By Melissa Yu
This article was featured in our Winter 2021-22 Yodeler alongside a Building Electrification illustration by Vrinda Manglik.
In August, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its scientific findings, confirming that the climate crisis has continued to accelerate since the last IPCC report in 2018. We’ve continued to experience even more extreme weather events, including historic droughts, heat waves, and wildfires. It could be easy to despair when faced with such climate calamities, but the renewable energy solutions that will help us out of this crisis are within our grasp.
Residential and commercial buildings are one of the largest sources of carbon emissions in California, and consume 70 percent of the state’s electricity. Roughly half of their emissions come from on-site combustion appliances like gas or propane furnaces and water heaters. But there are clean, highly efficient electric alternatives that can replace these gas appliances, including modern heat pumps, electric water heaters, and induction stoves. Building electrification is going to be key in our state’s clean energy transition, and the Bay Area is already taking the lead.
As you may have read in a previous issue of the Yodeler, building electrification can provide health, economic, workforce, and climate benefits due to lowering emissions from buildings. Newly constructed, all-electric homes can be cheaper to build than gas-heated buildings: a Statewide Utility Codes and Standards Team found that building all-electric reduced construction costs on average by $5,000 for single-family homes and over $2,000 per unit in a multi-family building.
Building electrification will also spur development of the local workforce and create jobs that are critical for the transition to a green economy. While the demand for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) technicians is expected to grow enormously, the gas distribution jobs would decrease. To combat this challenge, San Francisco Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, who spearheaded the ordinance to require all-electric buildings for new construction, also brought forth a water reuse ordinance — a win-win for conservation and job creation. This September, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed this ordinance unanimously. “This ordinance will more than double the amount of water that new large buildings are required to collect and re-use on site and direct the [Public Utilities Commission] to come up with a plan for expanding the City's supply and use of recycled water,” said Mandelman.
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission estimates that these changes could double the amount of water savings in residential and mixed-use buildings. These additional savings would offset the water use of roughly 5,500 San Francisco residents per day. Larry Mazzola Jr., Business Manager of UA Local 38 Plumbers and Pipefitters, said “the re-use of water from on-site treated greywater systems for toilets and other non-potable uses are a proven way to reduce demand for potable water as California faces the threat of persistent water shortages. This ordinance is a step in the right direction and will have a significant positive impact on jobs for our skilled and trained workforce to provide sustainable work opportunities moving forward.”
50 cities and counties in California have now adopted local building electrification codes more stringent than required by the state. While we have secured these policy wins, we still have a long way to go as existing buildings continue to contribute to our climate crisis. Most household appliances that run on gas emit nitrogen oxides (NOx) when burned. NOx endangers human health by causing respiratory conditions, such as asthma, wheezing, decreased lung functioning, and increased likelihood of hospital visits, heart disease, and even early death.
Fortunately, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) is currently considering setting zero-NOx emissions standards for home furnaces and water heaters with a plan for an equitable, affordable transition. On October 18th, the BAAQMD Stationary Source Committee unanimously decided that staff should initiate a working group that will put out an annual report on the market, finance, and equity considerations surrounding these standards. The BAAQMD Board will reconvene in February 2022 to have a rule hearing. If you’re interested in learning more about this effort, please contact Melissa Yu.
What we do over the coming decade will largely determine what kind of world we leave for future generations. We must rapidly switch to clean energy, stop fossil fuel carbon pollution, and end methane leaks.