Three Crises. One Solution. The Future of American Housing.

By Kincaid · Kincaid for Congress, Washington's 1st District

There is a saying that is often attributed to Albert Einstein, "In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity." America is currently facing three converging crises a housing crisis, a climate and energy crisis and an emerging electricity demand crisis that most Americans have not yet fully grasped. Washington D.C. has been treating each one as a separate problem. Throwing money at symptoms rather than addressing root causes.

This campaign believes these three crises are connected. And that solving one intelligently can help solve the others. That requires a different kind of thinking. Not the kind Washington D.C. has been doing.

Crisis One: Housing

America does not have enough housing. What housing exists is too expensive. Too slow to build. And as anyone who has watched a neighborhood burn in California or flood in Florida knows. Not durable enough to withstand what the future is bringing.

We are building homes today largely the same way we built them a hundred years ago. Stick by stick. Board by board. On site and by hand. Subject to weather delays, labor shortages and supply chain disruptions. The accumulated inefficiencies of a construction industry that has resisted modernization for generations. The result is homes that take too long to build. Cost too much to buy and wear out too quickly.

Washington's 1st District stretching from Bellevue, Kirkland, and Redmond. North through Bothell and Woodinville. The Snohomish County communities of Monroe, Marysville and Arlington. One of the most expensive housing markets in the country. Working families are being priced out. Young people cannot afford to buy. Teachers, nurses and first responders commute hours each day. Because they cannot afford to live where they work. This is not a natural condition. It is the result of policy failures, regulatory barriers and a near total lack of investment in housing innovation.

Crisis Two: Energy Demand Is About to Skyrocket

The national conversation on climate has focused heavily on electric vehicles being the solution. But this focus has obscured a much larger and faster moving crisis. One that is about to hit American families where they feel it most their electricity bills. Three forces are converging simultaneously.

Electric Vehicles

As EV adoption scales the demand on the electrical grid increases dramatically. A home EV charger can double or triple a household's electricity consumption. Millions of EVs charging simultaneously particularly in the evenings. Create enormous demand spikes the current grid was never designed to handle.

Artificial Intelligence and Data Centers

This is the bigger and faster moving problem. Training and running AI at scale. Consumes extraordinary amounts of electricity. Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Meta are in a race to build massive new data centers to support AI workloads. Goldman Sachs projected that data center power demand will grow 160% by 2030. Some estimates suggest AI related electricity demand could rival the entire consumption of Japan within a few years. Washington State home to some of the largest data center clusters in the world will feel this acutely.

Residential Buildings

Homes account for roughly 20% of total U.S. energy consumption. Most American homes are energy inefficient by design. Poorly insulated, leaky and built with little thought given to long term energy performance. Every new inefficient home built today is another drain on a grid that is already being pushed to its limits by EVs and AI.

When EVs, AI data centers and millions of new conventionally built homes all hit the grid simultaneously. Electricity demand surges faster than new generation can be built. Prices rise and working families are hit the hardest . Nobody in Washington D.C. is having an honest public conversation about this collision and the clock is already running.

The Connection Nobody Is Making

Here is what Congress has missed the housing crisis and the energy crisis are not separate problems. They are the same problem. Every new home we build using century old construction methods is a home that will drain the grid for the next fifty years. Every new home we fail to build because construction is too slow and too expensive makes the affordability crisis worse.

If we are going to solve both if we are going to build more homes faster and put less pressure on the electrical grid. We need a fundamentally different approach to how homes are designed, manufactured and built.

The federal government recently invested billions in semiconductor manufacturing through the CHIPS Act. It has invested in EV manufacturers, battery technology and clean energy companies. It has used federal investment as a tool of industrial policy to build industries that serve the national interest.

Why has it not done the same for next generation housing? The answer is that Washington D.C. has not been thinking about housing as an energy problem. This campaign is.

The Solution: Invest in Next Generation Housing Manufacturing

We build cars differently than we did a hundred years ago. We build airplanes differently. The manufacturing revolution transformed almost every major industry in the twentieth century except homebuilding. That is beginning to change. A new generation of companies is approaching homebuilding. The way the automobile industry approached car manufacturing. Designing homes as integrated products. Manufacturing components in controlled factory environments. Assembling them on site faster and more affordably. With far greater precision than traditional construction allows.

These are not mobile homes or RVs. They are real permanent homes built to last not decades but centuries. Homes that can be passed down from generation to generation. Homes that are more energy efficient, more resilient and more affordable than anything traditional construction can produce at scale.

The federal government should be investing in these companies. Not as a giveaway but as industrial policy in the national interest. The same way it invested in Intel. The same way it invested in clean energy. Because next generation housing is simultaneously a solution to the affordability crisis. A tool for reducing residential energy demand. And an opportunity to build a new American manufacturing industry.

One Example: Geoship

Geoship is a California based company building bioceramic geodesic dome homes. They are one of the clearest examples of what next generation housing can look like. This campaign does not endorse any specific company. And Geoship is just one of several innovators working in this space. But they illustrate the idea well.

Geoship's homes are built using bioceramics. A material that mimics the composition of human bone combined with the structural efficiency of geodesic geometry. The result is a home that is fundamentally different from anything traditional construction produces.

Energy Efficiency

An estimated 70% reduction in heating and cooling costs compared to conventional homes. Designed for off grid capability with optional battery packs, water systems and energy self sufficiency. Every Geoship home built is one less drain on an already strained electrical grid.

Resilience

The geodesic form withstands hurricanes, earthquakes and high winds. The ceramic material resists fire and flood. With nothing for insects to eat and no place for mold to grow. These homes offer a level of durability that traditional wood frame construction cannot match. In a world of increasingly extreme weather events this matters.

Longevity

Designed to last for centuries not decades. A home that can genuinely be passed down through generations. The economics of homeownership look very different when the structure itself outlasts your mortgage by two hundred years.

Factory Manufacturing

Homes are manufactured like products. Precision engineered in a controlled factory environment and assembled on site. This is fundamentally more efficient than traditional stick built construction. It reduces waste, reduces build time, reduces labor costs and reduces the variability in quality that plagues conventional homebuilding.

Geoship, Sirocco Energy and Aptera are three companies that illustrate what next generation housing, distributed energy and solar transportation can look like. This campaign does not endorse any specific company. All three are used here as concrete examples of the innovation that federal investment should be identifying and scaling.

→ Learn more about Geoship at geoship.is

Another Example: Sirocco Energy

Building more energy efficient homes reduces demand on the grid. But reducing demand is only half the equation. The other half is producing electricity ourselves at the home and business level. So we are less dependent on the grid in the first place. That is where companies like Sirocco Energy come in.

Sirocco has developed a bird safe wind turbine specifically designed for suburban businesses. A genuinely new category of product. Traditional wind turbines are massive, loud, require enormous amounts of land. And are completely impractical for suburban or urban environments. Sirocco's design is compact, quiet and generates zero aerodynamic noise. It is engineered to perform at the lower wind speeds typical of suburban locations.

Cost Reduction

The Sirocco turbine delivers electricity at $0.03–$0.08 per kWh compared to the national average grid price of around $0.12–$0.23 per kWh depending on the state. For businesses in high cost electricity markets. That can mean cutting electricity costs to as little as a quarter of what they currently pay. A reduction of up to roughly 75% with a return on investment projected between 2 and 7 years depending on location.

Bird Safe and Suburban Compatible

One of the most persistent and legitimate criticisms of wind energy. Has been its impact on birds and wildlife. Sirocco's design specifically addresses this. Making it suitable for suburban deployment where traditional turbines would be environmentally and practically unacceptable. Zero aerodynamic noise means no disruption to neighbors or surrounding communities.

Scalable and Upgradeable

Unlike conventional turbines. A Sirocco installation can be expanded without purchasing an entirely new system. Additional capacity of up to 35% can be added by installing additional track sections, carriages and blades on the existing frame. This makes it a practical long term investment for businesses that want to grow their energy independence over time.

A Note on Washington State

Sirocco's technology is most cost effective in regions with average wind speeds of at least 5 m/s and electricity costs above $0.18 per kWh. Washington State's average wind speed of 6.7 m/s easily clears the wind requirement. However Washington's average electricity rate of $0.11 per kWh is currently below the threshold where savings are maximized. Though that equation is likely to change as electricity demand from AI data centers, electric vehicles and growing residential use drives prices higher. States like Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont, Hawaii and California where electricity already costs $0.18 or more represent the most immediate market. And as Washington's grid is strained by surging demand in the years ahead. The economics will increasingly favor exactly this kind of distributed generation.

Sirocco recently won first place at Cleantech Sunday 2025. Supported by Greencubator, UNIDO and the Global Environment Facility. They are currently accepting applications for their 2026 pilot program.

This is exactly the kind of company that federal investment through grants, pilot program support and favorable financing should be backing. Not because it is finished and proven at scale. But because it represents the kind of distributed, decentralized energy generation that reduces dependence on a grid that is about to be severely strained. The federal government should not wait until a technology has already succeeded on its own before recognizing its value. That is what industrial policy is for.

→ Learn more about Sirocco Energy at siroccoenergy.com

A Third Example: Aptera

If we are serious about reducing the electricity demand surge coming from electric vehicles. There is one company that deserves urgent attention and urgent federal support. Aptera Motors is building what it describes as the world's most efficient solar electric vehicle. And it may be the most important company in the American EV space that almost no one in Washington D.C. is talking about.

Every other electric vehicle on the market draws power exclusively from the grid. Every Tesla, Rivian, Ford Lightning plugs into the wall and pulls electricity from a grid that is already under strain and about to face a historic surge in demand. Aptera takes a fundamentally different approach it harvests energy from the sun.

Solar Powered For Real

Aptera is designed with integrated solar cells built directly into the vehicle. On a sunny day it is designed to generate up to 40 miles of driving from solar power alone with no charging required. For the majority of Americans who drive less than 40 miles a day. That means they could go significant stretches without ever plugging in. Park it in the sun while you are at work. Come back to more charge than you left with.

Grid Relief at Scale

This is the point that Washington D.C. is missing entirely. The conventional EV push is adding enormous new demand to an already strained electrical grid. Aptera reduces that demand. A nation of Aptera drivers would add a fraction of the grid pressure that a nation of conventional EV drivers would. When the goal is both transportation decarbonization and grid stability. Aptera is a far more intelligent answer than any conventional plug in EV.

Performance

The Aptera is not a golf cart. The Launch Edition is built for a sub 6 second 0 to 60 mph and up to 400 miles of range on a full charge. It is competitive with the best conventional EVs on the market. It can also be plugged in and charged like any other electric vehicle when needed. The solar capability is an addition to the vehicle not a limitation of it.

From Prototype to Production

Aptera is the most prominent solar vehicle company still actively driving toward a production car. In early 2026 the company drove its first validation vehicles off a low volume assembly line. A real milestone on the path from prototype to production. It trades publicly on Nasdaq under the ticker SEV. Has raised new capital through 2026 and holds roughly 50,000 reservations. But the company is still pre revenue and by its own SEC filings. Needs continued financing to reach full scale production. In other words. This is exactly the moment when serious support matters most not after the company has already made it. But while the outcome is still being decided.

Why Federal Support Is Critical

The federal government has spent billions subsidizing conventional EVs . Through tax credits, manufacturing incentives and charging infrastructure investment. All of that spending increases grid demand. Aptera reduces it. It is one of the most efficient vehicles ever designed for the American road. It is among the only vehicles that generates its own power from the sun. If this company fails it will be a failure of vision and a failure of policy. Washington D.C. has been happy to spend money on the EV transition. It needs to spend some of that money on the smarter version of it.

Imagine a sunny day in Bellevue or Redmond. You park your Aptera in the morning. You go to work. You come back in the afternoon. And your car has more charge than when you left it. Powered by the sun with far less draw on the grid. That is not science fiction. That is what Aptera is building right now. And it deserves the kind of federal support we have given to technologies that are far less innovative and far more expensive to the grid.

→ Learn more about Aptera at aptera.us

Kincaid's Policy Priorities

If elected to Congress here is what this campaign will push for.

1. Federal Investment in Next Generation Housing Manufacturing

Direct federal investment through grants, loans and equity stakes modeled on the CHIPS Act. In companies developing and scaling next generation housing manufacturing. The criteria for investment should include energy efficiency, manufacturing innovation, affordability and resilience. This is industrial policy. It is how you build industries that serve the national interest.

2. Energy Efficiency Standards That Reward Innovation

Federal housing programs including FHA loans, HUD subsidies and tax credits. Should prioritize and reward homes that meet significantly higher energy efficiency standards than current building codes require. If a home reduces grid demand by 70%, that should be reflected in federal financing terms. We should be making it easier and cheaper to finance efficient homes. Not treating them identically to homes that strain the grid.

3. Regulatory Modernization for Factory Built Homes

One of the biggest barriers facing next generation housing manufacturers is a patchwork of state and local building codes written for traditional stick built construction. Federal leadership is needed to modernize how factory built homes are classified, permitted and financed. Homes built to higher standards in a factory should not face more regulatory hurdles than inferior homes built on site.

4. An Honest National Conversation About Electricity Demand

Congress must stop pretending that EVs, AI data centers and residential electricity demand can all scale simultaneously. Without a serious plan for grid capacity and generation. That plan needs to include massive investment in both transmission infrastructure and next generation . And it needs to include aggressive energy efficiency standards for everything that connects to that grid including homes.

5. Tax Incentives for Long Duration, Energy Efficient Housing

A home that is energy efficient, fire resistant and designed to last centuries provides enormous long term social value. Reduced insurance claims, reduced grid demand, reduced rebuilding costs after disasters. And generational wealth building for families. Federal tax policy should reflect that value through meaningful incentives for buyers, builders and manufacturers of next generation housing.

The Opportunity

America has done this before. The interstate highway system. The space program. The semiconductor industry. The internet. In each case the federal government identified a national challenge. Made a strategic investment. Catalyzed an industry that transformed the economy and raised the standard of living for millions of people.

Next generation housing is that opportunity right now. It addresses the housing affordability crisis. It reduces residential energy demand at precisely the moment when that demand is about to surge. It creates American manufacturing jobs that cannot be outsourced. It builds generational wealth for families through homes that last centuries rather than decades. And it makes our communities more resilient in the face of fires, floods and extreme weather.

Three crises. One solution. Washington D.C. just needs the vision to see the connection and the courage to act on it.

Washington's 1st District is home to engineers, innovators and problem solvers. They understand this argument. They know what it looks like when someone identifies a real problem and proposes a real solution rather than a talking point. This campaign is built for them and for every working family in this district that deserves a home they can afford. In a community that is safe. Powered by a grid that can handle the future.