional adaptability — our ability to account for climate, geography, and all the variances. It’s a balance.
And the key players, from manufacturers to home builders, really need to work in our industry organizations to help make compelling arguments to those making decisions at the local, regional, state and federal level. We need to be a voice for our own future in that regard, and get those in power to listen to smart, rational common sense solutions and that we don’t undermine our ultimate goal of home ownership.
Also, I think we will be enabled by some of the new technologies that will open up a new era for us in terms of what we can do to create consistency and efficiency in the home building space.
Question: What is your strategy around installed sales?
Jackson: This is a really great example of where we've adapted to address our builder pain points. The skilled labor shortage is real. And we think it's going to continue to be a challenge, regardless of what happens with immigration. It’s something we absolutely have to face.
It also addresses some of the related challenges around risk, safety and quality at the job site.
So our focus is really leveraging a disciplined, process-focused approach to be able to improve quality, efficiency and reduce waste. Providing team members with the proper training to ensure safety and quality control — those are critical.
And the key to the strategy is to tailor the service and product offerings market by market to meet your needs.
Question: With trade labor becoming more scarce and less experienced, how does BFS plan to adjust?
Jackson: A similar question to the previous one. This is not just for us to solve. It is certainly a challenge with a lot of different approaches. There's no one-size-fits-all solution.
From our perspective, the way we think about install depends on the market.
There are some markets where we have great labor partners and where we won't really do installed sales because it’s not a fit.
There are other markets where there is a need for labor, and where there's an opportunity for us to fill a role. And that’s where we will absolutely invest. We will work to hire installers. We’ll train. We'll build out teams. We’ll partner with our customers to provide what's needed to have that high-quality, high-performance, smoothly operating support system.
Ultimately, I think flexibility is key in that discussion. Our ability to expand our subcontractor base to meet your needs as you grow and you develop is the focus for us. We’re focused on it just like you are.
The Builders FirstSource National Event concludes on Thursday, Jan. 16.