Green Builder Media's Cati O'Keefe rounds up the week's sustainable building news, joined by co-founder Ron Jones on deregulation versus long-term home value and editor in chief Matt Power on the hidden costs of buying an older home.
00:00:05:08 - 00:00:29:13
Cati O'Keefe: York City just made a move. The rest of the country should be watching closely. The city has adopted a new energy conservation code and existing building code, bringing mandatory air leakage testing and backup electric heating requirements into the mean stream. This will affect tens of thousands of renovation projects and sends a clear message. Efficiency and resilience are no longer optional, especially in dense, high risk markets.
00:00:29:17 - 00:00:58:04
Cati O'Keefe: Historically, moves by New York and California tend to ripple across the industry. Hi, I'm Cati O'Keefe, and welcome to This Week in Sustainability. Let's get into what shaping housing right now. Representative Jeff Crank has introduced the Framer Act, which aims to cut regulations to reduce construction costs and make homes more affordable. Many of the standards targeted by the bill are tied to energy efficiency, durability and long term performance.
00:00:58:07 - 00:01:25:23
Cati O'Keefe: Rolling them back may lower upfront costs, but could leave buyers paying more over time through higher utility bills, maintenance and insurance. At the heart of the debate is a key question is affordability about first cost or is it about total cost of ownership? Green Builder Media co-founder Ron Jones addresses this attempt to slash regulations. He argues that in times of real consequence, hypocrisy and cowardice often travel together.
00:01:25:29 - 00:01:30:08
Cati O'Keefe: Ron lays it out far more powerfully than I can. So let's go to him.
00:01:30:10 - 00:02:16:16
Ron Jones: It's double, double talk from the industry because every, every single industry in the in the world thinks that they're the most overregulated, persecuted, punished and disadvantaged industry in the history of life. And it's nonsense because what they're doing is substituting the real cost of home ownership over time with this first transaction, the up front cost. So they're substituting affordability for what is really profitability on the part of the administration.
00:02:16:23 - 00:02:20:28
Ron Jones: They made a mistake by not.
00:02:21:00 - 00:02:47:17
Ron Jones: Emphasizing that what they're talking about is value home value. Everybody wants to talk about price. Everybody wants to talk about cost. The real issue is value. Long term value that helps to build family wealth and strengthen the financial ability of families.
00:02:47:21 - 00:03:12:03
Cati O'Keefe: It was widely reported in the mainstream press that several major homebuilders, including Lennar and Taylor Morrison, are backing a new housing concept branded as Trump Homes, aimed at affordability through a mix of lower cost construction and rent to own pathways. The idea is to make homeownership accessible to buyers who can't qualify for a traditional mortgage today by allowing them to rent first with the option to purchase later.
00:03:12:05 - 00:03:38:21
Cati O'Keefe: Supporters say the model could expand access in a tight housing market. We urge caution. Rent to own models have a mixed track record and affordability concerns don't stop at the purchase price. Energy costs, insurance premiums, maintenance and long term performance still determine whether a home is truly affordable over time and how many of these people will convert from the rental option to homeownership after a three year window.
00:03:38:23 - 00:04:02:19
Cati O'Keefe: Notably, when asked for details, the main actors didn't add much clarity and may even be walking the idea back. According to Keith Griffith at Realtor.com, Atlas Morrison representative said the plan isn't something Taylor Morrison worked on and shouldn't be positioned as such. Leonard declined to comment, and Bloomberg News reports the white House says it is not actively considering the plan.
00:04:02:20 - 00:04:35:19
Cati O'Keefe: We'll keep an eye on this one for you. The newly released Metropolis Interface US Sustainable Design Report 2026 offers a clear signal of where architecture and design are headed. The key takeaways include one. Sustainability is no longer aspirational. It's expected. Two performance is beginning to outweigh esthetics, with resilience and durability driving decisions. And three climate reality is reshaping priorities now, not later, especially when it comes to envelopes, passive strategies and long term livability.
00:04:35:20 - 00:04:57:10
Cati O'Keefe: You can explore the full report at Metropolis. On a lighter note, check out Green Builder Magazine editor in chief Matt Power's latest video, highlighting a cost many first time homebuyers overlook when purchasing an existing home. And if you like this kind of practical, buyer friendly content, visit the Today's Home Buyer section at Greenbelt. Com.
00:04:57:12 - 00:05:06:10
Matt Power: Let's talk about the hidden costs. Buying an older home. One of the big ones you might not have thought about. Free removal.
00:05:06:12 - 00:05:11:09
Speaker 4: What's that? Brand swing. Got it. Pulling clear. Good. Next one up top.
00:05:11:12 - 00:05:28:18
Matt Power: You know, the thing about tree removal is it's not really that gratifying. You know, you got rid of the tree. Maybe you plant a new one because you, you know, your green side feels guilty, but you didn't really gain a lot. In fact, at least one of your neighbors now hates your gut and will never forgive you.
00:05:28:21 - 00:05:33:29
Speaker 5: I love this tree. It symbolized everything good about this neighborhood.
00:05:34:01 - 00:05:56:28
Matt Power: So what's a winning strategy with tree removal? The only answer is preemptive. You need to get the seller of the property to remove the trees before you move in. Let them pay for their deferred maintenance over the last 40 years. You can move in and have other things to worry about.
00:05:57:01 - 00:06:23:19
Cati O'Keefe: The EPA is signaling a rollback of proposed limits on fine particulate pollution standards that public health experts say are critical for respiratory health, especially during wildfire and extreme heat events. As outdoor air protection soften, buildings increasingly become the last line of defense that puts more pressure on envelopes and ventilation systems to protect occupants. Reinforcing that healthy buildings may have to compensate for weaker public standards.
00:06:23:19 - 00:06:47:24
Cati O'Keefe: In a related story. U.S. glass magazine argues that building envelopes are about efficiency and survival and says that in addition to wildfire smoke and heat, cold snaps and grid outages overcome poorly designed envelopes and leave occupants exposed to dangerous indoor conditions when systems go down in extreme events. Indoor temperatures can become life threatening in a matter of hours.
00:06:47:27 - 00:07:14:24
Cati O'Keefe: The takeaway is stark. Homes that can't maintain safe conditions without constant power are fragile by design. U.S. glass has a new moniker for the building envelope, dubbing it as Life Safety Infrastructure. We'll see if that term sticks, but at any rate, the industry needs to assess its building envelope offerings. Exciting news out of Texas, a 3D printed housing community is coming online, signaling a real shift in how homes could be built.
00:07:14:26 - 00:07:38:29
Cati O'Keefe: Projects like Zuri Gardens point to faster build times, less material waste, and new ways to address labor shortages. At a moment when the industry is under intense pressure to deliver more quickly and affordably. How will 3D printing change timelines, cost structures, design flexibility and long term performance as it starts to scale? We'll keep you posted as this exciting case study comes to life.
00:07:39:01 - 00:08:05:22
Cati O'Keefe: Our cognition hot take this week may surprise you. ESG is quietly winning despite political backlash and acronym fatigue. ESG is not fading. In fact, it's embedding itself deeper into how companies compete. Cognition smart data shows that 74% of consumers have stopped buying from a company due to sustainability concerns, and eight out of ten respondents believe ESG driven companies deliver a higher quality product.
00:08:05:25 - 00:08:32:09
Cati O'Keefe: While politicians argue semantics, consumers are making decisions with their wallets. ESG has become the invisible backbone of corporate strategy across nearly every sector. Want to tell your company's ESG story clearly? Incredibly. Explore the Free cognition ESG toolkit on our website. A few calendar notes here. The 2026 Next Generation Water Summit returns to Santa Fe on June 13th. Ready to tackle water challenges across the southwest?
00:08:32:11 - 00:08:54:13
Cati O'Keefe: Visit next Generation Water Summit. Com to get your early bird pricing. In case you missed it, visit our webinar archive in our Knowledge Base section and view our very popular How to Sell Healthier Homes webinar available on demand. Moderated by Editor in Chief Matt Power. The session offers practical tips on turning building science into clear, compelling buyer messaging.
00:08:54:16 - 00:09:14:16
Cati O'Keefe: Our latest Green Builder Magazine issue has gone live. You can download it for free at knowledgebase on our site. It's a great issue highlighting the winners of our annual Sustainable Home of the year program. This news wrap up drops every Wednesday except next week, because a Green Builder media team will be at Design and Construction Week in Orlando, and we really hope to see you there.
00:09:14:18 - 00:09:30:04
Cati O'Keefe: We'll be back on February 25th with insights straight from the show floor, as well as from the Reclaiming Affordability event we're hosting there with some of the biggest stakeholders in the housing industry. Thanks for watching. Please subscribe, share and help us grow this network.
00:09:30:06 - 00:09:41:11
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