Homes in The Village on Walnut are being built with insulating concrete forms, ICF, not lumber, an alternative kind of construction. Fox Blocks, based in Omaha, Nebraska, is the supplier.

The product blends crushed black walnut shells into the turf, with the Ohio-based company claiming it can reduce surface temperatures by up to 38 degrees. "I had never heard of the technology ...

A Greater Cincinnati company is making that walnut fill turf using Safeshell. The Motz Group, based in Newtown, is installing, and selling it to facilities on both coasts and in the Midwest.