Austin, Texas, outlaws windowless bedrooms
Austin, Texas will no longer allow developers to build windowless bedrooms. For at least two decades, the city had permitted developers to build thousands of windowless bedrooms.
HORIZONTV FEATURING BD+C: WATCH EPISODES ON DEMAND AT HORIZONTV
Austin, Texas will no longer allow developers to build windowless bedrooms. For at least two decades, the city had permitted developers to build thousands of windowless bedrooms.
A new Biden Administration rule bans the use of fossil fuels in new federal buildings beginning in 2030. The announcement came despite longstanding opposition to the rule by the natural gas industry.
The New York City Council is considering a proposed law with the goal of preventing building collapses. The Billingsley Structural Integrity Act is a response to the collapse of 1915 Billingsley Terrace in the Bronx last December.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency recently sent a letter to officials in Lee County, Florida alleging that hundreds of homes were rebuilt in violation of the agency’s rules following Hurricane Ian. The letter provoked a sharp backlash as homeowners struggle to rebuild following the devastating 2022 storm that destroyed a large swath of the county.
States from coast to coast have signed a joint agreement to accelerate the transition to pollution-free residential buildings by significantly expanding heat pump sales to meet heating, cooling, and water heating demand in coming years.
With millions of shipping containers lying empty at ports around the world, it may seem like repurposing them to construct buildings would be a clear environmental winner. The reality of building with shipping containers is complicated, though, and in many cases isn’t a net-positive for the environment, critics charge, according to a report by NPR's Chloe Veltman.
In 2024, Australia will be the first country to ban engineered stone countertops. The ban came after a years-long campaign supported by doctors, trade unions, and workers over concerns that the material was causing increased silicosis cases among workers cutting and handling it.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams is expected to cut red tape to make it easier and less costly to build housing projects in the city. Adams would exempt projects with fewer than 175 units in low-density residential areas and those with fewer than 250 units in commercial, manufacturing, and medium- and high-density residential areas from environmental review.
Facing a severe housing shortage, the City of Berkeley, Calif., increased the height limits on residential buildings to 12 stories in the area close to the University of California campus.
After pausing a heat pump mandate earlier this year after a federal court overturned Berkeley, Calif.’s ban on gas appliances in new buildings, Washington state enacted a new code provision that seems poised to achieve the same goal.
Transportation policies enacted in Hoboken, N.J. over the past several years are paying off in the form of fewer pedestrian deaths and injuries. The city has adopted daylighting, bike lanes, lower speed limits, and intersection redesigns to make its roads safer.
The latest National Climate Assessment highlights the need for local, state, and federal governments to adopt policies to mitigate the effects of climate-driven flooding and sea level rise, according to a policy expert with the National Resources Defense Council.
California laws requiring apartment owners to ditch appliances that use fossil fuels could prompt more evictions and rent increases in the state, according to a report from the nonprofit Strategic Actions for a Just Economy. The law could spur more evictions if landlords undertake major renovations to comply with the electrification rule.
Austin, Texas recently became the largest city in the United States to stop requiring new developments to set a minimum amount of parking. The Austin City Council voted 8-2 earlier this month to eliminate parking requirements in an effort to fight climate change and spur more housing construction as Texas’s capitol grapples with a housing affordability crisis.