Committee continues debate on statewide authority for Vermont building energy codes under H.181

The House Energy and Digital Infrastructure Committee on April 16 heard testimony that Vermont does not have a single statewide authority that administers and enforces residential building energy codes, a gap the bill H.181 would continue to address.

The absence of a single “authority having jurisdiction,” or AHJ, for owner-occupied single-family homes has left energy-code interpretation, administration and compliance fragmented across municipal offices and state agencies, witnesses told the committee. That fragmentation comes as state studies show compliance with the residential code has fallen from a high point (74 percent in an earlier review) to roughly 54 percent in the most recent assessment cited during testimony.

The lack of centralized oversight matters because it makes consistent interpretation and verification difficult, witnesses said, and it complicates efforts to reach the state’s goal of net-zero‑ready new construction. “There’s nobody in charge of the energy codes in the state,” Richard Fazy, principal at Energy Futures Group, told the committee during the presentation.

Why it matters: Building energy codes that are adopted but not consistently enforced can produce widely varying results in efficiency, safety and moisture management. Witnesses framed H.181 as a continuation of two multi-stakeholder efforts — Act 47 (2023) and Act 151 (2024) — that recommended paths to strengthen administration, increase compliance, and…