Understanding the USA and Chile construction & building materials markets

RockSolid Building Products, a Canadian corporation, is poised to disrupt the North & South American construction markets for the primary purposes of solving the growing housing gap and meeting the 2030 UNSDGs. This is being accomplished with a franchise-style expansion plan where RockSolid and a local investor come together to invest in one of our production facilities in their region. This can be a private equity play, a regional economic development play, or any other group stakeholder play (i.e. Indigenous or Metis nations/settlements/groups). The initial & primary product focus is a lightweight masonry unit called Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC). The material comes in a variety of brick and panel forms, thus providing flexible options for contractors & installers. AAC is quick to build with and provides a host of benefits over wood-framed construction. One of our production facilities will produce the equivalent of over 1500 housing units annually. That said, AAC is more than just a residential building material. Its also widely used for commercial and industrial buildings as well as for many other uses like highway sounds walls, fire separations, park benches & planters, and even for carving. Besides making moves in the Canadian market, RockSolid is taking steps in the USA and the Latin American markets. Its these two foreign markets that are the context of this project. For the American market we have identified a particular region as a starting point. We are looking to validate or challenge that assumption by having the students do a deeper dive into the markets, opportunities, and challenges. For the Latin American work we are seeking to gain a better understanding of the potential markets across the Latin American countries as well as the barriers to entry, challenges, and opportunities.