Insulation Institute Blog

Posts Categorized: New Home Construction

Do Code Updates Affect Construction?

The American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) released an analysis this week that shows that in states that have adopted the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), there has not been a decline in new construction homes. This finding directly contradict claims made by some home builders that more stringent energy code requirements deter new construction.

Using data from the U.S. Census Bureau, ACEEE examined single-family home permit rates in the five largest states that adopted the 2021 IECC. It found that before the code update, the month-to-month number of permits fluctuated up and down but roughly followed national building trends.

Examining Construction After Code Changes

After the code update, ACEEE observed permits continued to bounce up and down, generally following national trends. Thus, code updates had no apparent impact on new home production.  

The bill savings each month dwarf the smaller increase in mortgage payments, says ACEEE. NAIMA’s newly released guide, “Insulation, Energy Codes & Housing Affordability,” also substantiates the positive impact more modern building energy efficiency codes have on housing affordability.

Other Studies Support This Finding

ACEEE notes that two separate studies support the idea that advanced energy codes do not impact housing construction. A study by Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance and Slipstream showed that strengthened energy codes in Illinois did not affect housing construction in the state compared to adjacent counties in a neighboring state. Separately, a study this year from Canary Media found that a Massachusetts town that adopted a far more stringent code (requiring all electric homes) experienced a new construction boom.

Why It Matters

ACEEE’s findings show that new residential construction is cyclical, but energy code updates do not adversely impact new home construction. Solving America’s housing crisis will require a continued focus on reducing ownership costs to help affordability while also building more homes.

“We can and must advance both at the same time,” ACEEE says.

Do Code Updates Affect Construction?

Study Reports Cost Impact of Tariffs for Homes

A new study from Evernest, a real estate and property management firm based in Birmingham, AL, quantifies the impact that tariffs on construction materials such as steel, copper, drywall, and lumber will have on the cost of building a new home in each state.

The study results show that tariffs are already impacting costs for materials, with prices rising from a low of $26,180 in Oklahoma to $102,400 in Hawaii.

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5 Housing-Related Stories You May Have Missed This Week

Insulation Institute focuses this week on five housing-related stories that are also, in part, affordability and energy efficiency stories. You may have missed a few of these, so we hope this quick recap will be informative and timely.

Harvard’s 2025 State of the Nation’s Housing Released

Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) released the 2025 State of the Nation’s Housing Report on Tuesday. The report highlights a litany of concerns for the U.S. housing market and home buyers, including skyrocketing insurance premiums and property taxes, a sharp rise in homelessness, and growing dangers of climate disasters. Despite these challenges and in the face of diminished federal support, state and local governments are ramping up efforts to tackle affordable housing (which is also challenged by increasing homeowner costs, like utilities). For example, Minnesota has approved a bill allocating $242M to housing finance and another $100M in infrastructure bonds to support affordable housing development.

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2021 IECC Beats NGBS on Energy Performance

Analysis conducted by ICF consulting compared the home energy performance of the 2020 National Green Building Standard (NGBS), the first residential green building standard to undergo the full consensus process from the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), and the 2021 Residential International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). The analysis showed that the NGBS is not equivalent to the 2021 IECC except possibly at the Emerald level, and all homes at the Bronze, Silver, and Gold levels result in worse energy performance and higher energy costs than the 2021 IECC.

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State of the Nation’s Housing Report 2024

The Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) at Harvard University recently released The State of the Nation’s Housing 2024 report. This year’s report details some significant challenges confronting the U.S. residential housing market. These include increasing housing costs, record cost burdens for homeowners and low for-sale inventory, which has prompted buyers to seek new construction homes, however unaffordable.

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State of the Nation’s Housing Report 2024

How 12 Standards Stack Up on Performance

A new report from Emu Passive, which specializes in Passive House training and consulting, looks at the ability of 12 building standards to deliver resilience, a healthy environment, and efficient buildings. The research examines how the various building standards perform based on the most common challenges for buildings. PHI Passive House performed the best among the standards considered, but more details on the performance of each standard emerge within this research.

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How 12 Standards Stack Up on Performance

The End of Home Sampling?

One of the dirty little secrets of modern home building is that some high-performance building programs allow home sampling or assigning all homes within a development the same performance characteristics or scoring as a reference home. The implementation of sampling was always challenging to monitor and assess. The implied promise for each home built to a specific high-performance certification target (i.e., HERS-rated, ENERGY STAR, Earth Craft, and others) is that it was inspected individually by a trained and certified energy performance professional. Of course, all homes, not just those built to the requirements of a home performance certification program, should be inspected. Still, these inspections are crucial to ensure quality and performance for buyers paying a performance premium.

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The End of Home Sampling?

Two Years Free Electricity for New Home Buyers

With affordability at the top of the list for home buyers today, shopping for a home that will be budget-friendly to purchase and own is a priority for most buyers. A new one-stop shopping platform for energy-efficient homes is looking to change how Americans buy homes by elevating energy efficiency in the purchase process. Furthermore, it’s giving buyers of energy-efficient homes up to two years of free electricity as an incentive to buy a home.

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Two Years Free Electricity for New Home Buyers

2021 IECC Mandate Proposed for FHA/USDA Mortgages

The White House today announced a proposal that new homes purchased using Federal Housing Administration (FHA) or U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) mortgages must be built to the standards of the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). Current FHA/USDA mortgage standards require compliance with the 2009 IECC. This proposed standard update is a giant step forward in improving the energy performance of new residential construction in the United States. About 170,000 homes are purchased each year using these government mortgage products, which means 170,000 families will buying homes that are potentially 35 percent more important efficient than the status quo.

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2021 IECC Mandate Proposed for FHA/USDA Mortgages