Legislation is currently being proposed in Congress to require net zero energy homes by 2030 in an effort to reduce the the impacts of climate change.  This all sounds good, but the cost of construction will increase exponentially to achieve this goal, making building cost prohibitive for current and future generations.  According to Freddie Mac  in 2020 the US already had a housing shortfall of 2.5 million units, and much of that is due to regulatory requirements which drive the cost of housing  development above affordable levels.  As you may also know, lumber prices have skyrocketed to unprecedented levels in 2021, with lumber indices increasing nearly 300% in the span of a short few months!  If sensible, safe, and code compliant housing is already too expensive for many Americans, how will the market react to the astronomical expense of producing net zero energy housing over the next 9 years.  America needs to find a happy medium that makes positive progress towards energy efficiency, while still keeping affordability at the forefront.  

Here's a recent article that summarizes the latest legislative proposal in Congress:

Climate Change Proposal with Residential Energy Efficiency Provisions in Congress

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