GHG Measure 06

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GHG-06

Increase Energy Efficiency and Electrification of Existing Residential Buildings

Measure

The County will adopt an electrification requirement for mixed-fuel single-family and multifamily homes subject to cost-effectiveness studies prepared by the Statewide Reach Codes Team:

The upgrade or replacement of natural gas appliances or HVAC and/or water heating equipment will be required to be an electrically powered equivalent. This could occur at the end of the current natural gas appliance’s life cycle, or at the point of appliance replacement if earlier than the end of its life cycle.
Permits for additions or alterations to single-family and multifamily residential structures that increase the building’s conditioned area will be required to meet CALGreen Tier 2 energy efficiency standards for the increased conditioned area.
Permits for additions or alterations to single-family and multifamily residential structures that increase the building’s conditioned area but do not include HVAC and/or water heating equipment will be required to upgrade an electrical panel or branch circuit to support these electric appliances in the future.

This requirement will be effective per the following timelines:

building permit applications filed on or after January 1, 2023, or 6 months after the availability of a cost-effectiveness study prepared by the Statewide Reach Codes Team, whichever is later, for buildings that are three stories or less, and
building permit applications filed on or after January 1, 2026, or 6 months after the availability of a cost-effectiveness study prepared by the Statewide Reach Codes Team, whichever is later, for buildings that are four stories or more.

To support residential electrification, the County shall review its existing permitting processes for residential building owners seeking to replace gas home appliances with electric appliances, as well as capping gas meters, and modify as needed to reduce complexity, cost, and processing time for any required permits. This may include exploring provisions to focus any required inspections related to electrification solely on those areas affected by the requested permit.

The County will partner with SMUD to develop an incentive program that reduces costs associated with any necessary electrical panel and/or branch circuit upgrades to support additional electric appliances. In addition, the County will assist local utilities and organizations such as Rebuilding Together Sacramento and Community Resource Project with increasing participation in residential retrofit programs in the County’s environmental justice communities to achieve a reduction in overall energy consumption.

To support utilities on residential energy efficiency, the County will develop and implement a program that provides education on strategies that promote energy savings in residential buildings. Videos featuring energy savings tips will be recorded and hosted on the County’s website, and a marketing campaign will be developed to advertise the availability of this information. Marketing and educational materials will include all applicable incentives and rebates from SMUD or other utilities. A video will also be created that shows residents how to monitor their energy use through SMUD and PG&E web interfaces or share their energy use with third parties for more detailed analytics on energy use. An information sheet will also be published on the County’s CAP portal, described in Section 4, on methods that can be used to retrofit buildings for energy efficiency, including upgrading to EnergyStar™-certified appliances, more efficient HVAC systems, weatherization, and comprehensive whole home retrofitting.

Started
The efforts for this measure have started.

Implementation

The County Building Permits and Inspection Division will require documentation at the time of building permit application for replacement of water heaters, HVAC systems, and other appliances requiring a permit. The information requested should include a serial number for the new electric appliance, where purchased, and contact information for the contractor who performed the installation. Eligible upgrades may include heat pump water heaters, induction cooktops, heat pump space heaters, electrical panel and branch circuit upgrades, or permanent removal of a natural gas fireplace.

An outreach program will be developed that provides education strategies that enable residential energy conservation and gas-to-electric conversions in residential buildings for space and water heating. This outreach program will include partnership with existing organizations, such as the Sacramento Association of Realtors, to provide information on benefits of energy conservation and incentives for electrification.

In addition, new development projects that have incorporated all feasible on-site GHG mitigation may be permitted to fund energy efficiency and electrification retrofits of existing buildings subject to quantification of the costs per MT CO₂e. This quantification shall be submitted by applicants for review and verification by the County or a qualified third party selected by the County.

Timeframe: Midterm

GHG Reduction Potential: 140,819 MT CO₂e per year by 2030

Sector: Energy – Residential

Target Indicator: Development of an outreach program and partnership with local utilities on an electrification and energy efficiency retrofit program. Participation targets for existing residences: 10 percent for energy-efficiency upgrades by 2030; 15 percent for energy conservation by 2030; and 30 percent for electrification by 2030. Target set for 13,000,000 therms of natural gas and 20,000 MWh of electricity consumption to be avoided by 2026 and 26,200,000 therms and 39,000 MWh of electricity to be avoided by 2030.

Status of Implementation

Measures GHG-4 through -7 deal with the electrification of buildings in the community and are categorized by residential vs. non-residential and existing vs. new construction.

Due to legal precedent established by the California Restaurant Association v. City of Berkeley, where the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit blocked the City of Berkeley from enacting a natural gas piping ban, the County is not pursuing electrification ordinances and instead is planning to develop reach code energy efficiency ordinances. These reach codes will not specifically ban gas and instead will require the maximum level of building energy efficiency that is still cost effective.

Through the Sacramento County Building Electrification Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), the County is working with the cities of Sacramento and Elk Grove as well as SMUD to coordinate the reach code effort with the goal to have adoption concurrent with the State 2025 triennial code cycle to be effective January 1, 2026.

Currently, the partners are focused on applying for a Department of Energy grant to support this coordinated effort and meet every two weeks to support making a full application later this summer.

Updated 9/10/2024.

Green Sacramento County

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GHG-06