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The National Institute of Building Sciences Building Enclosure Technology and Environment Council (BETEC) and the Building Enclosure Council – Philadelphia invite you to submit abstracts for papers by August 1, for presentation at the fifth BEST Conference Building Enclosure Science and Technology™ (BEST5), to be held April 16 – 18, 2018, at the historic Loews Hotel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The Alliance to Save Energy released the following statement from President Kateri Callahan regarding the Senate Energy and Water Appropriations bill report released Friday:

The Sierra Club, Defenders of Wildlife, Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society (collectively the “Environmental Groups”), the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), and Panoche Valley Solar LLC (a subsidiary of Consolidated Edison Development, Inc.), have entered into a settlement agreement concerning the size and location of a solar project currently under development in California’s Panoche Valley.

Existing-home sales slipped in June as low supply kept homes selling at a near record pace but ultimately ended up muting overall activity, according to the National Association of Realtors®. Only the Midwest saw an increase in sales last month.

The National Association of Realtors® today said that significant improvements to the “21st Century Flood Reform Act,” key legislation aimed atstrengthening and reauthorizing(link is external) the National Flood Insurance Program, have cleared the way for endorsement of the bill. Among the changes, Realtors® support the House Financial Services Committee’s commitment to retaining “grandfathering” – a policy that protects homeowners from significant rate increases when a flood map changes.

The 2017 Stars of Energy Efficiency awards, honoring the top energy efficiency innovators, will be presented to American Water, the Chevrolet Bolt EV, Itron, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Schneider Electric and 7-Eleven, the Alliance to Save Energy (Alliance) announced today. The awards will be conferred before nearly 400 leaders from industry, government and the non-profit sectors at the 25th annual Evening with the Stars of Energy Efficiency Awards Dinner on September 14 in Washington, D.C.

Thousands of advocates, organizations, and elected officials in more than 30 cities across the country will join the Our Homes, Our Voices National Housing Week of Action, July 22 to 29, led by the Campaign for Housing and Community Development Funding (CHCDF), to call for increased federal investments in affordable housing and community development.

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) today reached an agreement with leaders of the House Financial Services Committee to craft a viable, long-term flood insurance reauthorization bill that will keep the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) fiscally sound and enable home builders to provide safe and affordable housing to consumers.

The National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB) Remodeling Market Index (RMI) posted a reading of 55 in the second quarter of 2017, down three points from the first quarter of 2017. For 17 consecutive quarters, the RMI has been at or above 50, which indicates that more remodelers report market activity is higher (compared to the prior quarter) than report it is lower. The overall RMI averages ratings of current remodeling activity with indicators of future remodeling activity.

To assist low-income households in the U.S. with rising water and wastewater rates, seven leading water associations issued a guide that assesses the feasibility of rate-funded customer assistance programs (CAPs) in each state.

The District of Columbia Housing Finance Agency (DCHFA) takes its multifamily financing process completely online with the launch of the new Multi-Family Lending Application. “We developed this application to make it easier for developers to do business with the Agency to increase the production of affordable housing in the District of Columbia,” stated Todd A. Lee, Executive Director of DCHFA, “This is the first in a series of innovations in affordable housing finance that the Agency will deliver over the next 12 months.

Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) today announced that veteran construction safety expert Stephen M. Wiltshire has joined its 70-person staff as director of safety.

Mortgage applications increased 6.3 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending July 14, 2017. Last week's results included an adjustment for the Fourth of July holiday.

All four indexes of the National Multifamily Housing Council’s (NMHC) July Quarterly Survey of Apartment Market Conditions remained slightly below the breakeven level of 50, the fourth consecutive quarter indicating softening conditions. The Market Tightness (43), Sales Volume (47), Equity Financing (46), and Debt Financing (47) Indexes all improved from April, but still hovered just below 50

Nationwide housing starts rose 8.3 percent in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.22 million units, according to newly released data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Commerce Department. Single-family production increased 6.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 849,000 units from a below-trend May reading of 799,000, while multifamily starts rose 13.3 percent to 366,000. Single-family production was at its second-highest rate this year.

Builder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family homes slipped two points in July to a level of 64 from a downwardly revised June reading on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). It is the lowest reading since November 2016

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Builder Application Survey (BAS) data for June 2017 shows mortgage applications for new home purchases increased 10 percent compared to June 2016. Compared to May 2017, applications decreased by 4 percent. This change does not include any adjustment for typical seasonal patterns

The National Foundation for Credit Counseling® (NFCC®) represents the largest network of non-profit HUD-approved counseling agencies, providing a broad range of counseling and education services to support the needs of current and potential homeowners. Since first becoming a HUD-approved Intermediary more than two decades ago, the NFCC has continued to evolve the channels and methods through which it supports sustainable home ownership.

Fueled by a substantial increase in sales dollar volume from Canadian buyers, foreign investment in U.S. residential real estate skyrocketed to a new high, as transactions grew in each of the top five countries where buyers originated.

The Alliance to Save Energy released the following statement from President Kateri Callahan regarding a House Appropriations bill report to be taken up Tuesday that would slash the budget for the ENERGY STAR program by approximately 40 percent