Green Builder Media editor Cati O'Keefe covers realtors adding green data to MLS listings, a fifth straight year of rising home insurance premiums, and plug-in balcony solar, plus water conservation expert Deirdre Irwin on why Florida's water challenge is really about cost.
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Cati O'Keefe: I'm Cati O'Keefe with This Week in Sustainable Housing News. From energy costs to housing policy to new technology, here's what's shaping the market this week. Great news for the National Association of Realtors, which just released a report suggesting the housing market may be at the early stages of a true green shift. About 40% of MLS listings now include green data fields, making it easier for buyers to identify energy efficient and sustainable features.
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Cati O'Keefe: Nearly half of agents say their clients are asking about sustainability, while more than half of agency energy efficiency as key selling point in home listings. A quarter of professionals report some level of training in green building and energy efficient systems. Contrary to common misconceptions, over 40% of homes with green certifications spent neither more nor less time on the market.
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Cati O'Keefe: This dispels the notion that eco friendly certifications hinder property marketability, and highlights a growing acceptance of green certified homes among buyers. And the report says in some cases, high performance homes are commanding a price premium of 1 to 5%. Well, once a beacon of energy efficiency in the Midwest, Kansas City's light is now a little dimmer. As reported by Mike Collignon in a recent Green Builder post, in early February, the Kansas City, Missouri City Council narrowly voted to walk back their own progressive energy code at the behest of local builders.
00:01:33:13 - 00:02:02:15
Cati O'Keefe: The ordinance rolls back while our value duct testing and raise the eerie compliance number is essentially, as Mike points out, convincing consumers in the area that they live in Climate Zone three rather than the reality that they live in climate zone five. Consumers will pay the price in increased utility bills. Read this important story on our website. In new solar ideas gaining momentum in Illinois and it could change who gets access to clean energy.
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Cati O'Keefe: Lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow plug in balcony solar systems, giving apartment residency ability to generate their own power without rooftop access. These small systems, already popular in parts of Europe, can plug directly into a units electrical system, making solar accessible to renters for the very first time. It's a simple way to expand solar adoption and lower energy bills, but it also raises new questions around safety, interconnection and how utilities manage distributed generation at scale.
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Cati O'Keefe: For example, what happens when thousands of renters start generating their own electricity outside of traditional utility systems? How do you regulate it? Meter it. Control it. For builders and developers, this could signal a shift in how energy is designed into multi housing. US home insurance premiums are expected to rise again in 2026, marking a fifth consecutive year of increases as insurers deal with mounting losses from extreme weather and rising rebuilding costs.
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Cati O'Keefe: Average annual premiums are projected to climb about 4% to roughly 3057 this year, following a sharp 12% jump in 2025. Since 2021, premiums have surged 46%, about three times the rate of inflation, according to insure five. Other analyzes show similar trends. The Consumer Federation of America found premiums increased in 95% of US zip codes between 2021 and 2024, adding an average of 648 per homeowner.
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Cati O'Keefe: A growing body of research links these increases to extreme weather. A US Treasury analysis found that even without a major hurricane in 2025, insurers absorbed more than 42 billion in losses from severe storms like hail, tornadoes and high winds for the third straight year, well above historical averages. The impacts are especially pronounced in the Midwest. Premiums rose more than 20% in several states last year, including Minnesota, Colorado, Nebraska and Oklahoma.
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Cati O'Keefe: Florida remains the most expensive state, with an average premiums nearing 8500, more than double the national average. A new bipartisan bill in Congress aims to unlock geothermal energy, and it could have long term implications for housing costs. The legislation, introduced by Senators John Hickenlooper and Steve Daines, would streamline permitting and expand access to geothermal development, helping bring more stable, always on clean energy to the grid.
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Cati O'Keefe: As electrification increases demand on the grid, volatility in energy pricing is becoming a growing concern for both builders and homeowners. Geothermal offers consistent baseload power that isn't subject to the same fluctuations as fossil fuels, or whether dependent renewables. If scaled, it could make or help stabilize energy prices and make all electric homes more predictable and affordable to operate over time.
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Cati O'Keefe: A school district in Austin is taking an unconventional approach to housing affordability. Austin ISD is redeveloping a former campus into affordable housing designed specifically to help educators live closer to where they work. The project reflects a growing challenge in many markets. Essential workers increasingly can't afford to live in the communities they serve. For builders and developers, it's an interesting model repurposing underused public land to address housing shortages while supporting workforce stability.
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Cati O'Keefe: If you haven't seen it already, check out this episode of the impact series, where Mike Collignon sits down with water conservation expert Deirdre Irwin to talk about how water is becoming one of the most complex and misunderstood challenges in housing today. You can watch the full interview using the link in the show notes. But right now, check out this moment from their conversation.
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Deirdre Irwin: We got 52in of rainfall every year, and we're surrounded by lakes and rivers and springs. Some of the most prolific springs in the world are in in Florida, in Central Florida. So there's there's an education. There's a story to be told to explain to them. And I have this one slide I use a lot with these raindrops. And it's the cast of water.
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Deirdre Irwin: So there's the cost of our traditional source and all the new sources. So it's a money problem. It's not a water problem. We're not like Arizona and New Mexico. We have options, but they're just going to cost a little more. And Florida's feeling that a little bit. Now.
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Cati O'Keefe: Our data point this week comes from cognition. Smart data builders continue to face persistent labor shortages with electricians, HVAC installers and solar installers among the hardest trades to schedule. And that's starting to change how homes are built. According to the data, nearly eight of ten builders say easy to install products have a moderate to significant impact on reduced labor costs.
00:07:01:28 - 00:07:32:27
Cati O'Keefe: As a result, builders are increasingly prioritizing products that simplify installation from penalized wall systems to click lock flooring, prefabricated wiring systems, and even plug and play solar solutions. The takeaway installation efficiency is quickly becoming as important as performance when builders select products. Since we covered solar on small scale earlier in this newscast, will stick with the theme and give a shout out to Sun Bolts Eclipse Solar Charging umbrella.
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Cati O'Keefe: As our editors Product Pick of the week, this is a system that turns everyday outdoor seating into an off grid energy hub with integrated solar panels, built in battery storage, and fast USB charging. It delivers power without any connection to the grid, and new aluminum canopy option makes it durable enough for permanent installations. Builders and developers can include these in public spaces and parks in their new communities.
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Cati O'Keefe: Here's what's coming up on the events calendar. All the links for these are in our show notes. Sam rations time to scale Offsite Construction webinar will be held virtually on April 1st. On April 7th, you can learn how to stay ahead of evolving energy codes with an overview of key envelope design drivers in the 2024 Iik and Ashrae 90.1 2022 at the Virtual designing for Efficiency Envelope Considerations in Energy Codes.
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Cati O'Keefe: The National Home Performance Conference will be held April 13th through 16th in Columbus, Ohio. Dallas Build Expo 2026 will be held April 22nd and 23rd in Dallas. The California Green Building Conference will explore decarbonization strategies and climate resilient communities on May 27th and 28th at the University of California, Berkeley and early bird rates, and very shortly for Trellis Impact 2026, which will be held June 23rd through 25th in San Francisco.
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Cati O'Keefe: That catches you up for this week. Thanks for watching. Please subscribe and share our show with your industry colleagues.
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