Over 1,000 builders, remodelers and associates engaged in all areas of the residential construction industry went to Capitol Hill for the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) 2025 Legislative Conference June 11 to urge lawmakers to support policies that will help builders increase the production of quality, affordable housing.

“The best way to ease the nation’s housing affordability crisis and boost housing production is to break down the barriers that are impeding new home and apartment construction,” Buddy Hughes, NAHB chairman and a homebuilder and developer, said.

According to a NAHB release, there are three key issues that lawmakers need to act on to effectively impact housing affordability:

• Energy Codes. NAHB is urging Congress to pass legislation that would prevent the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) from requiring a minimum energy standard that raises housing costs and prices out of the reach of potential buyers. HUD and the USDA have adopted the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) and ASHRAE 90.1-2019 which can add over $22,000 to the price of a new home, but in practice, NAHB said homebuilders have estimated increased costs of up to $31,000.
  • NAHB added Congress should also pass the Energy Choice Act, legislation pending in the House and Senate that would prevent state and local governments from banning the use of natural energy in new homes, increasing costs and eliminating consumer choice.
• Workforce Development. Lawmakers should pass the CONSTRUCTS Act, bipartisan legislation pending in both chambers of Congress that would help prepare adults for rewarding careers in construction and other essential trades. Congress should also implement reforms to the Job Corps program.
• Tax Policy. Congress should pass a tax package that permanently extends pro-business and pro-housing policies from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, provides resources for affordable rental housing by expanding the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, addresses limitations placed on the state and local tax deduction cap that burden homeowners in high-cost areas, and preserves long-standing energy tax incentives, including the Section 45L New Energy Efficient Home Credit, the Section 25D Residential Clean Energy Credit and the Section 48E Clean Electricity Investment Act.

Four leading members of Congress spoke to NAHB members at the conference: House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.); Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), who supports the CONSTRUCTS Act; Rep. Nick Langworthy (R-N.Y.), the lead sponsor of the Energy Choice Act; and Rep. Mike Flood (R-Neb.), chairman of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance.