Businesses, consumers, industry groups, and governments understand the importance of innovation for continued economic success and improvements in quality of life. However, innovation in the housing and residential construction industry remains a topic about which little is known while a small but growing literature is making positive progress. Building on the first book in the Housing Innovation collection, the purpose of this book is to share new research paradigms that focus on innovation and are, in and of themselves, innovative. The first chapters focus on a newly created diffusion of innovation model and its application to the industry while later chapters showcase several innovative techniques that shed new light on housing, residential construction, and policy-making. As the second book in the Housing Innovation collection, this book is designed to assist readers as they continue to peel back the complex layers of innovation in housing and residential construction.

Businesses, consumers, industry groups, and governments understand the importance of innovation and the innovation process for continued economic success and improvements in quality of life. However, innovation remains an opaque topic. A paradox exists in housing at-large; using innovation is vital yet accounting for the value to individual organizations remains a challenge. This paradox is supported by a landscape that includes a sizeable graveyard of failed attempts at innovation on grand and small scales. This book seeks to decrease the opacity of innovation processes in residential construction and housing. Along with the next book in the collection, this book addresses key questions pertinent to the potential for widespread diffusion of green buildings and for improvements in community sustainability. The overarching purpose of this book is to provide context and foundation for later books in the collection and to assist readers in peeling back the complex layers of innovation in housing and residential construction.