New California homes are more likely to have all-electric appliances starting in 2026 after the state’s energy regulators approved new state building standards.
The new building code will encourage installation of heat pumps without actually banning gas heating. The new code is a less ambitious version of a previous draft, which would have required all broken A/C units to be replaced with a heat pump.
The new code allows local governments to incorporate their own heat pump replacement requirements, according to a report in the Sacramento Bee. The new rules also require replacing broken large rooftop heating and air-conditioning units on existing retail buildings, schools, offices, and libraries with high efficiency systems including heat pumps.
The energy commission wants to quadruple the number of homes with heat pumps to 6 million by 2030. More than 1 million have already been installed in the state’s roughly 14 million homes.
Related Stories
| Oct 19, 2011
Another drop for Architecture Billings Index
Positive conditions seen last month were more of an aberration.
| Oct 18, 2011
Dow Building Solutions invests in two research facilities to deliver data to building and construction industry
State-of-the-art monitoring system allows researchers to collect, analyze and process the performance of wall systems.
| Oct 14, 2011
ACI partners with CRSI to launch new adhesive anchor certification program
Adhesive anchor installer certification required in new ACI 318-11.
| Oct 13, 2011
New Building Materials Label Focuses On Sustainability
Architectural products company Construction Specialities and design firm Perkins + Will have created a label for building materials to shed light on product content.
| Oct 13, 2011
New Law: California Building Standards Commission Must Include Green Expert
A new California law, AB 930, requires that one member of the California Building Standards Commission be “experienced and knowledgeable in sustainable building, design, construction, and operation.”
| Oct 13, 2011
AGC Urges Repeal of 3% Withholding On Government Contracts
The U.S. House of Representatives is planning a vote in October on a bill to repeal the 3% withholding requirement on all federal and state contracts for goods and services.
| Oct 13, 2011
House Bill Would Block New OSHA Regulations
Proposed riders in a U.S. House of Representatives spending bill would block the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) from issuing controversial workplace safety and health regulations.
| Oct 11, 2011
AIA introduces five new documents for use on sustainable projects
These new documents will be available in the first quarter of 2012 as part of the new AIA Contract Documents service and AIA Documents on Demand.
| Oct 7, 2011
GREENBUILD 2011: UL Environment releases industry-wide sustainability requirements for doors
ASSA ABLOY Trio-E door is the first to be certified to these sustainability requirements.
| Oct 6, 2011
Taking tenant behavior into account on building energy codes
Over the past few years, Seattle, San Francisco, Austin, and Washington, D.C., have passed laws requiring property owners to measure and disclose their energy use, which would help place a market value on a building’s efficiency and provide a benchmark for improvements.