Page 45 - BusinessWest December 8, 2025

“The function of
buildings is to
provide shelter
for people.
Ultimately, I think
that how we relate
to other human
beings is what
defines our lives.
How we take care
of each other is
what defines the
value of a society.
How we shelter
people defines
our culture of
care.”
cle up there. They stay overnight during
the week and then drive back so that we
don’t have a team of four people each tak-
ing individual vehicles two hours each way
every day,” he explained. “Trucking building
materials is an incredibly high emissions
aspect of building.”
Mission Driven
The seed panel system was designed
by New Frameworks in Essex Junction,
Vt., one of three founding member compa-
nies — Rare Forms and Building Integrity
in Columbia, Mo. are the others — in the
Seed Collaborative, a partnership that
aims to create a broad network of compa-
nies using local materials to build carbon-
positive systems.
“We share the methodology of manu-
facturing straw panels, as well as other
shared services — we’re sharing market-
ing services and business consulting ser-
vices, and trying to consolidate a lot of the
infrastructure of each individual business
to make this endeavor more accessible from a business perspec-
tive, and also to help make the kits and panels themselves more
affordable, so these homes can be more accessible to middle-class
homeowners,” Bossie explained, adding that the Seed Collaborative
will continue to expand across the U.S., starting with the next set of
partners in Colorado, Maryland, and Washington.
Rare Forms has also carved out a niche in prefabricated acces-
sory dwelling units (ADUs), tiny homes that blend efficiency, sus-
tainability, and aesthetics. The company recently won an award in
an ADU design competition staged by the North Adams Partnership
and AARP.
“The state is really inclined to push ADU expansion right now;
it’s one way that we can increase housing density and available
Greg Bossie says Rare Forms essentially combines two well-
worn building technologies, wood frame and straw bale
building, in innovative new ways.
housing units,” he noted. “We have a housing affordability and avail-
ability crisis, and ADUs are one way that we can increase housing
density in existing neighborhoods without substantially impacting
the character of those neighborhoods.
“It is, unfortunately, a really expensive way to do that,” he admit-
ted. “The cost per hous-
ing unit for ADUs is high
because you’re taking
Sustainable
Continued on page 47 >>
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