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This Week's Sustainable Building News: 3/11

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Oil just crossed$100 a barrel following strikes in Iran, reminding markets how quickly geopolitical conflict can disrupt energy supplies. But it also underscores a long-term shift. The more volatile fossil fuels become, the more attractive solar power looks by comparison. I'm Katie O'Keefe, and this is this week's Sustainable Building News. In a new blog on the topic, Green Builder magazine editor-in-chief Matt Power points out that solar and battery storage were already expanding faster than any other source of electricity in the U.S. Rising fuel prices simply widen the gap. As Power puts it, when fossil fuel prices rise, the value of every kilowatt hour generated by solar panels rises with them. For homeowners, the math is getting clearer. Pair a modern heat pump with rooftop solar and operating costs can drop to a fraction of fossil fuel heating. You can read the full analysis, including a look at when solar systems can pay for themselves in as few as five years, on the Green Builder Media website or click the link in the description below. In other current news, we're going to discuss AI. Right now, everyone is talking about the water and energy demands of AI data centers. But another issue may be coming into focus, the rise of temporary construction towns built just to support them. How do you persuade workers to relocate to some of the most remote locations in the US for weeks or even months at a time? Some developers are solving that by building mobile housing compounds and trailers and offering catered mills and recreation for temporary construction crews. Bloomberg has a great short video explaining the trend. We've linked to it in the show notes. At Green Builder Media, we see a deeper issue emerging here. If housing is being built anyway, building disposable towns instead of lasting communities designed with foresight is a missed opportunity. What if there were public-private partnerships between data center owners and municipalities, and they could house temporary workers and then, when they were finished and left, serve as affordable housing for the local population? Let's head to the energy watch. Electrification may have just hit a reality check. Utilities across North America are pushing back on aggressive building electrification timelines. They're citing grid constraints, interconnection delays, and rising infrastructure costs, especially with AI-driven data centers adding massive new electricity demand. In California, major utilities have warned regulators that distribution upgrades are lagging behind electrification mandates. Interconnection cues are growing, and the cost of expanding the grid is raising a critical question. Who pays? And that leads to a related issue. A new report argues that the energy affordability crisis isn't just about demand, it's about how utilities make money. Investor-owned utilities typically earn profits by building more infrastructure like power plants, transmission lines, and grid upgrades. The more they build, the more they earn. Critics say that model can drive higher energy costs for households. So the bigger question emerging in the energy transition is this should the system reward building more energy infrastructure or using less energy in the first place? Our next energy story comes out of Colorado, where lawmakers are moving fast on energy policy. This legislative session, 18 separate energy bills have already been introduced as the state debates how to meet its emissions reduction targets. The proposals cover everything from utility regulation to grid planning and clean energy deployment. The takeaway? States aren't waiting for federal action. Energy policy is increasingly being written at the state level, and the pace of it is accelerating. In New York, Republican lawmakers are proposing legislation to slow or roll back parts of the state's aggressive clean energy transition. They argue that it's driving up costs and reliability concerns. And in Arizona, lawmakers are advancing policies aimed at expanding energy development and grid capacity as demand continues to rise. The contrast between these two states highlights a growing reality. America's energy future is increasingly being written state by state. New Mexico's legislative session is shaping up to be another big one for clean energy. Lawmakers are considering a slate of bills focused on grid modernization, community solar expansion, and continued progress toward the state's clean electricity goals. The bigger takeaway is that in many states, energy transition policy is not slowing down, it's actually moving deeper into how the grid actually works. Well, here is an interesting energy policy contradiction. NAHB is celebrating a court decision that vacated the federal mandate tying HUD financing to the 2021 IECC. But in NAHB's own housing market index survey that came out at the same time, 61% of builders say rising energy costs will negatively impact housing demand over the next decade. So while the industry is pushing back on stronger energy codes, builders themselves acknowledge that energy costs are becoming a growing pressure in the housing market. It raises a bigger question. If energy costs are a threat to housing demand, what does a long-term strategy look like to solve it? Now let's head to policy moves that are across the country. The California Air Resources Board has approved new regulations implementing the state's climate disclosure laws. Many companies doing business in California will now have to report their greenhouse gas emissions and climate-related financial risks. For the built environment, that could accelerate demand for better carbon data, lower emission materials, and of course, higher performing buildings. Colorado is trying to get ahead of growth. The state's Department of Local Affairs has just released new guidance to help local governments plan for housing and population expansion while balancing infrastructure, land use, and affordability. The idea is simple. If communities plan growth strategically, they may be able to avoid the housing shortages and sprawl that often follow rapid development. In other words, growth management is becoming housing policy. In Michigan, lawmakers are considering new housing tax credits. These are aimed at boosting development and affordability. And a new policy roadmap from the Michigan Energy Innovation Business Council is pushing for efficient, all-electric homes, arguing that electrification and stronger building standards could lower long-term housing costs while improving safety and resilience. Let's move to building science. A new warning from the Insulation Institute is raising questions about reflective insulation products. The group says some products are making performance claims that don't always match real-world results, especially when tested under standardized conditions. The takeaway is that not all insulation performs the same way it's marketed. Understanding the testing behind the claims may matter more than the label on the package. Each week, I'm going to highlight our editorial staff's pick for best sustainable product. This week, let's look at a new manufacturing facility coming online that will produce DLT or dowel laminated timber. It's a type of mass timber that uses hardwood dowels instead of glue to bind layers of wood together. This means fewer synthetic adhesives and a potentially lower carbon manufacturing process. As demand grows for low embodied carbon materials, innovations like dowel laminated timber could help expand the mass timber market. You can learn more at dowellam.com. Let's move to the Tech Watch. EV adoption is coming to multifamily housing faster than many properties are prepared for. New research from Parks Associates warns that apartments and condos will soon face a surge in demand for EV charging infrastructure. The challenge isn't just installing these chargers, it's actually managing electrical capacity, costs, and shared access across multiple buildings. In our podcast highlight of the week, let's talk about affordable housing. In the latest episode of the Impact series, Green Builder Coalition Executive Director Mike Kalignan sits down with Bill Lazar, Executive Director of St. John's Housing Partnership and a Florida contractor. They dig into a question that doesn't get asked nearly enough and certainly not answered. Why are we still treating affordability and sustainability as if they're in conflict? Lazar argues that durable, efficient homes aren't a luxury. They're the only path to long-term affordability. Lazar has spent nearly 40 years working on affordable housing across Florida, and he's seen firsthand what actually works. Here's a clip.

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I think it's a matter of will. And I've always said that when it comes to really developing new affordable housing, you've got to have local government involved for regulatory relief. You've got to have builders and developers who will step up and say, I can do it. Volume, if you're not making a lot of money on individual homes, but you can do 50 at a time, now someone's interested. And you got to have lenders who will come up with the appropriate race. And then everybody's got to be working on the housing counseling side to get the buyers prepared. And even for the renters in many cases.

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According to our weekly cognition hot take, 64% of builders say consumer demand for EPD backed products is rising, and 41% now consider them a must-have when selecting materials. The question now is: are EPDs becoming the new label builders cannot afford to ignore? Here's a few key events coming up over the next few months. Check the links in the show notes for more information. The virtual reimagined buildings multifamily is March 12th. AIBD's exploring steel framing and high performance home design is March 17th. Green Builder Media's webinar on healthy homes is March 18th. Visit our website and click on the Knowledge Base tab in the nav bar to register. Solar and Energy Storage Summit is April 29th through 30th in Denver.

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And DOE's Better Buildings and Better Plants Summit is May 11th through 13th in Crystal City, Virginia.com. Stay informed, stay ahead of the