Residential buildings are responsible for 40% of the energy consumed in the United States, and 76% of spent electricity. Older buildings can facilitate considerable wasted energy through air leakage and ineffective insulation of the exterior walls. Electrification alone will strain domestic grid capacity if not paired with an insulated and sealed building envelope. This is particularly evident in the cold and very cold regions of the US, including the Northeast, which has a high number of wood-framed mid-rise multifamily buildings. When given the opportunity to retrofit a building, designers and builders are forced to balance the energy it takes to save energy. Off-site manufacturing, prefabrication, and low carbon building materials generally lessen environmental impact of a building renovation, but may prove illusive when evaluated for cost, performance, and availability. For many retrofits, it is impractical to relocate tenants such that less expensive materials with plentiful supply may prove to be more effective even if the long-term environmental costs are greater. Funding incentives and an entrepreneurial culture are widening both awareness and options for materials and products that improve energy performance. In order to increase demand for green materials while scaling up building retrofits, architects and builders need to be nimble when designing for high performance.