Highlight
- As of December 2022, 68 cities and counties had adopted local ordinances exceeding the 2019 energy code. Requiring all-electric (44 jurisdictions), followed by additional photovoltaic and/or solar thermal (41 jurisdictions), followed by and electric-preferred (32 jurisdiction). Notably, 11 local ordinances exceeding state standards were introduced as part of the 2022 Building Energy Efficiency Standards (Energy Code),192 which goes into effect January 1, 2023.
192 2022 Building Energy Efficiency Standards. Available at: https://www.energy.ca.gov/programs-and-topics/programs/building-energy-efficiency-standards/2022-building-energy-efficiency
Challenge
- While many jurisdictions have begun to adopt more aggressive code standards to help transition to decarbonized buildings, only a few jurisdictions (Los Gatos) has adopted an ordinance requiring single family residential and low-rise multifamily buildings to prewire for battery storage. Given that battery storage will play an increasingly important role in grid resiliency and accelerating renewable energy, the lack of such adoption elsewhere could be a missed opportunity. The state’s slow pace of new housing construction is an additional hinderance, since such building standards tend to only apply to new (or extensively remodeled) buildings.
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