Housing Finance Overhaul, Home Batteries as a Side Hustle, and a Crystal Sauna You Have to See

Housing Finance Overhaul, Home Batteries as a Side Hustle, and a Crystal Sauna You Have to See

This Week's Sustainable Building News [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwQAcwOzaQyfAMZ7xA2Mz2acdLVauKFlV] covers new housing finance legislation in Congress, a home battery program that pays homeowners to support the grid, the rapid rise of heat pumps, new state housing and infrastructure initiatives, innovative sustainable design, and a remarkable home with a $4.20 monthly utility bill. Featured stories and resources: * Housing finance legislation package (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac & construction loans) [https://fitzgerald.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-fitzgerald-introduces-package-housing-legislation-end-gse-conservatorship]  * Proposed VA loan fee changes [https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/6047]  * FranklinWH virtual power plant program  [https://www.franklinwh.com/news/northern-california-homeowners-can-now-earn-up-to-6000-to-connect-franklinwh-batteries-to-the-grid] * Virginia infrastructure plan [https://www.constructiondive.com/news/virginia-approves-6-year-infrastructure-plan/823308/?] * Pennsylvania ADU legislation [https://www.palegis.us/legislation/bills/2025/hb2186] * Massachusetts Mass Save Funding  [https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/energy-efficiency/massachusetts-senate-preserves-energy-efficiency-funding?] * Heat pumps poised to outsell air conditioners [https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/heat-pumps/heat-pumps-air-conditioners] * Home sharing among older adults  [https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/27/well/older-adults-home-sharing.html] * Maine housing production report [https://mainemorningstar.com/2026/06/29/new-housing-permit-data-shows-maine-is-meeting-annual-production-goals/]  * The Valuation Metric with Sara Gutterman [https://youtu.be/fnIGqVtq5oo?si=ACxlUOFmkJEBrEkQ]  * Editors' Product Pick: Nu Bare by Daltile at VISION House Asheville [https://www.greenbuildermedia.com/blog/building-product-durability-on-display]  * Crystal Sauna at Sweden's Climate Action Park  [https://www.visitskelleftea.se/en/se26/wasteland/] * Montana's Living Building home with a $4.20 utility bill  [ https://billingsgazette.com/news/local/business/article_cc315acd-65c5-49a8-ba63-6f4c799229ff.html] About Green Builder Media Green Builder Media www.greenbuildermedia.com is North America’s leading green building and sustainable living media company. Through our magazine, website, demonstration homes, and data services, we provide actionable information to consumers and builders about how to build and remodel sustainable homes. We focus on net-zero building, green products, energy efficiency, healthy homes, resilience, connected living, and building science. Subscribe to our once-a-week Vantage enewsletter: https://www.greenbuildermedia.com/ene... [https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqa1VjNGhLYVhJWXdneUV4M19XUmpXdDhoTGdMQXxBQ3Jtc0tuTnM0Y3czVThXOGdCdmxBSjh4X1NtVFMzcThKd0tMLU5uZHZrQWJUTGJPaTdQVE0zMVQ3MnYweG9Zd3JGVjNDcUlDemFXQ1pOdHcxem1ITlNBcVF5OHZuU2VQNFFSV2pDLWtBb0VkVjNOYjczd1JQYw&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.greenbuildermedia.com%2Fenewsletter-subscribe&v=3HcuRQMUQ68] Follow Green Builder Media: LinkedIn: @green-builder-media-llc Facebook: @greenbuildermedia Bluesky: @greenbuildermedia Threads: @greenbuildermedia

4M Homes Missing, 6K Homes on 10 Acres, and an $11B Power Line

America is short roughly 4 million homes, yet one Indigenous-led development in Vancouver is building 6,000 homes on just 10 acres. Meanwhile, a new $11 billion transmission line highlights the massive infrastructure investments needed to support a growing, electrified future. In this week's sustainable building news: • Green Builder Media officially launches VISION House Asheville, a climate-ready demonstration home in partnership with Alair Homes and Alair Asheville | Red Tree • The Squamish Nation's groundbreaking Sen̓áḵw development challenges conventional thinking about housing density, affordability, and urban growth. [https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/15/opinion/vancouver-housing-crisis-development.html?] • Why states building more homes are generally seeing better affordability outcomes—and why America remains millions of homes short. * https://commercialobserver.com/2026/06/nyc-multifamily-construction-boom/ [https://commercialobserver.com/2026/06/nyc-multifamily-construction-boom/] * https://www.realtor.com/research/state-report-cards-2026 [https://www.realtor.com/research/state-report-cards-2026] * https://www.inman.com/2026/06/12/median-home-price-tops-400k-buyer-demand-falls/ [https://www.inman.com/2026/06/12/median-home-price-tops-400k-buyer-demand-falls/] * https://www.zillow.com/research/million-dollar-starter-home-36452/ [https://www.zillow.com/research/million-dollar-starter-home-36452/] • The debate over whether loosening building codes can reduce housing costs without compromising safety [https://stateline.org/2026/06/22/states-are-changing-fire-codes-to-make-housing-cheaper-some-safety-experts-are-worried/] • SunZia, one of the largest clean energy infrastructure projects in U.S. history, officially comes online. [https://electrek.co/2026/06/19/sunzia-one-giant-us-power-line-wind-power-for-1-million-homes/] • Why internet connectivity is becoming essential infrastructure in multifamily housing. [https://www.parksassociates.com/downloads]  • New COGNITION Smart Data reveals what homeowners say they want in their bathrooms versus what they actually install. [https://www.greenbuildermedia.com/blog/the-bathroom-wellness-gap] • Editors’ Product of the Week: A front door designed to make moving large furniture a little easier. [https://www.provia.com/vented-sidelites-and-removable-mullions/]  • Plus, some encouraging news on heat pumps, solar, and why energy-efficient homes may be worth more than many sellers realize. [https://smartenergycc.org/research-release-home-buying-in-the-energy-transition/]  Upcoming Sustainability Events:  June 23–25: Trellis Impact 26 [https://trellis.net/teaser-ti26/] San Francisco  [https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbWV5dXNBZWd0U19OQzFvWjFSRjVvazdHVXdEZ3xBQ3Jtc0ttX2lTcjRZMjA0dDIyMmsyNDRMNFY3S1FGTHpaNktXWWdPZXhxaVlKR1NLYjVyVWFNRzBaVjZsU0pLc0NuaXBOQkYzcm1ibkM4YVczejlKaVFCdWwwV2xhVjJla3ZyU1o3LU1ENFRHcmt1UEFMbmFxWQ&q=https%3A%2F%2Ftrellis.net%2Fteaser-ti26%2F&v=gbE1wWDXrmU] July 15–16: The Flooring Sustainability Summit [http://www.flooringsummit.com], Arlington, Va. July 22–23: Sunbelt Builders Show [https://www.sunbeltbuildersshow.com/], San Antonio, Texas  July 23–24: Industrialized Housing Summit [https://cvent.utexas.edu/event/510d0030-a4ca-4a44-a4ea-028cce12f260/summary], Austin  September 9–10: Building Fire Safety Symposium  [https://web.cvent.com/event/cae6dc8d-a2c4-4b4b-970d-42b14c08a21a/register] September 15-16: U.S. Heat Pump Summit [https://www.usheatpumpsummit.com/tickets], Worcester, Mass. September 16–18: EEBA Summit 2026 [https://summit2026.eeba.org/registration] St. Paul, Minn. October 20–23: Greenbuild 2026 [https://greenbuild.informaconnect.com/2026/registrations/Attendee?_mc=barter_x_x_x_cli_x_BE-Exchange_03-26-2026] New York, NY November 4–5: The Building Products Customer [https://www.venveo.com/2027?utm_mediu..] Workshop, Nashville   [https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbV9jRmhFb1FwUzZMX0JYZXJ1RTNuTkNtZXZLUXxBQ3Jtc0tsRi1TenI2R3N3azVWbTY1QTRCRUh4RWNMMTR1Q2l2aDRobmFmck5URjZoTTNxZWVaVWVnRDl4RF9KaElwYVRtQVhJajRvMmY4aUl0YzA5dlJGcVR4RVRfSy0zZDMyNWVZcG1aVTBoLUVOVVhGblF2WQ&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.venveo.com%2F2027%3Futm_mediu..&v=gbE1wWDXrmU] About Green Builder Media Green Builder Media www.greenbuildermedia.com is North America’s leading green building and sustainable living media company. Through our magazine, website, demonstration homes, and data services, we provide actionable information to consumers and builders about how to build and remodel sustainable homes. We focus on net-zero building, green products, energy efficiency, healthy homes, resilience, connected living, and building science. Subscribe to our once-a-week Vantage enewsletter [https://www.greenbuildermedia.com/enewsletter-subscribe] Follow Green Builder Media: LinkedIn: @green-builder-media-llc Facebook: @greenbuildermedia Bluesky: @greenbuildermedia Threads: @greenbuildermedia

The Affordability Reckoning

Our current affordability crisis is the result of how we define value, what we measure, what we subsidize, and what we ignore. Sustainability, resilience, and wellness are the missing variables in a system obsessed with first cost and blind to long-term consequence. In this episode, Sara questions existing paradigms and offers innovative solutions that blend sustainability and profitability to address our pressing economic, social, and environmental challenges.

Housing Starts Crash, Solar Beats Coal, and a Startup Wants to Make It Rain

This Week's Sustainable Building News [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwQAcwOzaQyfAMZ7xA2Mz2acdLVauKFlV] This week on Green Builder Media's Housing News Podcast, we explore the trends reshaping housing, sustainability, and resilience. Housing starts have fallen to a six-year low, raising new concerns about affordability and housing supply. At the same time, solar generated more electricity than coal in the United States for the first time ever, marking a major milestone in the nation's energy transition. We also examine a new corporate climate standard that shifts the focus from climate promises to measurable action, a controversial North Carolina proposal that would exempt some agricultural facilities from building code oversight, and a startup that claims it can increase rainfall in drought-stricken regions of the American West. In this issue:  Housing starts lowest in six years [https://www.reuters.com/business/us-single-family-housing-starts-drop-eight-month-low-may-2026-06-16/?] Solar generates more power than coal [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-06-10/solar-surpasses-coal-in-historic-shift-for-us-electricity-mix?] SBTi Climate Standard prevents fake green claims [https://time.com/article/2026/06/12/sbti-corporate-climate-progress/] North Carolina Farm Act exempts agricultural buildings, including fertilizer facilities, from local zoning and state building code oversight  [https://lrs.sog.unc.edu/bill/constitutional-right-farm] Tech innovation makes rain machine [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2026-06-11/us-west-drought-spurs-startup-to-pitch-weird-rain-machine?] Mass timber earthquake research [https://techxplore.com/news/2026-06-resilient-earthquakes-solution.html] HomeRES.ai [http://homeres.ai] wins tech innovation award USGBC Designing for Greater Efficiency [https://www.usgbc.org/articles/designing-greater-efficiency-certificate-now-available-through-usgbc] Greensboro Downtown Greenway [https://www.greenbuildermedia.com/blog/the-case-for-visible-infrastructure] Farmers defend Iowa water quality regulations [https://insideclimatenews.org/news/07062026/iowa-farmers-talk-regulation-amid-water-crisis/] Is FEMA ready for the next storm? [https://www.smartcitiesdive.com/news/fema-ready-disaster-season/822507/] New IAPMO 2027 Codes [https://iapmostore.org/] The Valuation Metric with Doug Tarry [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSjjb52smKs&t=83s] Subscribe for weekly housing, sustainability, resilience, energy, and building science news. Editors’ Product Pick: Rheem Endeavor Line Classic Plus Series Top-Discharge Universal Heat Pump [https://www.rheem.com/endeavor/] Upcoming Sustainability Events:  June 18–July 30:  High Performance Home Master Class Series—plus CEU opportunities for builders and pros [https://www.learningedgellc.com/webinars-special] June 22–24: 2026 NFPA Conference & Expo [https://www.nfpa.org/events/conference] Las Vegas June 23–25: Trellis Impact 26 [https://trellis.net/teaser-ti26/] San Francisco July 15–16: The Flooring Sustainability Summit [http://www.flooringsummit.com], Arlington, Va.  July 22–23: Sunbelt Builders Show [https://www.sunbeltbuildersshow.com/], San Antonio, Texas July 23–24: Industrialized Housing Summit [https://cvent.utexas.edu/event/510d0030-a4ca-4a44-a4ea-028cce12f260/summary], Austin September 9–10: Building Fire Safety Symposium [https://web.cvent.com/event/cae6dc8d-a2c4-4b4b-970d-42b14c08a21a/register] September 16–18: EEBA Summit 2026 [https://summit2026.eeba.org/registration] St. Paul, Minn. October 20–23: Greenbuild 2026 [https://greenbuild.informaconnect.com/2026/registrations/Attendee] New York, NY November 4–5: The Building Products Customer Workshop [https://www.venveo.com/2027?utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-93MVoaxjiTvIX5b86Dwm], Nashville  About Green Builder Media Green Builder Media www.greenbuildermedia.com is North America’s leading green building and sustainable living media company. Through our magazine, website, demonstration homes, and data services, we provide actionable information to consumers and builders about how to build and remodel sustainable homes. We focus on net-zero building, green products, energy efficiency, healthy homes, resilience, connected living, and building science. Subscribe to our once-a-week Vantage enewsletter: https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbHpyMkxpS3RPUmE0YnVUVWoyTy0xSzNzQUN3UXxBQ3Jtc0treGoyX3VNQWVGMXRTeGlBWkRYQ19vNmcyNXlPTWhvcVdLNllsTFluM0h2MmFvV1IzazBYRE1nNXNKTWVUbi1sQ1pMRndiSk1EN051RDlJcjZTQmtJVHE4OERuVzdDZF9UbDRnOHJibUp3Zk9aZDlDSQ&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.greenbuildermedia.com%2Fenewsletter-subscribe&v=QB76WbG8Hpshttps://www.greenbuildermedia.com/enewsletter-subscribe Follow Green Builder Media: LinkedIn: @green-builder-media-llc Facebook: @greenbuildermedia Bluesky: @greenbuildermedia Threads: @greenbuildermedia

A 328-Foot 3D Printer, Nuclear-Powered AI, and the Fight Over America's Data Centers

This week on Green Builder Media's Sustainable Building News, we explore the growing backlash against data centers, including Google's Project Skyway data center, Arizona's push to streamline small modular nuclear reactors for data center power and kneecap residents’ ability to use zoning laws to block data centers, and a construction technology breakthrough that could transform how buildings are built. We also cover major changes to federal home energy rebates, new resources for homeowners seeking efficiency incentives, wildfire resilience standards that now extend beyond individual homes, and what the 2026 FIFA World Cup may reveal about housing markets and sustainability. In this episode:  * The world's first tower crane 3D construction printer. [https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/worlds-first-tower-crane-3d-printer]   [https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/worlds-first-tower-crane-3d-printer] * Why some homeowners may lose access to electrification rebates. [https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/worlds-first-tower-crane-3d-printer]   [https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/01/climate/energy-rebates-home-appliances.html] * A primer on rebates, incentives, and financing programs for homeowners.  [https://www.greenbuildermedia.com/blog/how-to-find-the-green-you-need-to-upgrade-your-homes-efficiency] * Google Project Skyway Data Center Halted  [https://www.constructiondive.com/news/judge-halts-google-data-center-project/822152/] * The future of wildfire-ready neighborhoods.  [https://ibhs.org/ibhs-news-releases/ibhs-rounds-out-wildfire-prepared-program-with-neighborhood-and-multifamily-standards-updates-home-requirements/] * A new debate over federal research funding. [https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/05/29/2026-10817/regulation-for-federal-financial-assistance] * Fire-resistant building products. [http://arclin.com] * The Impact Series: Kelly Kopp on Water, Landscapes, and the Future of Communities  [https://youtu.be/jg56DEjgpe8] * Green Builder Media's upcoming housing affordability webinar. [https://www.greenbuildermedia.com/webinar-ownership-affordability] * World Cup Host Cities and Housing Prices  [https://www.ennessglobal.com/us] Upcoming Sustainability Events: June 11–12: Next Generation Water Summit [https://ngws.vfairs.com/]Santa Fe & virtual June 18–July 30:  High Performance Home Master Class Series [https://www.learningedgellc.com/webinars-special]—plus CEU opportunities for builders and pros June 22–24: 2026 NFPA Conference & Expo [https://www.nfpa.org/events/conference] Las Vegas  June 23–25: Trellis Impact 26 [https://trellis.net/teaser-ti26/] San Francisco July 15–16: The Flooring Sustainability Summit [http://www.flooringsummit.com], Arlington, Va.  July 22–23: Sunbelt Builders Show [https://www.sunbeltbuildersshow.com/], San Antonio, Texas  July 23–24: Industrialized Housing Summit [https://cvent.utexas.edu/event/510d0030-a4ca-4a44-a4ea-028cce12f260/summary], Austin  September 9–10: Building Fire Safety Symposium [https://web.cvent.com/event/cae6dc8d-a2c4-4b4b-970d-42b14c08a21a/register] September 16–18: EEBA Summit 2026 [https://summit2026.eeba.org/registration] St. Paul, Minn. October 20–23: Greenbuild 2026 [https://greenbuild.informaconnect.com/2026/registrations/Attendee] New York, NY November 4–5: The Building Products Customer Workshop [https://www.venveo.com/2027?utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-93MVoaxjiTvIX5b86Dwm], Nashville  About Green Builder Media Green Builder Media www.greenbuildermedia.com is North America’s leading green building and sustainable living media company. Through our magazine, website, demonstration homes, and data services, we provide actionable information to consumers and builders about how to build and remodel sustainable homes. We focus on net-zero building, green products, energy efficiency, healthy homes, resilience, connected living, and building science. Subscribe to our once-a-week Vantage e-newsletter [https://www.greenbuildermedia.com/enewsletter-subscribe] Follow Green Builder Media: LinkedIn: @green-builder-media-llc Facebook: @greenbuildermedia Bluesky: @greenbuildermedia Threads: @greenbuildermedia