Tag Archives: Building Electrification

City of Sacramento launches new custom energy modeling platform Xerohome

Xerohome is a free platform available to residents of single-family homes in the City of Sacramento. Folks can visit https://xerohome.com/app/#/ and type in their address. The tool will then show you the carbon footprint of your home, and a breakdown of how your home is using energy. Users can add additional information to make the model “smarter,” and then choose from a menu of upgrades such as a heat pump hot water heater or heat pump HVAC and see the estimated costs, available rebates, and projected utility bill savings. It’s a user-friendly way for people to understand what electrification could mean for their individual home. The results are really encouraging here in Sacramento—100 % of single family homes are projected to see utility bill savings with electrification.

If people are interested in checking out the tool but don’t live in a single family home within the City limits, they can use the address 222 Demo street to try it out.

The City of Sacramento will also be holding two virtual workshops focused on their Existing Building Electrification Strategy—one on 3/1 focused on Residential buildings, and one on 3/8 focused on commercial. Registration links can be found on the project webpage.

New Federal Climate Laws – Use Them to Go Electric and Save Money

On January 25, 2023, Edith Thacher and Lisa Howard, of the local Citizens’ Climate Lobby chapter, spoke to ECOS members about the climate aspects of the Infrastructure Act, Growing Climate Solutions Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). They described the tax credit program in the IRA that is available to you.

The 117th U.S. Congress passed several bills that will have a powerful impact on the development of renewables and the increased efficiency and electrification of buildings. Edith and Lisa covered these bills and how you can access the funding for electrification and other climate-related improvements.

You can view the slides of their presentation used in the January 25, 2023 presentation by clicking below.

Click here to view the slides.

Support for the County of Sacramento’s Early Action for New Construction Electrification Ordinances

On December 20, 2022, the Environmental Council of Sacramento, the Environmental Justice Coalition, 350 Sacramento and Citizens’ Climate Lobby Sacramento submitted a joint letter of support for the County of Sacramento’s early action for new construction electrification ordinances.

You can read our letter below.

Dear County Supervisors,
In advance of the final release of the County’s Climate Action Plan (CAP), we recommend the Board of Supervisors implement the draft CAP’s excellent measures for all-electric new buildings.
County Climate Action Plan measures GHG-05 (commercial) and GHG-07 (residential) call for ordinances to require all-electric construction by 2023 for new low-rise buildings and 2026 for new larger buildings. The measures are included below for your reference.
The City of Sacramento approved a nearly identical ordinance last month, for implementation during the same timeframes as the County CAP measures. The City ordinance is consistent with the California Green Building Standards Code, and was preceded by public workshops, stakeholder meetings and technical reviews – all of which will help to provide guidance for such ancillary issues as technical exemptions and appeal processes.
We note that County staff is already primed for this task. The County has signed onto an MOU on collaborative electrification efforts with both the City and SMUD, and has also created a task force to advise on this subject and other climate actions.
Although a January 2023 start for the measures may no longer be viable, we request you direct staff to prepare the necessary ordinance language and rationale for public review and Board approval shortly thereafter. Taking this decisive action now – without waiting for the CAP – will signal that the County, like the City of Sacramento and many other State municipalities, is ready to move forward with meaningful climate action.

Click here to read our letter in PDF.

New building codes include climate change mandates, Sacramento Business Journal, July 17, 2022

Starting in January, most new commercial construction in California will be required to install some solar generation and battery storage, along with heat pump technology, as the state moves toward its zero-carbon goals.

The new 2022 building standards mandate, approved by the California Energy Commission, adds to the renewable solar mandate that went into effect in January 2020 for all new single-family residential construction.

Click here to read the article in full.

City of Sac’s New Building Electrification Ordinance

On May 31, 2021, ECOS submitted our letter of support for the proposed Sacramento City Council New Construction Electrification Ordinance.

The Environmental Council of Sacramento (ECOS) urges the Sacramento City Council to support the New Construction Electrification Ordinance. This ordinance is an important first step in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and its passage would show we are serious in adopting the unanimous recommendations of the Mayors’ Commission on Climate Change.

Click here to read the letter in full.

City Council Votes June 1

The New Building Electrification Ordinance will be presented at an upcoming City Council meeting.

Date: Tuesday, June 1, 2021 (see the agenda and staff report here*)
Time: 5:00 p.m.
Location: Video Conference (see the meetings page for the link to eComment once the agenda is posted)
Hearing Title: An Ordinance Adding to and Amending Various Provisions of Title 15 of the Sacramento City Code and Adopting Local Amendments to the California Building Standards Code, Relating to Green Building Standards Including Electrification

Comments can be provided via eComment before or during the meeting. You may also call directly into the meeting to provide comments.

What is the New Building Electrification Ordinance?

The City of Sacramento is considering a reach code known as the “New Building Electrification Ordinance” that would establish phased requirements for new construction to be all-electric. A “reach code” is a local code that “reaches” beyond the state minimum requirements for energy use in building design and construction. The Ordinance would make changes to Title 15 (Buildings and Construction Code) of City Code to require all-electric new construction for new buildings that are 1-3 stories when building permits are filed on or after January 1, 2023, and for buildings that are four stories or more when building permits are filed after on or after January 1, 2026. With a few exceptions, new buildings would not include natural gas or propane plumbing and would use only electricity as the sole source of energy.

Consistent with the recommendations of the Mayors’ Commission on Climate Change and in response to stakeholder feedback on the feasibility of certain project types, the New Building Electrification Ordinance includes provisions for an infeasibility waiver for the portions of the project where all electric is demonstrated by the project applicant to be infeasible. In addition, the Ordinance includes limited exemptions for cooking equipment in commercial food establishments, for process loads in manufacturing and industrial facilities, and for water heating systems in regulated affordable housing (when virtual net energy metering is not available). The staff report and presentation will also address related key issues, including next steps to develop a strategy for decarbonizing existing buildings.

You are invited to participate in the upcoming public hearing.

Any Questions?

Please visit http://www.cityofsacramento.org/SacElectrificationOrdinance to review a summary of the project, community and stakeholder engagement (including videos of eight informational webinars), the Final New Building Electrification Ordinance for City Council’s consideration on June 1, and answers to questions that city staff have heard from the community and stakeholders over the course of the project.

If you have any questions please contact Helen Selph at (916) 808-7852 or HSelph[at]cityofsacramento[dot]org