About the Guest

Grant Gunnison is the Co-founder of Zero Homes, a company tackling the climate crisis by rethinking how single-family homes transition off fossil fuels. Based in Colorado, Grant brings a unique mix of hands-on contracting experience and a background in advanced technology and software. His journey from working in construction to building digital tools for home electrification gives him both credibility and a practical lens on the industry’s challenges. At Zero Homes, he leads efforts to make retrofitting old houses easier, more affordable, and more scalable.

Episode Summary

In this episode of Shape the System, host Vincent Turner speaks with Grant Gunnison of Zero Homes about the enormous challenge—and opportunity—of decarbonising single-family homes. With about 80 million houses in the US alone, 60 million of which still run on fossil fuels, the scale of the problem is staggering. Yet as Grant explains, solving climate issues in housing isn’t only about emissions—it starts with addressing everyday homeowner concerns like cost, comfort, and reliability.

Grant outlines how Zero Homes uses digital technology to transform a historically fragmented, slow, and opaque process into something fast, transparent, and homeowner-friendly. Instead of waiting for something to break and spending weeks gathering quotes from contractors, Zero’s platform enables homeowners to scan their houses, share utility data, and quickly receive detailed project options. This approach not only saves time but also sets contractors up for success by giving them accurate data before they step foot in a home.

The conversation also delves into the broader market dynamics—why electrification solutions like heat pumps are only now becoming more efficient and cost-effective, how Zero Homes complements rather than competes with solar providers, and where financing and even insurance could reshape the economics of retrofits. Looking ahead, Grant shares Zero’s ambition to expand across the US, scale their digital-first marketplace model, and eventually explore international opportunities.

Key Takeaways

Around 20% of US emissions come from single-family homes, with roughly 60 million homes still powered by fossil fuels.

Most homeowners act when driven by pain points: high bills, discomfort, or broken systems, while fewer than 5% are motivated primarily by climate concerns.

Zero Homes’ process reduces the homeowner’s time investment from 10–15 hours to about 1 hour, while providing pricing on multiple projects.

Heat pumps and related electrification products now offer higher performance at lower operational cost, aligning climate benefits with homeowner needs.

Zero Homes is scaling quickly, currently operating in four US states with plans to reach a dozen within a year.

Notable Quotes

“About one fifth of all emissions today come from single-family homes in the US… that’s about 80 million homes.” — Grant Gunnison

“The number of people that fall into the climate warrior column is extremely thin… definitely less than 5%.” — Grant Gunnison

“We’re reducing the amount of time a homeowner needs to spend just gathering the right information by at least an order of magnitude.” — Grant Gunnison

“You cannot build your way out of the climate crisis… you have to go back in and fix the old houses.” — Grant Gunnison

“We’ve delivered hundreds of projects, and now it’s about scaling the solution to be the front door for homeowners.” — Grant Gunnison

Resources

Zero Homes

Shape the System is  an independent podcast with support from KPMG High Growth Ventures

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