S. 3178 · Where this bill is now
In committee
Introduced in the Senate, Nov 18, 2025
What this bill does
In plain words · AI-written from the official summaryBlocks updated energy efficiency rules for new homes
This bill would require the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Agriculture to cancel and withdraw updated energy efficiency standards they adopted in April 2024 for newly built homes financed through certain federal programs. The agencies would go back to using their older energy efficiency standards. The bill would also prevent these departments, along with the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Federal Housing Finance Agency, from putting similar energy efficiency requirements into effect or spending federal money to enforce them in the future.
How it affects you
If you're planning to build a home financed through certain HUD or USDA loan programs, this bill would mean the newer, more stringent energy efficiency standards wouldn't apply to your construction. Homebuilders working on federally financed housing would also operate under the older standards instead of the newer ones adopted in 2024.
Read the official summary (Introduced in Senate, Nov 18, 2025)
This bill directs the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to withdraw the final determination titled Adoption of Energy Efficiency Standards for New Construction of HUD- and USDA-Financed Housing and published on April 26, 2024.
The determination adopted updated minimum energy efficiency standards for newly built homes (except manufactured housing) financed through certain HUD and USDA programs. Specifically, it adopted the (1) 2021 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), which applies to single family homes and multifamily low-rise buildings up to three stories; and (2) 2019 American National Standards Institute/American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers/Illuminating Electrical Society (ANSI/ASHRAE/IES) Standard 90.1, which applies to multifamily residential buildings with four or more stories. HUD and USDA must also revert to using the energy efficiency standards required before the determination.
In addition, the bill prohibits HUD, USDA, and the Department of Veterans Affairs from taking actions or using federal funds to implement or enforce the determination or any substantially similar determination. It also prohibits the Federal Housing Finance Agency from finalizing, implementing, or enforcing a determination or rule relating to energy efficiency standards for single and multifamily housing.
Finally, the bill prohibits HUD and USDA from adopting updates to the IECC or ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1 in certain circumstances unless at least 26 states have adopted codes or standards that meet or exceed the update's requirements.
Written by AI (Claude) using only the official summary by the Congressional Research Service, the Library of Congress’s nonpartisan research staff. It can miss nuance, so check the official summary and the bill text for details.
1st SessionS. 3178
A BILL
A bill to require the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and the Secretary of Agriculture to withdraw a final determination relating to energy efficiency standards for housing, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) · Introduced Nov 18, 2025 · Energy · 1 version of the text
Sources: Congress.gov actions and votes · bill text from GovInfo · latest official action Nov 18, 2025: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. (text: CR S8206)”