Dothan, AL Building Safety: Green Building Code (2026)

Dothan has not adopted a standalone green building code; energy efficiency for new construction runs through the amendments the city made when it adopted the International Code Council family under Sec. 14-21. Sec. 14-30(h), part of the article amending the International Residential Code, replaces the IRC's own Chapter 11, Energy Efficiency, with the 2015 International Energy Conservation Code, with amendments, as it appears in the Alabama Residential Energy Code. Sec. 14-22(f), amending the International Building Code for commercial and multi-family work, and the parallel amendment sections for the International Existing Building Code, International Fuel Gas Code and International Mechanical Code, each state that any reference in those codes to the 'International Energy Efficiency Code' is replaced with 'applicable sections of the Alabama Commercial or Residential Energy Code.' In practice this means a Dothan builder complies with the state's energy code, administered through the state's own energy code adoption, rather than a city-specific green building standard, and the Planning and Development building official reviews compliance as part of the same plan review and permitting process used for the rest of Chapter 14.

Applicants submitting construction documents under Sec. 14-31 must include load information for utilities as part of that review, which the building official uses to confirm energy-code compliance alongside structural and life-safety review.