Mass Timber and the Future of Sustainable Housing Development
The Edison Render
Credit: Neutral
Breaking Ground on The World’s Tallest Passive House
What if the biggest barrier to carbon-neutral development isn't the technology or the materials, but actually the industry's resistance to change? Most developers know sustainable construction is the future, but translating those ideals into financially viable projects feels impossible when you're faced with premium construction costs and market-rate rents. Nate Helbach believes large-scale, sustainable development is possible when you’re willing to challenge every assumption about how buildings get financed, designed, and built.
As founder and CEO of Neutral, Nate leads a vertically integrated development team that makes sustainability profitable. By bringing architecture, construction, carpentry, technology, and finance in-house, Neutral orchestrates the entire process. This structure enables them to deliver buildings that achieve 58% embodied carbon reduction and 72% operational carbon savings while hitting their return targets.
The Edison, their flagship 378-unit high-rise in Milwaukee, represents this pragmatic approach to ambitious goals. When doors open in 2027, it will break three world records: tallest mass timber structure, tallest Passive House building, and tallest Living Building certified tower. It's also designed as a hospitality and wellness oasis. Residents get access to on-staff doctors, nutritionists, and Equinox-style facilities, transforming apartment living into an experience worth paying a premium for.
Nate's perspective offers both inspiration and practical solutions. From navigating tariff risks to building an investor platform, this conversation illustrates how the industry's biggest challenges can become competitive advantages when you're willing to rethink everything from the ground up.
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“One of the neighbors showed up to our last plan commission meeting at the project that’s currently under construction in Madison, and he had a poem that he wrote about how great our building is going to be, and how good it’s going to be for the neighborhood. I’ve never seen that before. I entitled 1,000 units at my previous job, and we never had a neighbor show up and give us a poem. In fact, it was quite the contrary.”
Credit: Neutral
About Nate Helbach
Nate Helbach is the founder and chief executive officer of Neutral (formerly The Neutral Project). While studying finance and sustainability at Harvard Extension School, Nate developed the framework of what is now Neutral, which redefines conventional development strategies and mitigates the harmful effects of the built environment on our ecosystem.
Nate founded Neutral based on this thesis in 2020 and continuously seeks to evolve and innovate new sustainable and regenerative development methods to rejuvenate our built environment. He leads financing, capital markets, accounting, investments, product development, and construction oversight of the company's low-, mid-, and high-rise developments.
Timber Decks. Bakers Place in Madison, WI
Credit: Neutral
Episode Outline
(02:24) A fresh look at legacy development systems and how they lead to unnecessary risk
(06:18) The four-part philosophy that guides every Neutral project: people, place, profit, and planet
(19:16) Building a company across development, architecture, construction, and technology
(25:58) Inside The Edison: redefining the standard for luxury apartment living
(32:35) Why mass timber beats concrete and steel for both environmental impact and tenant experience
(37:02) Managing development risk through phases and the latest news on tariffs affecting construction
(44:09) Practical advice for developers who want to try mass timber and Passive House construction
(46:52) Neutral’s way of democratizing and modernizing real estate investing
Additional Resources
The 15-Minute City: A Solution to Saving Our Time and Our Planet by Carlos Moreno
Missing Middle Housing by Daniel Parolek
The Birth of a Building: From Conception to Delivery by by Ben Stevens
Neutral Webinar: Risk Mitigation with Jeff Klein
Jenny Peysin of Jenny Peysin Architecture | Wilderness Drive in East Jewett | Passive House Design
Ann Rolland of FXCollaborative | Hunter's Point Campus in Long Island City | School as a Sanctuary
About your host:
Atif Qadir is a licensed architect and entrepreneur, interested in solving big problems through innovation and technology. He has founded two proptech companies and a real estate development firm, building products ranging from software to workforce housing.
His work has been covered by Technology Review, The Real Deal, Commercial Observer, and Propmodo. He’s also a frequent speaker on the future of buildings and cities on popular industry podcasts and at conferences, including this past year at the Commercial Observer National DEI Conference, Yale AREA Conference, Columbia Real Estate Symposium, Open Data Week NYC and Austin Design Week.
About Michael Graves
The world-famous design firm Michael Graves is also a founding sponsor of American Building. Its namesake, the iconoclastic designer Michael Graves, FAIA was a fierce advocate for people-centric design. His work defines a generation of American architecture and includes the Portland Building, the Humana Building and the Denver Public Library. The 1st season of American Building was filmed live at The Warehouse, his historic home in Princeton, New Jersey:
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