The US Departments of Agriculture (USDA) and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced a new six-month delay in the implementation of a mandatory energy code policy for developers of single-family and multifamily housing.
The Biden-era policy was published on April 26 under the title “Final Determination: Adoption of Energy Efficiency Standards for New Construction of HUD- and USDA-Financed Housing,” with the goal of implementing the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) and ASHRAE 90.1-2019 as the minimum energy-efficiency standards for certain single-family and multifamily housing programs. Last March, the departments published a six-month delay on compliance requirements.
The new delay pushes the start of compliance back to March 2026. Buddy Hughes, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders and a builder and developer from Lexington, North Carolina, called for the Trump administration to permanently drop these policies.
“These stringent energy code mandates would significantly increase construction costs and limit financing options, making it much harder for developers to build housing that is affordable for American families,” said Hughes.
