A new affordable Passive House megaproject, shifting federal housing priorities, EV fees, and growing pressure on resilience all point to a changing definition of value in housing.
This Week in Sustainable Building News offers a reminder that energy, resilience, and housing policy are increasingly impossible to separate.
First up: geothermal energy. Long considered a niche player in clean power, it may finally be moving into the mainstream. A recent New York Times report highlighted Houston-based company Fervo’s record-setting IPO, which raised nearly $1.9 billion—the largest clean-tech public offering to date.
Unlike solar and wind, geothermal provides always-on electricity by tapping heat deep underground using drilling methods borrowed from oil and gas. As energy demand rises from AI, data centers, EVs, and electrification, reliable baseload power is becoming harder to ignore. What makes geothermal especially notable right now is its political positioning: Even the Trump Administration appears open to it, making it one of the few lower-carbon energy sources gaining bipartisan traction.
Speaking of electrification, owning an EV could soon get more expensive. Congress is considering a new annual federal fee—$250 for electric vehicles and $100 for hybrids—to help offset declining gas tax revenue used for road maintenance.
Supporters call it a fairness issue. Critics argue it could overcharge many EV owners and slow adoption just as more households are integrating electric vehicles into broader home energy ecosystems that include solar, batteries, and smart controls. The larger question is whether infrastructure funding can modernize without creating new friction around electrification.
Housing policy, meanwhile, is moving in two directions at once.
The bipartisan ROAD to Housing Act passed the House and now heads to the Senate, signaling growing agreement that housing affordability and supply constraints need attention. But at the same time, the White House is proposing significant cuts to HUD and longstanding affordability programs many states rely on to build and rehabilitate housing. Even some Republicans have pushed back, arguing that reducing support during a housing shortage could deepen affordability pressures rather than ease them.
HUD also released a new housing playbook aimed at reducing barriers to construction—and depending on who you ask, it could either improve affordability or slow momentum around higher-performance homes. The recommendations encourage faster permitting, AI-assisted approvals, and broader use of manufactured and modular housing to speed production and lower costs. But the report also questions certain local green-building requirements and code add-ons unless they clearly improve resilience or affordability, a position likely to spark debate across the sustainable building industry.
One of the more compelling housing stories this week came from Grist, which argued that apartments and multifamily housing may be one of the country’s most overlooked climate solutions. The logic is fairly simple: smaller homes use less energy, shared walls reduce heating and cooling demand, and denser housing lowers infrastructure costs while often reducing utility bills. In other words, affordability and sustainability may not always be competing priorities. In some cases, they may actively reinforce one another.
The 25-acre Brooklyn project will eventually deliver 2,400 affordable housing units built around Passive House principles, geothermal, solar, stormwater management, urban farming, and healthcare access. The first phase—576 units—is already complete. But what makes Alafia especially notable is the larger implication: project leaders say Passive House performance in markets like New York is getting increasingly close to code, narrowing the gap between high-performance construction and conventional building assumptions.
Critics say the change could create instability for vulnerable renters, including veterans and people managing mental health conditions. Supporters argue clearer standards are needed. One unanswered question remains particularly important: What happens to tenants who already have approved accommodations?
On the latest episode of The Impact Series, Green Builder Coalition Executive Director Mike Collignon sat down with Tim O’Brien, founder of Milwaukee-based Tim O’Brien Homes, to talk about what it really takes to build better homes. The conversation spans energy and water efficiency, workforce development, and the value of staying curious in an industry often resistant to change. O’Brien also discusses hands-on training for local high school students and why challenging “the way we’ve always done it” may matter just as much as any new technology.
Green Builder Media also released a new free ebook this week tackling one of housing’s most debated topics: residential fire sprinklers. The Case for Residential Fire Sprinklers, sponsored by the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition, examines decades of fire data, including lessons from Scottsdale, Ariz., where residential sprinklers have been required for more than 40 years and have contributed to measurable reductions in property damage, fire losses, and fatalities.
The ebook also explores why modern homes burn differently than older housing stock. Open floor plans, tighter envelopes, synthetic furnishings, and lithium-ion batteries are changing fire behavior—and shrinking escape times. It also addresses common misconceptions around accidental activation, water damage, and cost.
Finally, this week’s Editors’ Product Pick taps into a growing source of homeowner frustration: deck regret. A recent national survey found that 78% of homeowners with wood decks regret their material choice, citing weathering, fading, repairs, and maintenance demands as major complaints. More than half say upkeep discourages them from using their outdoor space at all.
Trex Refuge, an ignition-resistant decking line designed for wildfire-prone and wildland-urban interface regions, aims to solve both durability and resilience challenges. The product meets strict ignition-resistance standards while delivering the low-maintenance appeal homeowners increasingly want—and it comes backed by a 50-year limited residential warranty.
As this week’s headlines made clear, the building industry is moving toward a future where resilience, affordability, energy, and performance are no longer separate conversations. Increasingly, they’re the same one.
June 18–July 30: Don't forget to take advantage of our special offer for Learning Edge's High Performance Home Master Class Series, which offers CEU opportunities for builders and pros. Click here for the AM Class and use this $90 discount coupon code: GBM0226AM. Click here for the PM Class and use this $90 discount coupon code: GBM0226PM.
Cati O’Keefe is the editorial director of Green Builder Media. She has 25 years of experience reporting and writing on all aspects of residential housing, building and energy codes, green building, and sustainability.
Why Geothermal, Multifamily Housing, and HUD Are Suddenly in the Same Conversation
A new affordable Passive House megaproject, shifting federal housing priorities, EV fees, and growing pressure on resilience all point to a changing definition of value in housing.
This Week in Sustainable Building News offers a reminder that energy, resilience, and housing policy are increasingly impossible to separate.
First up: geothermal energy. Long considered a niche player in clean power, it may finally be moving into the mainstream. A recent New York Times report highlighted Houston-based company Fervo’s record-setting IPO, which raised nearly $1.9 billion—the largest clean-tech public offering to date.
Unlike solar and wind, geothermal provides always-on electricity by tapping heat deep underground using drilling methods borrowed from oil and gas. As energy demand rises from AI, data centers, EVs, and electrification, reliable baseload power is becoming harder to ignore. What makes geothermal especially notable right now is its political positioning: Even the Trump Administration appears open to it, making it one of the few lower-carbon energy sources gaining bipartisan traction.
Speaking of electrification, owning an EV could soon get more expensive. Congress is considering a new annual federal fee—$250 for electric vehicles and $100 for hybrids—to help offset declining gas tax revenue used for road maintenance.
Supporters call it a fairness issue. Critics argue it could overcharge many EV owners and slow adoption just as more households are integrating electric vehicles into broader home energy ecosystems that include solar, batteries, and smart controls. The larger question is whether infrastructure funding can modernize without creating new friction around electrification.
Housing policy, meanwhile, is moving in two directions at once.
The bipartisan ROAD to Housing Act passed the House and now heads to the Senate, signaling growing agreement that housing affordability and supply constraints need attention. But at the same time, the White House is proposing significant cuts to HUD and longstanding affordability programs many states rely on to build and rehabilitate housing. Even some Republicans have pushed back, arguing that reducing support during a housing shortage could deepen affordability pressures rather than ease them.
HUD also released a new housing playbook aimed at reducing barriers to construction—and depending on who you ask, it could either improve affordability or slow momentum around higher-performance homes. The recommendations encourage faster permitting, AI-assisted approvals, and broader use of manufactured and modular housing to speed production and lower costs. But the report also questions certain local green-building requirements and code add-ons unless they clearly improve resilience or affordability, a position likely to spark debate across the sustainable building industry.
One of the more compelling housing stories this week came from Grist, which argued that apartments and multifamily housing may be one of the country’s most overlooked climate solutions. The logic is fairly simple: smaller homes use less energy, shared walls reduce heating and cooling demand, and denser housing lowers infrastructure costs while often reducing utility bills. In other words, affordability and sustainability may not always be competing priorities. In some cases, they may actively reinforce one another.
That idea is already playing out in East New York, where a development called Alafia is attempting to combine affordable housing, resilience, and Passive House performance at neighborhood scale.
The 25-acre Brooklyn project will eventually deliver 2,400 affordable housing units built around Passive House principles, geothermal, solar, stormwater management, urban farming, and healthcare access. The first phase—576 units—is already complete. But what makes Alafia especially notable is the larger implication: project leaders say Passive House performance in markets like New York is getting increasingly close to code, narrowing the gap between high-performance construction and conventional building assumptions.
Another housing story worth 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 change could create instability for vulnerable renters, including veterans and people managing mental health conditions. Supporters argue clearer standards are needed. One unanswered question remains particularly important: What happens to tenants who already have approved accommodations?
On the latest episode of The Impact Series, Green Builder Coalition Executive Director Mike Collignon sat down with Tim O’Brien, founder of Milwaukee-based Tim O’Brien Homes, to talk about what it really takes to build better homes. The conversation spans energy and water efficiency, workforce development, and the value of staying curious in an industry often resistant to change. O’Brien also discusses hands-on training for local high school students and why challenging “the way we’ve always done it” may matter just as much as any new technology.
Green Builder Media also released a new free ebook this week tackling one of housing’s most debated topics: residential fire sprinklers. The Case for Residential Fire Sprinklers, sponsored by the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition, examines decades of fire data, including lessons from Scottsdale, Ariz., where residential sprinklers have been required for more than 40 years and have contributed to measurable reductions in property damage, fire losses, and fatalities.
The ebook also explores why modern homes burn differently than older housing stock. Open floor plans, tighter envelopes, synthetic furnishings, and lithium-ion batteries are changing fire behavior—and shrinking escape times. It also addresses common misconceptions around accidental activation, water damage, and cost.
Finally, this week’s Editors’ Product Pick taps into a growing source of homeowner frustration: deck regret. A recent national survey found that 78% of homeowners with wood decks regret their material choice, citing weathering, fading, repairs, and maintenance demands as major complaints. More than half say upkeep discourages them from using their outdoor space at all.
Trex Refuge, an ignition-resistant decking line designed for wildfire-prone and wildland-urban interface regions, aims to solve both durability and resilience challenges. The product meets strict ignition-resistance standards while delivering the low-maintenance appeal homeowners increasingly want—and it comes backed by a 50-year limited residential warranty.
As this week’s headlines made clear, the building industry is moving toward a future where resilience, affordability, energy, and performance are no longer separate conversations. Increasingly, they’re the same one.
Watch/Listen to our new Sustainability Intern share the latest news on our weekly podcast.
June 1–4: NAREE’s 60th Annual Real Estate Journalism Conference, Miami
June 10–13: AIA Conference on Architecture & Design 2026, San Diego, Calif.
June 11–12: Next Generation Water Summit, Santa Fe, N.M.
June 18–July 30: Don't forget to take advantage of our special offer for Learning Edge's High Performance Home Master Class Series, which offers CEU opportunities for builders and pros. Click here for the AM Class and use this $90 discount coupon code: GBM0226AM. Click here for the PM Class and use this $90 discount coupon code: GBM0226PM.
June 22–24: 2026 NFPA Conference & Expo, Las Vegas
June 23–25: Trellis Impact 26, San Francisco, Calif.
July 22–23: Sunbelt Builders Show, San Antonio
July 29–August 1: AIBD Annual Conference, Cleveland
September 9–10: Building Fire Safety Symposium, Chicago
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
November 4–5: The Building Products Customer Workshop, Nashville
By Cati O'Keefe
Cati O’Keefe is the editorial director of Green Builder Media. She has 25 years of experience reporting and writing on all aspects of residential housing, building and energy codes, green building, and sustainability.Also Read