Housing vs. Sustainability: Vermont Governor Passes Executive Order 06-25, Easing Building Energy Efficiency Standards

Housing vs. Sustainability: Vermont Governor Passes Executive Order 06-25, Easing Building Energy Efficiency Standards
By Diamond McAllister

Vermont Governor Phil Scott issued Executive Order 06-25 (EO) on September 17, 2025.[1] EO 06-25 is titled “Promoting Housing Construction and Rehabilitation.”[2] It aims to improve housing access in Vermont by streamlining development, supporting affordability, incentivizing developers, coordinating state agencies, and reducing regulatory barriers.[3] Meanwhile, Vermont’s environmental goals, codified at 10 V.S.A. § 578, require the state to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.[4] Governor Scott’s EO highlights the tension between Vermont’s statutory climate commitments and the state’s efforts to accelerate housing development.[5] This tension raises questions about whether easing energy efficiency standards undermines Vermont’s legally binding environmental goals.[6] The EO marks a clear departure from the state’s codified mission to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

I. Stated Purpose of the Executive Order

According to the 2024 Vermont Housing Needs Assessment, Vermont faces a longstanding housing deficit.[7] Most Vermont homes remain unaffordable to the majority of Vermonters.[8] The Governor spends over three pages of the EO justifying prioritizing rapid housing expansion over strict energy efficiency standards as a response to this housing issue.[9] The Governor cites strict energy efficiency rules as slowing the pace of housing development. [10] Specifically, he claims that the 2024 building energy efficiency standards increase construction costs and make housing less affordable for Vermonters.[11]

For several years, Vermont has faced a pressing housing shortage, with the Governor estimating Vermont needs 40,000 new homes by 2030 to adequately meet the state’s housing needs.[12] Vermont is not on track to meet this demand.[13] The EO streamlines permitting, accelerates project approval, and suspends heightened energy efficiency standards in an attempt to address the shortage.[14] However, by acting while the General Assembly is out of session, the Governor demonstrates tensions between urgent housing needs and statutory commitments.

The Governor listed the housing crisis, failed attempts to address it, and the need for accelerated executive action as the rationale for the EO.[15] He acknowledges legislative efforts to address Vermont’s housing crisis but notes that they have been insufficient.[16] Thus, he argues that the executive branch must use its authority to tackle the state’s critical housing shortage.[17] He calls this approach accelerated executive action.[18] This urgency operates within a broader legal framework that binds Vermont to ambitious climate goals.

II. Vermont’s Climate Framework and Energy Efficiency Standards

The Vermont Global Warming Solutions Act of 2020 (GWSA), codified at 10 V.S.A. § 578, establishes Vermont’s climate goals as legally binding mandates.[19] The statute obligates Vermont to reduce greenhouse gas pollution 26% below 2005 levels by 2025.[20] It also requires emissions to reduce a further 40% below 1990 levels by 2030 and 80% by 2050.[21] The GWSA aims to help Vermonters prepare for negative climate change effects.[22] Increasing energy efficiency across sectors plays a crucial role in reaching climate goals because improved energy efficiency reduces emissions.[23] Specifically, “[i]ncreased energy efficiency can reduce industrial carbon emissions by up to 34% in many sectors.”[24]

The EO’s reinstatement of the 2020 energy efficiency standards rolls back prior efficiency requirements.[25] It shifts the focus from long-term energy efficiency to immediate housing expansion.[26] Efficiency Vermont (a nonprofit focused on transitioning Vermont to cleaner and more affordable energy solutions) has demonstrated key differences between the 2020 and 2024 residential building energy efficiency standards.[27] Among these substantial differences are heavier insulation requirements, stricter energy efficiency standards, required electric vehicle charging provisions, solar-ready zone requirements, mandatory airtightness testing, and more stringent overall performance requirements.[28] The 2020 energy efficiency standard reinstatement thus lowers Vermont’s energy efficiency requirements.[29] The reinstatement sets the stage for expanding housing at the expense of energy efficiency.

III. Expansion of Housing vs. Energy Efficiency

EO 06-25 embodies a deliberate trade-off between two objectives: promoting faster housing development and risking slower progress on energy efficiency.[30] This trade-off is evident throughout the EO, particularly in its framing of the 2024 residential building energy efficiency standards as “regulatory barriers.”[31] The EO reinstates the 2020 standards, giving builders the option to choose between the 2020 and 2024 standards.[32]

Conclusion

Will this rollback prevent Vermont from achieving its codified greenhouse gas reduction goals? The answer is still unclear. The EO, however, marks a clear departure from the state’s mission under the GWSA to reduce emissions. The question now is whether Vermont can expand housing and maintain strong energy standards at the same time. Ultimately, the state must balance its immediate housing needs with its long-term, legally binding climate commitments.

[1] Vt. Exec. Order No. 06-25, Promoting Housing Construction and Rehabilitation (Vt. Sept. 17, 2025) https://governor.vermont.gov/sites/scott/files/documents/EO%2006-25%20Promoting%20Housing%20Construction%20and%20Rehabilitation.pdf.

[2] Id.

[3] Id.

[4] Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 10 § 578(a) (2023).

[5] Vt. Exec. Order No. 06-25, supra note 1.

[6] V.S.A. 10 § 578(a).

[7] Vermont Hous. Fin. Agency, Vermont Housing Needs Assessment: 2025–2029, at 16 (June 2024), https://vhfa.org/sites/default/files/publications/VT-HNA-2025.pdf.

[8] VHFA, Vermont Housing Needs Assessment, at 81.

[9] Vt. Exec. Order No. 06-25, supra note 1.

[10] Vt. Exec. Order No. 06-25, supra note 1.

[11] Id.

[12] VHFA, Vermont Housing Needs Assessment, at 16; Governor Phil Scott, Not Done Yet: More Work Ahead on Vermont’s Housing Crisis, Off. of Governor Phil Scott (Aug. 14, 2025), https://governor.vermont.gov/governor-scotts-blog/not-done-yet-more-work-ahead-vermonts-housing-crisis.

[13] Id.

[14] Vt. Exec. Order No. 06-25, supra note 1.

[15] Id.

[16] Id.

[17] Id.

[18] Id.

[19] V.S.A. 10 § 578(a); see 2020 Vt. Acts & Resolves No. 153 (2020), https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2020/Docs/ACTS/ACT153/ACT153%20As%20Enacted.pdf.

[20] V.S.A. 10 § 578(a).

[21] Id.

[22] 2020 Act 153, § 591(b)(1).

[23] Energy Efficiency Reduces Industrial Carbon Emissions, Energy Star, https://www.energystar.gov/industrial_plants/decarbonizing_industry/energy_efficiency_reduces_industrial_carbon_emissions (last visited Oct. 11, 2025).

[24] Id.

[25] Vt. Exec. Order No. 06-25, supra note 1.

[26] Id.

[27] Efficiency Vermont, About Us: We Transform the Way Vermonters Use Energy–For A Better Life, https://www.efficiencyvermont.com/about?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21344841498&gbraid=0AAAAADrAuceQQk4RJvgjKR3Z9eRkb5iGU&gclid=CjwKCAjwup3HBhAAEiwA7euZuuVam1rwDtYQzsbNgJqstjeF420yuDHdjRwreyqZVWIo56cePDV3kBoCJV4QAvD_BwE (last visited Oct. 11, 2025); Steve Spatz, 2024 RBES Overview – Substantial Changes From 2020 & How to Comply, Efficiency Vermont (Feb, 23, 2024), https://www.efficiencyvermont.com/Media/Default/docs/trade-partners/code-support/rbes-2024-substantial-changes-training.pdf.

[28] See Spatz, 2024 RBES Overview.

[29] Id.

[30] Vt. Exec. Order No. 06-25, supra note 1.

[31] Id.

[32] Id.