The Green Builder Media Network
From breaking news and market signals to deep dives on sustainability, value, policy, resilience, and meaning, the Green Builder Media Podcast Network brings together the industry’s most trusted voices to explore how homes are designed, built, valued, and lived in.
The Green Builder Media Network
4M Homes Missing, 6K Homes on 10 Acres, and an $11B Power Line
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America is short roughly 4 million homes, yet one Indigenous-led development in Vancouver is building 6,000 homes on just 10 acres. Meanwhile, a new $11 billion transmission line highlights the massive infrastructure investments needed to support a growing, electrified future.
In this week's sustainable building news:
• Green Builder Media officially launches VISION House Asheville, a climate-ready demonstration home in partnership with Alair Homes and Alair Asheville | Red Tree
• Why states building more homes are generally seeing better affordability outcomes—and why America remains millions of homes short.
- https://commercialobserver.com/2026/06/nyc-multifamily-construction-boom/
- https://www.realtor.com/research/state-report-cards-2026
- https://www.inman.com/2026/06/12/median-home-price-tops-400k-buyer-demand-falls/
- https://www.zillow.com/research/million-dollar-starter-home-36452/
• Why internet connectivity is becoming essential infrastructure in multifamily housing.
• Editors’ Product of the Week: A front door designed to make moving large furniture a little easier.
Upcoming Sustainability Events:
June 23–25: Trellis Impact 26 San Francisco
July 15–16: The Flooring Sustainability Summit, Arlington, Va.
July 22–23: Sunbelt Builders Show, San Antonio, Texas
July 23–24: Industrialized Housing Summit, Austin
September 9–10: Building Fire Safety Symposium
September 15-16: U.S. Heat Pump Summit, Worcester, Mass.
September 16–18: EEBA Summit 2026 St. Paul, Minn.
October 20–23: Greenbuild 2026 New York, NY
November 4–5: The Building Products Customer Workshop, Nashville
About Green Builder Media
Green Builder Media www.greenbuildermedia.com is North America’s leading green building and sustainable living media company. Through our magazine, website, demonstration homes, and data services, we provide actionable information to consumers and builders about how to build and remodel sustainable homes. We focus on net-zero building, green products, energy efficiency, healthy homes, resilience, connected living, and building science.
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Hey everyone, I'm Ronan. And before we jump into this week's news, we've got an exciting announcement. Greenbuilder Media is proud to officially launch Vision House Asheville, our newest demonstration project in partnership with Alaire Homes and Alaire Asheville Red Tree, located in Asheville, North Carolina. Coming on the heels of Hurricane Helene, the project couldn't be more timely. The demonstration project will showcase high-performance building science, climate-ready construction, healthy indoor environments, smart technologies, solar energy, water saving solutions, and innovative products from some of the industry's leading manufacturers. Over the next year, we'll be documenting every step of the journey, from design and construction to performance and occupancy, and sharing what we learn along the way. You can follow the project using the link in the show notes or visit greenbuildermedia.com and click on the Vision House tab in the nav bar. Now, let's get into this week's news. A fascinating experiment is underway in Vancouver, Canada, where the Squamish Nation is building one of the densest residential developments in North America, called Cinoc. When complete, one of Canada's largest net zero operational carbon communities will deliver about 6,000 homes across 11 towers on just 10 acres of land. The first residents have already moved in. What makes the project so notable is how it got built. Because the land is under Squamish jurisdiction, the project wasn't subject to many of the zoning battles, appeals, and neighborhood objections that often slow housing projects for years. The result is a high-density, car light, net zero community designed to help address affordability while reducing environmental impacts. A new housing report card is out, and the results tell a pretty simple story. The states making housing more affordable are generally the states building more housing. Realtor.com ranked every state on affordability and home building activity. Indiana took the top spot, followed by Iowa, South Carolina, Texas, and North Carolina. What do they have in common? Lower regulatory barriers, more available land, and stronger construction activity. They're adding supply. At the bottom of the rankings was New York. What's interesting is that New York City is actually seeing a surge in apartment construction and office to residential conversions. Thousands of new units are entering the market. But that's the point. Even with all that activity, New York is still trying to dig out of decades of underbuilding. Statewide affordability remains among the worst in the nation, and that's not just a New York problem. This week, Redfin reported that the median US home sale price topped $400,000 for the first time ever, and Zillow just reported that 242 cities now have starter homes valued at $1 million or more. Plus, pending home sales decline for the fourth straight week as buyers continue pulling back. Normally, weaker demand would cool prices, but prices keep rising because there still aren't enough homes. The US remains short roughly 4 million housing units, and only 11 states have median home prices that are considered affordable for median income households. Almost all of them are in the Midwest and South. As states search for ways to make housing more affordable, some are taking a closer look at building codes. Colorado, Texas, Idaho, and others are loosening certain requirements, including allowing some apartment buildings to be built with a single stairway instead of two. Supporters say it lowers costs, opens up smaller infill lots, and makes more housing projects financially feasible. But not everyone is convinced. Fire safety advocates warn that many of these rules were created after deadly fires and accidents. In an emergency, a single stairwell may have to serve as both the escape route for residents and the access route for firefighters. Some states are also scaling back electrical safety requirements and slowing code updates to reduce costs. Critics argue the savings are relatively small compared to the potential risks. The bigger question is one we're hearing more often across housing. How do we make homes more affordable without compromising safety? One of the biggest energy storage of the year happened this week as the massive $11 billion Sunsia project officially came online. The system includes a 550-mile transmission line capable of delivering 3,000 megawatts of New Mexico wind power across the southwest. Enough electricity to power roughly 1 million homes. Sunsia is expected to eliminate about 9 million metric tons of carbon emissions each year. The bigger takeaway is about infrastructure because the challenge today is moving renewable energy to where people actually need it. This project is a reminder that the future of clean energy depends as much on transmission lines and grid capacity as it does on wind turbines and solar panels. Speaking of infrastructure, it's not just electricity that residents expect to be available on day one. A new multifamily housing report from Parks Associates found that internet connectivity has become one of the most important amenities for apartment residents. Nearly half of renters say having internet available at movement is a top priority, and more than 40% expect it to be ready the moment they walk through the door. The report argues that connectivity is no longer just an amenity, it's infrastructure. In fact, residents who already have property provided internet rank it as the number one feature they want in their next home. The research also found that good connectivity supports many of the smart building technologies developers are increasingly deploying, from access control and security systems to smart thermostats and leak detection. It's another reminder that housing today isn't just about walls and roofs. Increasingly, it's about the digital infrastructure that allows people to live, work, learn, and connect from home. When homeowners imagine their ideal bathroom, they think about spa-like experiences, rainfall showers, natural light, and luxurious retreats. But when it's time to spend money, they make different choices. This week's cognition hot take reveals one of the biggest gaps between aspiration and action in bathroom design. Heated floors ranked relatively low on homeowners' wish lists, yet they emerged as the most common wellness-focused upgrade during actual renovations. Similar patterns appeared with soaking tubs, better lighting, and smart controls. The reason is simple. When budgets meet reality, homeowners prioritize features that improve daily comfort and convenience over features that simply look luxurious. The data also highlights a significant opportunity for builders and designers. Only about 22% of homeowners have intentionally upgraded their bathrooms for wellness, suggesting most have yet to invest in the category at all. Moving a sofa through the front door just got easier with our editor's product of the week, Provia's Signet Fiberglass Entry Door System. The door features vented side lights with removable mole posts, allowing homeowners to create a wider opening when moving large furniture, appliances, or other bulky items. The vented side light also provides fresh air and natural ventilation through a retractable screened opening, while a multi-point locking system and hidden hinges maintain security and a clean appearance. I'll close today's podcast with some good news. A new report from the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative found that home buyers care about energy performance far more than the real estate industry may realize. Researchers analyzed 143 million home listings, surveyed more than 1,500 real estate professionals, and spoke with over 1,000 recent home buyers. What they found is a pretty significant information gap. Homes with solar panels sold for about 2% more when solar was actually mentioned in the listing. Homes with heat pumps also saw a price premium. Yet one-third of homes with solar never mentioned it in their listing, and heat pumps were referenced only 8% of the time. The takeaway? Buyers increasingly value lower utility bills, energy efficient systems, and clean energy technologies. But they're often not gaining the information they need to make informed decisions. For builders, remodelers, and housing professionals, that's a real opportunity. The industry has spent years talking about energy efficiency as a cost. This research suggests it may be time to start talking about it as an asset.
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