Tag Archives: City of Sacramento

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.

City of Sacramento Planning Academy

The City of Sacramento Planning Academy is a free, hybrid course designed to educate, engage, and empower Sacramento residents and business owners on current planning issues and City plans underway in Sacramento. Participants can expect to learn about the City’s planning process and how planning shapes our community, with the opportunity to discuss Sacramento’s future with a cohort of civic leaders. The course objective is to provide participants knowledge, skills, and connections to encourage civic engagement in the planning process. Participants will have the opportunity to engage directly with staff leading a range of planning efforts including the Sacramento 2040 General Plan, the Climate Action & Adaptation Plan, Transportation Priorities Plan, Stockton Boulevard Plan, the 2022-2030 Housing Element, the Accessory Dwelling Unit Resource Enter, Missing Middle Housing Strategy, and the Existing Building Electrification Strategy. The program is intended to provide participants with tools and insights that will empower them to be more effective advocates in future City of Sacramento Planning efforts.

2023 Program Date: Monday* evenings, March 5-May 15, 2023, 5:30-7:30pm

Learn more and apply by January 30, 2023, here: http://www.cityofsacramento.org/Community-Development/Planning/Long-Range/Planning-Academy

New Building Electrification Ordinance – City Council Meeting Nov 29, 2022

On November 28, 2022, the Environmental Council of Sacramento submitted a comment letter on City Council Meeting Nov 29, 2022 Agenda Item 25: New Building Electrification Ordinance, ID: 2022-01920.

Below is the content of the letter.

ECOS supports the proposed New Building Electrification Ordinance and urges the Council to vote for it.

  • The first phase of this ordinance (for newly constructed buildings that are three stories or less) will take effect on January 1, 2023, and second phase (for newly constructed buildings that are four stories or more) will take effect on January 1, 2026.
  • The New Building Electrification Ordinance will be a local amendment to the 2022 California Building Standards Code.

As SMUD moves toward its 2030 zero-carbon goal, electrification of buildings will increasingly help city residents reduce their carbon footprint. We look forward to working with City staff on the development of a building electrification ordinance for existing buildings.

Click here to view the letter.

ECOS Comments on Sacramento City Transportation Priorities Plan (TPP)

On November 15, 2022, ECOS submitted a letter to the City of Sacramento regarding their currently proposed Transportation Priorities Plan (TPP).

ECOS supports the currently proposed Transportation Priorities Plan (TPP) and the level of public engagement it represents. We ask the City Council to approve the TPP as the first step and move quickly to the following: The High Priority projects should be packaged separately. A supporting narrative should be written to put these projects in the larger planning context of the City and region, to describe how they further the goals of the Sacramento BLUEPRINT, the required reduction of greenhouse gas emissions following SB375, and CARB’s emissions reduction target for the SACOG region; and how they improve mobility, safety, and quality of life for Sacramento citizens.

The package, the narrative, and validated cost estimate (we understand it is about $250M) should be taken to Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Transit Administration, to ask for advice in accessing federal funding such as Inflation Reduction Act funds to proceed with the work. Let us know if we can help in this.

Thank you for considering our support of the TPP and our suggestion for follow-on steps.

Central City Mobility Project Community Workshop 11/10

The City of Sacramento received funding through an SB1 competitive grant program, which will allow the City to rehabilitate the pavement, extend the protected bikeway network, and add circulation improvements to key corridors.

The project will convert 5th Street (X Street to H Street) from a one-way to a two-way street, and will add bike lanes in both directions.

The project will also extend the protected bikeway network, constructed in 2018, on:

  • 9th Street (Q Street to L Street),
  • 10th Street (Broadway to Q Street),
  • 19th Street (H Street to Broadway),
  • 21st Street (I Street to Broadway),
  • P Street (15th Street to 21st Street), and
  • Q Street (14th Street to 21st Street).

There will be a community meeting to update the community about the project on November 10th from 5:00-6:00pm at the Capitol Events Center on 1021 11th Street.