Residential Building Energy Standards (RBES) - Vermont

Country / jurisdiction: United States · Year: 2015 · Status: In force · Level: State/Provincial · Type: Voluntary

Buildings Must Comply:

? Detached one- and two-family dwellings.

? Multi-family and all other residential dwellings three stories or fewer in height.

? Additions, alterations, renovations and repairs to existing buildings.

? Factory-built modular homes not on a permanent chassis.

? Residential buildings commencing construction on or after March 1, 2015 must comply with this code. Buildings for which construction commenced before March 1, 2015, if not complying with this code must comply with the previous version of RBES.

? Act 250 projects commencing construction on or after December 1, 2015 must comply with the Stretch Code. Projects for which construction commenced before March 1, 2015, if not complying with this code must comply with the previous version of RBES. If after March 1, 2015, but before December 1, 2015 the new base code would apply.

? In towns that require a certificate of occupancy (COO), a RBES certificate is required before the COO can be issued.

Building Envelope

Air Leakage:

All exterior joints, seams or penetrations in the building envelope that are sources of air leakage must be either sealed with durable caulking materials, closed with gasketing systems, taped, or covered with moisture-vapor-permeable house wrap. Additionally, air sealing must be verified by either a visual inspection or blower door test.

Lighting:

A minimum of 75% of the lamps (bulbs) in permanently installed lighting fixtures must be high-efficacy lamps.

High-efficacy bulbs are compact fluorescent lamps, T-8 or smaller diameter linear fluorescent lamps, or lamps with a minimum efficiency of:

1. 60 lumens per watt for lamps over 40 watts;

2. 50 lumens per watt for lamps over 15 watts to 40 watts; and

3. 40 lumens per watt for lamps 15 watts or less.

Ventilation:

The Vermont Residential Building Energy Code requires all newly constructed homes to be mechanically ventilated. There also are requirements for combustion equipment aimed at reducing the likelihood of flue gas venting problems.

Circulating Hot Water Systems:

All circulating service hot water piping must be insulated to at least R-3. Circulating hot water systems must also include an automatic or readily accessible manual switch that can turn off the hot water circulating pump when the system is not in use.

Official source: https://publicservice.vermont.gov/sites/dps/files/documents/Energy_Efficiency/RBES/2015_VT_Energy_Code_Handbook_V4%202.pdf