Episode
They're Building Homes with Grass. It Actually Works. w/ Josh Dorfman
- Published
- May 10, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 2133
- Processing state
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- https://realdealcrew.com/real-estate-investing-podcast
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Summary
Josh Dorfman explains how Planted is turning fast-growing grass into structural building panels now used by DR Horton, the largest home builder in America. In this episode of RealDealChat, Jack sits down with Josh Dorfman, CMO of Planted and founder of climate media company Supercool, to break down one of the most unusual innovations hitting the construction supply chain right now. Planted is replacing traditional lumber and oriented strand board with panels engineered from a perennial grass that grows 10x faster than trees, can be harvested one to two times per year, and locks carbon into the walls of homes rather than releasing it into the atmosphere. Their factory sits inside a former American Spirit cigarette plant in Oxford, North Carolina, and their partner is DR Horton — the builder behind one in every seven homes built in America. Topics covered: How Planted went from a SpaceX engineering team to a working construction material Why planting trees alone cannot solve the carbon math at scale The perennial grass that out-competes timber on cost, supply chain stability, and carbon capture Why former tobacco farmers in North Carolina are switching to this crop How tariffs, Canadian wildfires, and Baltic birch disruptions are accelerating demand for domestic alternatives Planted's long-term stable pricing model and how it beats commodity timber volatility The marketing playbook for a disruptive startup in a slow-moving industry Why brand fragmentation kills startups even when the product is working AI tools, bottlenecks, and the entrepreneur lie most founders tell themselves This one is for builders, real estate investors, developers, and anyone watching material costs eat into project margins. 🔗 Learn more about Josh's climate media company: https://getsuper.cool 🔗…