Building Sustainable, Equitable Communities

"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? Jonathan F.P. Rose is founder and CEO of Jonathan Rose Companies, a leading developer and investor in sustainable, affordable housing. With over 35 years of experience, Rose pioneered the integration of environmental sustainability, social equity, and market-rate development long before ESG investing became mainstream. He launched the world's first real estate impact investment fund in 2005, and recently closed another $660 million fund. Rose's company has developed award-winning green buildings and recently completed the world's largest affordable passive house project. His approach combines sustainable building practices with social health and education programs for residents, demonstrating that profitable real estate development can simultaneously address climate change and housing inequality. In This Episode: (00:00) Introduction to Jonathan F.P. Rose and Age of Adoption concept (03:25) Jonathan's early career journey and family real estate background (06:43) Building the first impact-focused real estate investment fund (09:25) Housing crisis statistics and systemic economic challenges (12:30) Early green building challenges and creating lead standards (15:10) Future innovations in sustainable building materials and practices Share with someone who would enjoy this topic, like and

You can listen to Building Sustainable, Equitable Communities online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Building Sustainable, Equitable Communities is an episode from Raising Your Antenna by Keith Zakheim.

This episode is 00:19:38 long.

This episode was published on Sep 30, 2025.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from Raising Your Antenna when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.