Homes continue to be tested in ways they weren’t designed for, but this week brings some compelling evidence that building them better can make a measurable difference.
Researchers analyzing wind damage from Hurricane Irma across more than one million South Florida homes found that homes built under Florida’s stronger 2001 building code were 22 percent less likely to suffer wind damage than homes built just before the code took effect.
When newer homes were damaged, severity was about 27 percent lower. The benefits extended to property values: Damaged homes sold before repairs fetched about 13 percent less, or roughly $29,000 less, than undamaged homes.
But stronger codes only work when the building science does. Homeowners are increasingly taking builders to court over mold with lawsuits alleging problems involving HVAC systems, windows, attic ventilation, and moisture. The takeaway isn’t that tighter homes cause mold. It’s that high-performance construction leaves less room for error. Air sealing, flashing, drainage, HVAC sizing, ventilation, and humidity control have to work as a system.
Meanwhile, California has finally adopted its long-delayed wildfire Zone Zero rules
but they’re weaker than scientists and firefighters recommended. Instead of requiring five non-combustible feet around homes, the new rules require just one, with some vegetation permitted beyond that. The regulations affect roughly 2 million homes at a time when both wildfire exposure and insurance pressure continue to grow.
And what happens when the systems inside a home stop working altogether? In the latest episode of The Valuation Metric, Phius co-executive director Lisa White tells Green Builder Media CEO Sara Gutterman that passive buildings can remain habitable two to 10 times longer than conventional homes during an outage
a concept known as passive survivability. As extreme heat, wildfire smoke and grid outages become more common, the ability to protect occupants when the power fails could become a much more important measure of home performance.
Consumers are beginning to recognize that value. New COGNITION Smart Data shows resiliency emerging as one of housing’s strongest value drivers, particularly among buyers who have already experienced climate-related disasters. Most industry professionals surveyed also believe resilient homes command higher resale values. Download our new free report, A Growing Resiliency Economy
for a deeper look at what buyers want, what’s holding the market back, and why resiliency is becoming a cornerstone of Value Per Square Foot.
Extreme heat is creating another problem builders may not have considered: the ground itself. After five successive heat waves, London is seeing record insurance claims for subsidence as clay soils dry and shrink beneath homes causing cracks, sticking doors and structural damage. Large areas of the United States also sit on expansive clay soils, making soil testing, drainage, foundation design and moisture management increasingly important as heat and drought intensify.
Keeping homes cool is becoming an energy challenge, too. Engineers are looking beyond simply installing more air conditioning toward ways to keep heat from entering buildings in the first place including smart windows and shading, reflective roofs, ventilation and radiative cooling coatings. With cooling responsible for roughly half of peak electricity demand in Texas on the hottest days, reducing heat gain could become an increasingly important grid strategy.
Climate isn’t the only force putting pressure on construction costs. The renewed U.S.-Canada trade conflict is threatening housing supply chains that flow in both directions across the border. One 2026 analysis estimated that the tariff environment already in place as of May couldraise Canadian construction-material costs by 9.2 percent with products such as windows, doors, toilets, replacement equipment parts and aluminum studs potentially vulnerable to trade disruption.
Against that affordability backdrop, factory-built housing is attracting more attention. Washington’s new bipartisan housing law could cut manufactured-home construction costs by as much as $10,000 per unit by eliminating an outdated steel-frame requirement. But building a cheaper home doesn’t necessarily make it affordable to own. About 44 percent of manufactured-home buyers rely on personal property loans, which can carry interest rates near 10 percent. Now three U.S. senators have proposed legislation aimed at expanding financing options for manufactured-home buyers by giving Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac 30 months to begin taking on some of the risk from these loans.
The real estate industry is also paying attention. Keller Williams has launched KW Modular to train real estate professionals to sell factory-built homes and connect them directly with modular manufacturers. KW Modular says modular homes can cost 10 to 25 percent less than comparable site-built homes and can be completed considerably faster. Perhaps most telling is who is making the move: not a modular manufacturer, but a major real estate brokerage preparing its agents for what it believes could be the next wave of homebuilding.
3D printed homes continue to advance: A 55-acre Colorado development called Cleora plans 106 residences, with more than 65 expected to be 3D printed
using autonomous printers already operating onsite. The concrete wall systems promise thermal-performance and resilience benefits, and the development is partnering with Colorado Mountain College to train students in construction robotics and 3D printing.
Housing performance is quite simply becoming harder to ignore. Whether the threat is hurricane winds, wildfire, mold, extreme heat, grid failure or rising ownership costs, the definition of a good home is changing. Increasingly, homes must perform, protect occupants, preserve value—and survive.
Watch the full This Week’s Sustainable Building News episode here or wherever you get your podcasts. Rather read the script? We’ve got that, too.
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August 31: Fall In Love With Nature Sweepstakes Entries Due
September 9–10: Building Fire Safety Symposium, Chicago
September 15-16: U.S. Heat Pump Summit, Worcester, Mass.
September 16–18: EEBA Summit 2026, St. Paul, Minn.
October 18–21: International Code Council’s 2026 Annual Conference and Expo, Nashville, Tenn.
October 20–23: Greenbuild 2026, New York
October 23: NAHB’s 2027 Sustainability and Green Building Scholarship Application Due
November 4–5: The Building Products Customer Workshop, Nashville
November 18: 2026 Southwest Utility Energy Efficiency Workshop, Santa Fe
November 18–20: 1st International Online Conference on Sustainable Construction (GO BUILD 2026) (Virtual)
December 9: International Conference on Sustainable Architecture and Urban Design Engineering (ICSAUDE), New York
January 28-29: ICGBS 2027: 21. International Conference on Green Building and Sustainability, New York
February 2-4, Design & Construction Week 2027 (IBS & KBIS), Las Vegas