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Geothermal’s Big Moment, HUD Shakeups, Passive House Affordable Housing & More

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Could geothermal become the clean energy source everyone actually agrees on? Why is Congress considering a new EV fee? And is affordable multifamily housing one of the biggest climate solutions hiding in plain sight?

This week, we break down the biggest stories shaping sustainable building, housing, energy, and resilience—including geothermal’s breakout moment, major HUD policy shifts, the future of affordable housing, Passive House at neighborhood scale, and why fire sprinklers may deserve a second look.


In This Episode:


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SPEAKER_01

Hey everyone, I'm Ronan, and here's what's happening this week in Sustainable Building News. Could geothermal become the clean energy source everyone actually agrees on? A New York Times report suggests it just might. Houston-based geothermal company Fervo just pulled off the biggest clean tech IPO ever, raising nearly $1.9 billion. Unlike solar and wind, geothermal provides always-on electricity by tapping heat deep underground using drilling techniques borrowed from oil and gas. And even the Trump administration seems surprisingly open to it. Why now? Power demand is exploding thanks to AI, data centers, EVs, and industrial growth. Geothermal could help fill the gap. Although it's still expensive and slow to build, it may be emerging as something pretty rare in energy. Bipartisan support. Speaking of electrification, electric vehicles may soon get more expensive to own. According to a new New York Times report, Congress is considering a new annual federal fee for EV drivers. $250 a year for electric vehicles and $100 a year for hybrids. Supporters say it's only fair since gas-powered drivers help fund roads through fuel taxes while EV drivers mostly don't. Critics argue the fee could actually overcharge many drivers and potentially slow EV adoption, just as more homeowners are pairing EVs with solar, batteries, and smart energy systems. So the bigger question becomes, does this modernize infrastructure or make electrification harder? Now to housing policy, where there's some movement in Washington, good and bad. First, the bipartisan Road to Housing Act passed a House and now heads to the Senate. The bill aims to ease affordability and boost supply. Though housing reform usually gets much harder once the details hit Capitol Hill. At the same time, the White House is proposing major cuts to federal housing programs, including billions from HUD and long-standing affordability programs states rely on to build and rehab housing. Even Republicans are pushing back, arguing that the country already has too much housing pressure to draw down support now. Speaking of HUD, the agency just released a new housing playbook. And depending on who you ask, it could either improve affordability or roll back progress on better homes. The report encourages faster permitting, AI-assisted approvals, and broader use of manufactured and modular housing. But it also recommends scaling back certain green energy building requirements and avoiding local code add-ons unless they approve resilience or lower costs. We'll drop a link in the show notes if you want to read the report yourself. One housing story that really caught my attention this week comes from Grist, which argues that apartments and multifamily housing may actually be one of our biggest climate solutions. The logic is pretty simple. Smaller homes use less energy. Shared walls reduce heating and cooling demand, which can mean lower utility bills too. The bigger takeaway? Affordability and sustainability might not actually be competing priorities. In some cases, they may just solve each other. And that brings us to a project in East New York, trying to prove exactly that. A development called Alathia is aiming to combine affordable housing, resilience, and passive house performance, all at neighborhood scale. The 25-acre project will eventually bring 2,400 affordable housing units to Brooklyn, built around passive house principles, geothermal, solar, stormwater management, urban farming, and healthcare access. The first phase is already complete. But what makes Alathia stand out is the bigger vision. Transforming a former state-run facility into a walkable, transit-oriented community designed for resilience and stronger neighborhood connection. And, perhaps most interestingly, the project team says passive house performance in places like New York is getting close enough to code that it's no longer the dramatic lift many builders have come to assume. One story that we're watching. HUD may narrow what qualifies as an assistance animal for disabled tenants, making it harder for emotional support animals to automatically receive housing accommodations. Critics say the move could create instability for vulnerable renters, including veterans and people managing mental health conditions. There's also one big unanswered question. What happens to tenants who already have approved animals? We'll be keeping an eye on this one. Here's an interesting question. Is home building being held back more by mindset than technology? On a new episode of the Impact series, Mike Kalignan talks with Tim O'Brien, founder of Milwaukee-based Tim O'Brien Homes, about what it really takes to build better homes. From energy and water efficiency to workforce development and hands-on training for local high school students, the conversation explores what happens when builders stay curious and keep questioning the way we've always done it. One thing I liked about this conversation is that Tim approaches building with a learner's mindset. Constantly testing, refining, and asking how homes can work better for the people living in them. Right here is a quick clip.

SPEAKER_00

You know, I I think growing leaders is an important element of what we do as an operation. I'd love to see us uh get more involved in um learning how to be better home builders, but getting our teams involved in in the education component of how to be a better home builder. Um I'm not the one that goes to all these conferences. I want to send a bunch of our team that's engaged and interested in it, because I want them to learn. They're gonna see other things that I don't see, and they're also gonna be the ones that are gonna be applying it and bringing it back and executing it. Um so I think you know, what I'd love to see is just more engagement, whether it's through EBA, which is a wonderful organization, especially for um learning about um uh building high performance homes. You know, I get some I get something out of each one of those organizations. Builder 20, I get operational excellence and understanding of financials and just basic business practices. But EBA, you know, I learn more about how to build a better high performance home. There's such great uh information that you can get from from those groups. So, you know, I think us getting more of our team involved in that helps to promote more of, especially on EBA side and and with Green Builder Coalition and and everything that Sarah Gutterman does, um, you know, that helps to that movement uh to get that message out more. So I'd love to see, you know, more um more participation, uh builders sending more people to these types of events that can then bring that information back into the organization. I don't want to say it's like a grassroots effort, but it's not far from that, that you get them excited about it and and they come back into your operation and give you some ideas that you could try and test out. I think the other part of it is just try something different. You know, find find somebody that can help you get better at what you do and share that.

SPEAKER_01

A new free e-book from Green Builder Media tackles one of housing's most debated topics, residential fire sprinklers. The case for residential fire sprinklers moves past assumptions and into real world data, including lessons from Scottsdale, Arizona, where sprinklers have been required for more than 40 years, which results in measurable reductions in fire losses, property damage, and fatalities. The ebook also explores why modern homes burn faster, due to open floor plans, synthetic materials, tighter envelopes, and lithium-ion batteries. It also tackles common myths around cost, accidental activation, and water damage. You can download your free copy through the link in our show notes. A new national survey found that 78% of homeowners with wood decks regret their material choice, citing maintenance headaches, weathering, fading, and repair demands as top frustrations. More than half say they even avoid using their decks because of upkeep or worn appearance. That's why this week's editor's product pick is Trex Refuge, an ignition-resistant decking line designed for fire prone and wildland urban interface regions. It meets strict ignition resistance standards while still delivering the low maintenance durability homeowners want. And it's backed by a 50-year limited residential warranty. Before we go, the Sustainability Symposium 2026 is almost here, happening virtually June 3rd and 4th. And honestly, this lineup feels less like a conference and more like a reality check for housing. The sessions tackle affordability, resilience, energy, climate risk, and the future of value from Bill McKibben on energy in an increasingly unstable world to Andrew Winston on rethinking outdated metrics, and Laura Sullivan on why resilience is quickly becoming an affordability issue. Registration is free. Head to Green Builder Media's homepage or click the link in the description.

SPEAKER_02

That's the week in sustainable building news.com. Stay informed, stay ahead.