Why Reach Codes Make Sense | Reach Code Myths | What Are the Reach Codes?
Reach Code Myths
Maybe you have heard people speaking out against Reach codes. These codes are very important for us to adopt as steps towards a less carbon-dependent world. We’ve taken the time to address some of the most commonly used arguments against the codes.
MYTH: We don’t need to do this.
If you believe in Climate Change, you should believe in Reach codes. According to the UN Environment Programme 2019 Global Status Report for Buildings and Construction, “Decarbonising the buildings and construction sector is critical to achieve the Paris Agreement commitment and the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Developments Goals (SDGs): responsible for almost 40% of energy- and process-related emissions, taking climate action in buildings and construction is among the most cost-effective.“
MYTH: A total gas ban is too radical!
The Los Altos Environmental Commission has recommended that only newly constructed buildings be included in the scope of the Los Altos Reach codes. While some communities, such as Berkeley, have instituted gas bans, in the Los Altos proposal, gas would be allowed outside the home (for gas grill or fire pit) or via exception when required for a business or restaurant. One option under consideration would also allow indoor gas use for cooktops and fireplaces.
MYTH: My home, my choice!
First, the Reach codes affect newly constructed buildings only. Unless you are building from scratch in Los Altos, this does not affect you. Building codes already exist to hold architects and builders to safety and environmental standards. This is strengthening one important aspect of the code. Sure, it seems nice to have total freedom to live our lives, but we need rules in place that are for the common good such as speed limits, non-smoking in buildings and wearing masks. This is one of those codes that is for the common good for everyone’s health and safety. The California Energy Commission has already stated that the grid will be moving away from natural gas as part of a low-carbon future. Electric homes will take advantage of the continued greening of the grid.
MYTH: We have Title 24, we don’t need Reach Codes.
Title 24 covers two aspects of a virtual cycle. It mandates renewable energy on new construction and improved energy efficiency standards. To gain the full benefit of these initiatives, we need to add all-electric construction and EV charging.
MYTH: Reach codes will hurt the poor/retirees/minorities.
Los Altos is proposing Reach codes for newly constructed buildings only. Cost analysis shows that all-electric buildings can show net bill savings. Building new construction which is ready for the future minimizes costly retrofits as renewable energy continues to fall in price. The California Energy Commission requires that Reach codes go through review to ensure that they are fiscally sound.
The Sierra Club has highlighted electrification as a cornerstone for affordable housing, citing lower new construction costs, lower utility bills, and protection against rising gas rates.
Natural gas extraction, generation, and transport facilities are predominantly located in disadvantaged communities who suffer the most collateral health effects of these processes (pipeline leakage and fracking polluting groundwater.) Over 68% of African Americans live or have lived within 30 miles of a coal fired power plant. The NAACP has made Just Energy Policies an area of focus and endorse “embracing a transition to clean, renewable energy sources”.
MYTH: This is overreach! The majority of Los Altos residents don’t want this.
The role of the Environmental Commission is to make recommendations to the City Council chich reflect the strategic goals of the city. Building codes are approved by the Planning Commission and the City Council. This is how our representational democracy works. It would be far too onerous for every Los Altos citizen to be experts in the latest building technologies, cost analyses, and California Energy Commission reports.
Reach codes are supported by a broad range of organizations who care about doing our part for climate change - Greentown Los Altos, the Sierra Club, Mothers Out Front, 350 Silicon Valley, and Campaign for Fossil Free Buildings which is supported by Acterra, Citizens Climate Lobby, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Sustainable Silicon Valley, Silicon Valley Youth Climate Action, Peninsula Interfaith Climate Action, and others.
There is no clear mandate from the two surveys that have been done on Reach codes. It is in fact the older survey which came out against and the second in favor of Reach codes. The initial survey did not require Los Altos residency or check that a person could vote only once. It also happened before there was any education on what the Reach codes would cover. The second survey did require Los Altos residency, but some people may not have voted in it because they already had filled out the first survey. In either case, a random, statistically significant survey of the population has not been done.
The best way for you to make your voice heard is to write the Los Altos city council at council@losaltosca.gov
MYTH: This is a “Trojan Horse”. New Construction today, All houses tomorrow!
One can actually argue that requiring electrification for new construction takes some pressure to convert off of existing homes. Los Altos can be working towards carbon reduction targets using the homes built under Reach codes. Remember also, the codes that are adopted are what will be law. Nothing additional can be added without another opportunity to respond and a new council approval cycle.
MYTH: This is a distraction. Los Altos should be doing ________ (charging stations/planting trees/recycling/etc).
The Reach codes are not a high cost item for the city of Los Altos. It is not taking funds away from other projects. There are opportunities for Los Altos to continue to do more to protect the planet.
MYTH: I need gas when there is no electricity.
As of January 2020, all new buildings in California which include gas appliances, must now have electric ignitions. Without a pilot light, you wouldn’t be able to start your furnace or fireplace in a power failure. So all of the homes covered by Reach codes don’t have access to gas in a power outage either.
The irony with this statement is that the reason that we are having to have power outages is to prevent wildfires that have increased in number fueled by climate change. If this cycle is ever going to correct in our favor, we need to reduce our use of fossil fuel.
The best solution for cases of power failure is an all electric home with onsite battery backup. That allows the home to operate without interruption. The city of Los Altos is seeing an increasing number of permits requested for battery backup in homes today. In the future companies are exploring the potential to use the batteries in your electric vehicle as an electricity source for your home in times of peak usage or outages. Nissan has even demonstrated it as a proof of concept. The technology is here and now we will need regulatory changes to allow it to happen in California.
Gas generators outside the house would still be allowed under the Reach codes as proposed.
MYTH: Heat pumps don’t work well. Gas furnaces are more efficient.
Forty years ago, natural gas was the most energy efficient option for heating your home. Many of us remember the big push by municipalities to change their building codes to incentivize gas appliances. It is time to acknowledge that technology has moved on.
Heat pumps are basically an air conditioner that you can run either direction. Think of the savings with a single unit providing heating and cooling! Modern heat pumps have efficiencies of 300% or more. This seems impossible, but is due to the fact that you are only charged for the electric energy used to run the compressor and circulating pumps. The heat is pulled from the ambient air, not generated. Gas furnaces burn fossil fuels to create heat and run fans are therefore limited by the laws of thermodynamics to efficiencies less than 100%.
And don’t forget that gas appliances leak methane which is a potent greenhouse gas.
MYTH: Induction cooktops are not as good as gas.
Side by side comparisons show that induction cooktops heat foods faster and have finer temperature control. The Department of Energy oversaw testing which showed induction efficiencies of over twice that of modern gas stoves. See for yourself with a $40 induction hot plate against your gas stovetop. Top restaurants such as the French Laundry and Spago already use induction cooktops.
Induction stoves are safer as they don’t have open flames and emit toxic gas while being used. They are cool to the touch and therefore less likely to cause burns. The San Francisco Bay Area Physicians for Healthy Communities, the Massachusetts State Medical Society and others have highlighted the dangers of using gas stoves. The combustion of gas to generate heat releases respiratory irritants which can exacerbate or even cause asthma.
MYTH: We don’t need to do this now! Do it later when gas becomes more expensive.
Actually the best time to have started changes to mitigate climate control would have been 20 years ago. We are taking baby steps when we are already behind in this race.
According to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) we have roughly a decade to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to avoid catastrophic climate change. Los Altans are being asked to do their part to help us get there.
Homes are expected to have a minimum life of 50 years. The California grid will be carbon-free by 2045. We don’t want to be paying to retrofit more buildings in Los Altos later.
MYTH: California electric bills are already high! Pushing electricity demand will cause prices to rise.
California Title 24, which mandates building codes across California, took effect in January 2020. It mandates solar energy on new buildings. In places with widespread solar adoption, as California is becoming, solar energy becomes virtually free. How exciting to live in the revolution of prosperity that can come from virtually free energy.
As well, California predicts that the costs of gas will increase in the future as usage in California will come from Renewable Natural Gas (RNG).
MYTH: The grid uses natural gas, so you are actually not using green energy if you electrify.
Electrification reduces total greenhouse gas emissions in single family homes by ~30-60%, and this is estimated to increase to ~80-90% by 2050 as the California grid continues to convert to zero-carbon resources. Los Altos uses SVCE energy aggregation which means that there are green energy contracts covering 100% of the energy used. California as a whole ranked first in 2018 as a producer of electricity from solar, geothermal, and biomass resources, and fourth in the nation in hydroelectric power generation. And California is not resting on its laurels. They have a goal of 100% CO2 free electricity by 2045. This is well within the lifetime of homes built now.
MYTH: Michael Moore’s movie proved all electric homes use MORE fossil fuels to make and run than gas powered.
In the documentary Planet of the Humans, there are many “reveals” which are out of date information and/or framed in a sensationalist manner. Scientists, activists, energy experts and journalists have stepped in to fact check. The bottom line is that carbon free wind and solar produce many times more energy over their lifetimes than they take to produce.
Did you know that buildings consume more natural gas than electrical power plants? There is no getting around the fact that natural gas is a fossil fuel. Burning gas exacerbates the global climate crisis.
MYTH: This is dangerous. Electrical lines cause wildfires.
This was a really odd remark to have brought against Reach codes. All homes today depend on electricity. Even homes with gas appliances have electricity running the core of the home. Reach codes or no Reach codes does not change this fact.
Both gas and electric power distribution have risks. The grid is imperfect. Until a complete off-grid solution or radical transformation occurs, electricity offers many safety improvements, such as local generation, that can be implemented over time - think the growth of solar on homes, and microgrids powering subsets of homes and businesses.
And don’t forget that in the case of fires, gas lines are a source of explosive combustion which makes them more dangerous. There are also risks from the aging gas distribution infrastructure which caused tragedies such as the San Bruno explosion.
MYTH: We still need energy at night and when the sun doesn’t shine.
This is actually an argument which has been used by climate change deniers for years. There is a growing abundance of energy generation capability during the day when usage is at its peak. This percentage will continue to grow as Title 24 puts more distributed solar on more buildings. The issue lies in the evening hours when solar starts to taper off and before usage drops. This phenomenon is known as the “duck curve”. That is where today we see standby gas fired plants brought online to supplement hydro and wind power. Fossil fuel burning in the home is by definition 100% carbon intensive and 24 hours a day. California is working to grow renewable capability and storage options to cover these hours.
MYTH: Electricity demand will destabilize the grid.
Transitioning homes and cars to all-electric actually helps to manage the oversupply of power one would expect as more solar comes online with new buildings built under Title 24. In addition, planned and existing distributed and grid-level storage will be able to take excess energy and use it to manage the energy needs for the hours of transition in load. Expect rate changes to take effect which will incentivize discretionary usage such as charging EVs to times of peak energy generation.
PG&E themselves have come out in favor of building electrification codes, as they view efficient electrical appliances as a positive contribution to their operational stability that will spare them from additional investments in gas infrastructure.