The Green Builder Media Network

This Week's Sustainable Building News: 3/18

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SPEAKER_02

You're watching this week's Sustainable Building News. First up, housing policy. Who should own America's single family homes? Families or Wall Street? That question is now at the center of a bipartisan housing bill moving through the U.S. Senate. The proposal would limit large institutional investors from buying additional single-family homes once they own more than about 350 properties. Supporters say the goal is to stop big investment firms from outbidding everyday buyers in already tight housing markets. But many of those same investors are also driving the growth of build-to-rent communities, which in some regions have become one of the fastest ways new housing supply is getting built. At the same time, the White House is unveiling a new set of housing executive orders, directing federal agencies to look for ways to expand housing supply, including reducing regulatory barriers and opening more federal land for development. The outcome could reshape both who finances housing projects, how quickly they can be built, and whether housing quality will suffer in the bid for housing quantity. We'll update you on these important developments here. A new Florida bill could reshape how cities approach climate and building policy. State lawmakers have approved legislation that could ban local governments from adopting or enforcing net zero policies aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The measure has already passed both chambers of the legislature and now heads to Governor Ron DeSantis. If signed, it would take effect July 1st. Supporters say the bill prevents cities from making decisions based solely on emissions targets and forces local governments to weigh costs and other factors. Critics argue the measure strips cities of the ability to pursue climate or clean energy strategies tailored to their communities. For builders, the result could be more centralized control over building and energy policy at the state level, which limits local governments' ability to require net zero or similar climate-focused development standards. Let's turn now to how communities are responding to climate risk and disasters. Oregon offers a blueprint for how communities can rebuild after loss. After the devastating 2020 Labor Day wildfires destroyed thousands of homes in Southern Oregon, state officials created incentives to encourage homeowners and builders to go beyond minimum standards. Programs funded through Federal Recovery Dollars and the nonprofit Energy Trust of Oregon offered rebates of up to$6,000 for energy-efficient homes and up to$15,000 for low-income households rebuilding above the code. The result, many of the homes rebuilt in the Almeida fire zone are now among the most energy efficient in the country. The way this got done is builders added wildfire resilience features like triple pane windows, ember resistant vents, and exterior insulation. Design choices that both reduce energy use and make homes more resistant to future fires. The takeaway: when rebuilding after disasters, incentives can push resilience and efficiency faster than mandates can alone. Here's our editor's product pick of the week, which we got an up-close look at during IBS 2026. We caught up with the team behind Aeroseal's Aero Barrier, a full envelope, whole house sealing service that's basically fix a flat for a house. Here's how it works.

SPEAKER_00

So Aeroseal started 27 years ago, and really with the focus was on aerosolized technology that sealed the ductwork in construction, retrofit, etc. From that uh came Aero Barrier by Aerosil. It's a full envelope, whole house sealing technology and service that we've now implemented across the United States, Canada, the UK, Saudi Arabia, and Dubai. We're extremely blessed. And what we do essentially, if you want to, is imagine, you know, fix a flat for a house. And so all automated, atomized, um, and it's absolutely no guesswork. Uh it eliminates all of the antiquated practices that are in the build process. Um, that from from manual sealing, from you know, uh putting up foam and stapling it down the wood, this takes care of it, finding tens of thousands of micro cracks uh all simultaneously, from the size, the width of a human hair up to three-quarters of an inch or however much time you have. And with today's build cycles needing to shrink, um, that's not a lot of time. So our average seal takes about 90 minutes uh in residential new construction across the US, uh, and it allows the builders to punch and hit numbers that they've never thought were possible before. Um, you know, we have production builders that were barely getting by trying to hit code, we're afraid of the codes changing, we're able to value engineer, uh right-size mechanical, streamline their build process, and achieve numbers uh that were setting industry standards. So uh we're very blessed and excited here at IBS.

SPEAKER_02

Our data point from Cognition Smart Data reveals that nearly half of consumers say hardwood flooring feels like the most premium option. But despite that perception, 75% of homes are still mostly carpeted, while resilient flooring like vinyl and cork is rapidly gaining market share because it delivers similar looks with lower cost and easier maintenance than hardwood. Looking for a good read? Metropolis magazine has a great piece outlining four new roadblocks on the path to sustainable buildings. And the fourth one could have significant implications for the progress the industry has made so far. The link is in the notes. High performance homes are healthier, more efficient, and more resilient, but the housing market still struggles to value them correctly. In the latest episode of the valuation metric, Sarah Gutterman talks with Energy Logic CEO Steve Byers about why this gap exists and what we can do about it. You can watch the full interview on the Green Builder Media Network podcast, and here you can watch a quick clip.

SPEAKER_03

It should feel it shouldn't be like one plus one plus one equals three. You know, a value metric like that should feel like one plus one plus one equals five. Yeah, I'm getting way more value out of doing all these things than just making it so incredibly transactional and whatnot.

SPEAKER_02

Let's take a minute to look at something beautiful and smart. Check out the Bakrania Passive House. It's the winner of our 2026 Green Home of the Year in the general green home category. Influenced by European passive design principles, the project delivers a home that is highly energy efficient and built with long-term affordability in mind. Click the link in the notes to read more about this exceptional home and to learn what products and systems contributed to its ultra-high performance. Our upcoming webinar features Sam Rashkin, who will talk about why off-site construction hasn't scaled the way many predicted and what emerging strategies will help it finally scale. That's April 1st at 2 p.m. Eastern. And if you missed our last webinar on next generation solar and storage for new home construction, the recording is now available on demand. Click the knowledge base link on our nav bar to access all our webinars. Here are a few key events coming up. Click links in the show notes to learn more. Building Energy Boston takes place March 23rd and 24th, focused on high-performance construction, electrification, and resilient design. Reuters is hosting Responsible Business USA 2026, proving the business case of sustainability. This will be May 5th and 6th in Boston. April 29th and 30th, the Solar and Energy Storage Summit in Denver brings together leaders from utilities, development, and government to discuss solar deployment, storage, supply chains, and investment strategies. And on May 15th, Green Builder United's Sustainability Symposium in Philadelphia will focus on healthy buildings, decarbonization, and equitable development.com.

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Stay informed, stay ahead.