MAINE MONITOR • March 9, 2025
Starting in April, builders statewide are being asked to stretch — to R60. That’s an unprecedented mandate in Maine and could require up to 20 inches of insulation, depending on the material. It’s happening after the volunteer board that oversees the Maine Uniform Building Energy Code (MUBEC) voted last December to adopt the 2021 version of International Energy Conservation Code. The IECC is a model code used by many states and municipalities to set minimum energy standards for new construction. The 2021 edition is sometimes called the “stretch code” because insulation levels and other specs go beyond the previous levels from 2015.