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The U.S. wind energy industry today welcomed the support of a bipartisan group of 20 governors for further steps by federal agencies that could expedite siting of new wind farms, on land and offshore.

Single-family home construction is currently lacking in 80 percent of measured metro areas despite steady job creation and the low activity is creating a housing shortage crisis that is curtailing affordability and threatening to hold back prospective buyers in many of the largest cities in the country, according to new research from the National Association of Realtors

Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes in September jumped six points to 65 from a downwardly revised August reading of 59 on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) released today. This marks the highest HMI level since October 2015.

In accordance with the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act, HUD published a Notice in the Sept. 16, 2016, Federal Register identifying Federal buildings and other real property HUD has reviewed for suitability for use to assist the homeless. The properties were reviewed using information provided to HUD by Federal landholding agencies or by GSA regarding their inventories of excess or surplus property. The list includes buildings and properties in Illinois, Kentucky, New Jersey, and Maryland.

The National Institute of Building Sciences has completed development of a new guideline to help building owners and their design teams utilize building information modeling (BIM). The National BIM Guide for Owners (NBGO) draft is now available for public review and comment until Monday, October 31.

The Public Utilities Commission of Nevada (PUCN) adopted regulations today that protect NV Energy customers who had installed a solar system, or submitted an interconnection request, prior to Dec. 31, 2015.  The new “grandfathering” rules will allow those existing NV Energy solar customers to operate under previous net metering rules.  Following is a statement from Sean Gallagher, the vice president of state affairs for the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA)

A World Trade Organization (WTO) appellate body issued a report today affirming the United States victory in the U.S. challenge to India’s “localization” rules, which discriminated against imported solar cells and modules under India’s National Solar Mission. Following is a statement from Christopher Mansour, vice president of federal affairs for the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), on the decision

New House Education and the Workforce Committee Composite Retirement Plan Concept Will Provoke Vital Debate on the Best Way to Protect Workers, Retirees and Employers. The chief executive officer of the Associated General Contractors of America, Stephen E. Sandherr, issued the following statement today in response to the House Education and the Workforce Committee’s newly released composite retirement plan concept

The design and construction of healthier buildings is a key business benefit for building owners, developers, managers and investors, according to the results of a new SmartMarket Report released today by Dodge Data & Analytics and to which the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is a contributing partner.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Builder Applications Survey (BAS) data for August 2016 shows mortgage applications for new home purchases increased by 5 percent relative to the previous month. This change does not include any adjustment for typical seasonal patterns

Mortgage applications increased 4.2 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending September 9, 2016. This week's results included an adjustment for the Labor Day holiday.

Just within the last month the U.S. experienced the first hurricane hitting Florida in more than a decade, historic flooding in Louisiana, and the strongest earthquake on record in Oklahoma. Because Mother Nature has the power to change lives overnight, the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) is urging property owners to take a “Disaster Reality Check” regarding their preparedness and ability to recover from a natural disaster or other emergency.

Center for American Progress Senior Fellow David J. Hayes released the following statement today about the U.S. Department of the Interior’s release of the final Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan, which will help balance renewable energy development and conservation on approximately 10 million acres of public lands in California

The family of Sylvia Pierce, represented by Baird Mandalas Brockstedt, LLC, and AARP Foundation Litigation, filed suit against Genesis Healthcare, Inc., and others for administering dangerous drugs to her while she resided at their nursing facility and for providing negligent care and treatment which injured her and lead to her death. The drugs were administered to Mrs. Pierce without legal consent from her children Robert Pierce and Sandra Ahn who held medical powers of attorney and were the only people who could have agreed to the use of the drugs because their mother lacked capacity to consent.

After eight years of work, the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DRECP) will effectively foreclose development of renewable energy resources on millions of acres of federally managed lands in Southern California, said a coalition of renewable energy and labor groups in response to the federal government’s release of the plan. The plan abandons the initial promise to balance renewable development with preservation of desert land.

The chief executive officer of the Associated General Contractors of America, Stephen E. Sandherr, issued the following statement today in response to the passage of the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act in the U.S. House of Representatives yesterday evening

A new business procedure to electronically process surety bonds is now a reality through the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System (NMLS). Additionally, NMLS can now be used to electronically process criminal background checks for many more individuals at financial institutions. Both enhancements went live this week.

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Today, in response to the vote on the Financial CHOICE Act, H.R. 5983, by the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition’s (NCRC) President and CEO John Taylor made the following statement