Green Builder Media's Ronan Mirza breaks down the week's housing news, from the 21st Century Road to Housing Act awaiting HUD rulemaking to a grid emergency order that makes resilient, well-sealed homes more valuable than ever. He also covers MSCI's move to price climate risk into asset values, LEED-tied incentives for AI data centers, and Beazer's record HERS performance awards.
00:00:05:15 - 00:00:34:23
Ronan Mirza: Hi I'm Ronan. This week we're looking at the forces reshaping housing from Washington to Wall Street to the electric grid. And there's a lot to unpack. Congress recently passed the biggest federal housing package in decades. So where are the new homes? The truth is, passing a law doesn't build a single house. The new 21st Century Road to Housing Act includes reforms that could help increase housing supply by modernizing manufactured housing, streamlining permitting, expanding financing, and encouraging more affordable homes.
00:00:35:00 - 00:01:00:23
Ronan Mirza: But now the ball shifts to the Trump administration and HUD. HUD must write new regulations, update manufactured housing standards, launch pilot programs, and issue guidance that builders, lenders and developers can actually use. Until that happens, many of the law's biggest promises remain just that promises. Here's why resilient homes matter more than ever, as a dangerous heat wave pushed electricity demand to the limit.
00:01:01:00 - 00:01:27:16
Ronan Mirza: The US Department of Energy issued an emergency order allowing the Southwest Power Pool to fire up backup generators across 17 states to help prevent blackouts. The order highlights a growing reality. Our lecture grid is under increasing pressure from extreme weather, rising electricity demand and aging infrastructure for builders and homeowners. That makes tighter building envelopes, better insulation, efficient HVAC systems, and backup power resilience essentials.
00:01:27:16 - 00:01:51:12
Ronan Mirza: Because here's the reality. A resilient home doesn't just save energy, it buys you time. A tight, well-insulated home stays cooler longer during a summer outage and warmer, longer during a winter storm. Add battery storage or backup power, and you've got another layer of protection when the grid is under stress. As power outages become more common, resilience may prove to be one of the most valuable features a home can offer.
00:01:51:18 - 00:02:13:09
Ronan Mirza: You know, climate risk is gone mainstream in one of the world's biggest investment firms starts treating it like investment risk. Henry Fernandez, CEO of MSCI, the company behind many of the world's leading stock market indexes, says investors who ignore climate risk are ignoring a growing factor in asset values and, in his words, only have themselves to blame to prepare clients for that future.
00:02:13:12 - 00:02:36:05
Ronan Mirza: MSCI recently acquired climate risk analytics firm First Street, adding climate risk data on billions of properties to better understand how flooding, wildfire, extreme heat and other physical climate risks could affect long term value. Here's the takeaway If Wall Street is pricing resilience, the housing industry can't afford to treat it as an upgrade. It needs to become part of every Holmes value proposition.
00:02:36:06 - 00:02:58:11
Ronan Mirza: As states compete to attract AI data centers with billions of dollars in tax incentives, Congress is asking a new question should taxpayers reward every data center or only the ones built to the highest environmental standards? New federal legislation would tie certain tax incentives to lead certification, encouraging developers to build facilities that use less energy, conserve water and reduce environmental impacts.
00:02:58:12 - 00:03:27:07
Ronan Mirza: It's a notable shift in thinking instead of offering incentives simply to create jobs. The proposal says public dollars should also reward better performing buildings. Here's a trend every builder should be watching. Business leaders are warning that climate, not tariffs or geopolitics, may become the biggest supply chain disruption of the next decade. Speaking of Bloomberg's Sustainable Business Summit in Singapore, executives said extreme weather is forcing companies to rethink how they source materials, manage inventory and protect operations.
00:03:27:09 - 00:03:57:03
Ronan Mirza: The next delay on your job site may have less to do with the factory and more to do with the forecast. As storms, floods, wildfires and extreme heat disrupt manufacturing and transportation, resilience isn't just about building stronger homes, it's also about building stronger supply chains. Here's another housing trend worth watching. Across the country, cities are rewriting zoning codes to allow accessory dwelling units, duplexes and other missing middle housing, all with one goal creating more homes within existing neighborhoods.
00:03:57:03 - 00:04:23:10
Ronan Mirza: But at the luxury end of the market, the opposite may be happening. According to Inman News, some affluent buyers are purchasing neighboring homes not to rent or redevelop them, but to combine them into larger private compounds. As cities work to create more housing on existing lots, what happens if private wealth starts taking homes off the market instead? It's still a niche luxury trend, but it's one city planners and local officials may want to watch as they balance private property rights with the growing need for housing.
00:04:23:11 - 00:04:47:23
Ronan Mirza: What does a healthy home mean to today's buyers? It depends on how old they are. New cognition smart data research shows that while clean air, safe water and nontoxic materials remain the top wellness priorities overall, younger generations are redefining what healthy living really means. Baby boomers prioritize physical health and aging well. Gen X places the highest value on emotional well-being, but millennials and Gen Z are changing the conversation.
00:04:48:00 - 00:05:17:21
Ronan Mirza: Nearly 70% of millennials in two thirds of Gen Z say calm, quiet and stress reduction are among their top priorities at home. They're also much more likely to value natural light, biophilic design, and a strong connection to nature. Here's a milestone in high performance home building. Beazer homes has become the first builder to win four major awards in a single year in the 2026 ResNet Cross-border Builder Challenge, which recognizes North America's highest performing homes based on independently verified Hers ratings.
00:05:17:23 - 00:05:41:07
Ronan Mirza: These are earned President's Awards in both the North and South. The Low Score Production Award and the Net Zero Award with an outstanding Hers index of -48. Here's what makes that impressive. These aren't marketing claims, they're measured results. Every Hers rating is independently tested and verified, giving homebuyers confidence that their home will deliver the energy efficiency, comfort and performance is designed to achieve.
00:05:41:13 - 00:06:05:03
Ronan Mirza: Building one high performance home is an accomplishment. Building thousands with verified performance shows that high performance construction has moved into the mainstream. What if carbon accounting isn't just about compliance? It's about creating business value. On the latest episode of The Valuation Metric. Sara Gutterman sits down with gravity co-founder Jay Ruckelshaus to impact California's SB 253 carbon disclosure law.
00:06:05:06 - 00:06:15:19
Ronan Mirza: Why is reporting deadline was delayed, and why measuring emissions is quickly becoming as important as measuring financial performance. Catch the full conversation on the valuation metric. Here's a clip.
00:06:16:00 - 00:06:41:06
Jay Ruckelshaus: Just with the basics. As you said, California Senate Bill 253 requires large companies really headquartered anywhere in the US, as long as they're doing some meaningful business in California and have overall $1 billion in revenue per year to disclose every year they're being house gas emissions. And it's really the biggest, most important sustainability disclosure regulation in a generation in the US.
00:06:41:06 - 00:07:06:21
Jay Ruckelshaus: And I think importantly for the CFO audience is a kind of brings what used to be maybe more the province of marketing or kind of a nice CSR responsibility report that a company would put out once a year really much more into language in terms that they'll be familiar with. There's an audit requirement that ramps up next year and essentially mandates companies report emissions with the rigor with which they report financials.
00:07:07:01 - 00:07:36:11
Ronan Mirza: Tom Ferrer, Editors, Product Pick of the week with summer in full swing, here's a siding collection built for Coastal Living LP Building Solutions LP smart Side Expert Finish Coastal capsule features six seaside inspired colors, including sand dunes, the company's 2026 color of the year all in a sleek, brushed, smooth finish. But it's more than just good looks. The siding is engineered to stand up to moisture, hail and harsh coastal weather, making it a great fit for homes from North Carolina to Florida and across the Gulf Coast to Texas.
00:07:36:13 - 00:08:04:00
Ronan Mirza: Check out the link in our show notes to learn more. As homes become more energy efficient. One question matters more than ever. How do you keep the air inside healthy, tighter building envelopes, evolving energy codes, wildfire smoke, humidity, allergens, and higher homeowner expectations have made ventilation one of the biggest challenges in high performance construction. That's why you won't want to miss Green Builder Media's free live webinar with Panasonic on Thursday, August 13th at 2 p.m. eastern.
00:08:04:02 - 00:08:23:05
Ronan Mirza: You'll learn when an energy recovery ventilator is the right choice, when an exhaust only system still makes sense, and how to design healthier, quieter, code compliant homes in every climate. Registration is free. Reserve your spot using the link in our show notes. That's a wrap\! Until next time, keep looking for the ideas that are changing the way we build and live.
00:08:23:11 - 00:08:34:14
Melina Mirza: Before you click away. Make sure you subscribe to the podcast wherever you listen, and don't miss the daily coverage on sustainability, housing, and what's next for home Building at Greenville. Stay informed. Stay ahead.