Architects, AIA Vermont and lawmakers back H.181 steps to raise residential energy-code compliance

BURLINGTON — Architects representing AIA Vermont urged the Vermont House Committee on Energy and Digital Infrastructure on April 24 to back H.181 and related steps they say are needed to raise compliance with the state’s increasingly stringent building energy code and to reduce construction mistakes that can cause safety and durability problems.

AIA Vermont’s representative, Matthew Bushey, managing principal at Truex Collins, told the committee "so yeah. So we're here to talk about H.181," and said his group supports several elements of the bill, including extending the building energy-code working group until a state entity is named to enforce the code, and directing the Public Service Department to develop a framework to attribute energy savings to code compliance. Bushey said the group also supports establishing a role for the state’s energy efficiency utilities in any enforcement or verification system.

The bill and testimony matter because state energy goals call for steep reductions in building energy use by 2030. Bushey and other witnesses told the committee that the energy code is becoming more technical — requiring attention to insulation location, air barriers and moisture management — and that low compliance undercuts…