HomeMy WebLinkAbout090122 FW_ September update and invitations from Climate Solutions
________________________________
From: Brian Emanuels
Sent: Thursday, September 1, 2022 1:56:12 PM (UTC-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada)
To: Kate Dean
Subject: September update and invitations from Climate Solutions
________________________________
ALERT: BE CAUTIOUS This email originated outside the organization. Do not open attachments or click on links if you are not expecting them.
________________________________
Dear Commissioner Dean,
As you likely recall, in April, the Washington State Building Code Council approved the most climate friendly energy code in the country for new commercial and large multi-family buildings,
which requires electric heat pumps for space and most water heating in nearly all new construction. Now, they are preparing to finish the job, and consider a similar building code update
for new residential construction <https://drive.google.com/file/d/1p9Uwg392nVQGZcUYx6ubg089JXVNy4yH/view?usp=sharing> . They just opened up the formal public comment period, which extends
until October 14th, and scheduled two public hearings, on September 29th in Yakima and October 14th in Olympia (both on Zoom as well). A final decision is expected in November, and
the new code would take effect in July of 2023.
We have prepared a sign-on letter for local elected officials <https://climatesolutions.salsalabs.org/leosbccresidential/index.html> (text below) to express support for this proposal,
and we’d like to invite you to sign on <https://climatesolutions.salsalabs.org/leosbccresidential/index.html> . One noteworthy point the letter makes is that unlike with the commercial
energy code, local governments are pre-empted from adopting a residential energy code that’s more stringent than the state code, so helping ensure a favorable SBCC decision is essentially
the only option available for strengthening the energy standards for new residential construction within your jurisdiction.
Second, we have scheduled two interactive webinars for local government officials to provide more information about the SBCC process and how you can support it, to review other actions
local governments can take in support of clean buildings, and to preview Climate Solutions’ 2023 legislative priorities and our recommendations for your jurisdiction’s legislative agenda.
We’ve scheduled this at two separate times, and hope you’ll be able to join us for one of them:
* Monday, September 12th, 3-4pm: RSVP here <https://climatesolutions.salsalabs.org/lgosept12>
* Wednesday, September 21st, noon-1pm: RSVP here <https://climatesolutions.salsalabs.org/lgosept21>
Finally, I hope you’re as excited as we are about the landmark climate provisions in the new federal Inflation Reduction Act! There are a number of programs contained within the law
that specifically affect local governments and/or provide new funding opportunities for municipalities. This blog post <https://blogs.law.columbia.edu/climatechange/2022/08/22/cities-the-inflation-r
eduction-act/> from Columbia Law School provides an excellent overview of these provisions which I think you’ll find useful.
As always, please let me know if you have any questions, or if you’d like to unsubscribe <mailto:brian.emanuels@climatesolutions.org?subject=Please%20remove%20me%20from%20your%20local%20elected%20off
icials%20distribution%20list> from communications like this from us going forward.
Thanks --Brian
206-454-7896
Brian Emanuels | Local Advocacy Fellow
Climate Solutions <http://www.climatesolutions.org/> – Accelerating Clean Energy Solutions to the Climate Crisis
ClimateCast <http://climatesolutions.org/climatecast> | Facebook <https://www.facebook.com/climatesolutions> | Twitter <http://twitter.com/#!/climatesolution>
Save the Date for Hope, Health and Climate <https://www.climatesolutions.org/article/2022-08/hope-health-and-climate-coming-fall> , two special Climate Solutions’ events coming on December
8th (4-5pm) and 9th (noon-1pm).
October 14, 2022
Washington State Building Code Council
1500 Jefferson St SE
Olympia, WA 98501
Chairman Doan and Members of the State Building Code Council:
We, the undersigned local elected officials, write to strongly urge the SBCC to build on your excellent work updating the Washington state commercial energy code and now adopt the proposed
updates to the residential energy code for new construction, which similarly align with our state and local climate and sustainability goals. Specifically, we strongly support the requirements
for heat pump systems and stricter ventilation for gas stoves in new homes, which will reduce indoor and outdoor air pollution and ensure that we are building healthy, resilient, and
affordable homes, by eliminating gas appliances, particularly for space and water heating, which account for the majority of pollution and carbon emissions from our building sector.
Statewide Clean Codes Are Needed To Support Local Government Efforts
At least a dozen cities and counties in Washington, representing over 1.7 million people, are developing or have implemented climate action plans that commit local resources to curbing
dangerous greenhouse gas emissions.[1] Buildings comprise the second-largest – and fastest growing – component of our state’s GHG emissions. In 2018, burning fossil fuels in Washington
buildings produced emissions equivalent to nearly 4 million cars or 5 coal plants. Washington state is required by law to achieve a 95% reduction in emissions from 1990 levels by 2050[2],
and we are committed to doing our part. However, unlike with commercial construction, our reading of state law is that cities and counties are preempted from implementing energy codes
for residential construction that are more stringent than the state’s minimum requirements. Therefore, to meet our climate commitments, we need the SBCC to act again to finish the job
and require all new buildings across the state to be clean.
Clean Codes Support Our Energy Efficiency and Climate Commitments
Washington is a leader in the clean energy economy. As we continue to move the supply side of our grid to net zero emissions by 2030 and 100% clean electricity by 2045 as required by
state law,[3] we must also reduce overall demand for energy. Heat pumps, which are 2.2 – 4.5 times more efficient[4] than electric resistance or combustion gas equipment, can and must
play a significant role in keeping our state on track for the 70% reduction in energy use that SBCC is required by law to meet.[5]
The Climate Commitment Act passed in 2021 imposes a steadily declining cap on greenhouse gas emissions to achieve a 95% reduction in by 2050; it will require natural gas suppliers to
acquire rapidly declining and thus increasingly expensive pollution allowances, as gas use is phased out entirely over the coming decades. While existing gas customers will receive
some protection from rate increases under the CCA, it’s critical to note that except for low income customers, the act specifically prohibits utilities from using CCA funds for customer
bill credits for locations connected to the gas system after next January [6]. Continuing to add any new buildings to the gas distribution system therefore means not only locking in
decades of carbon and methane emissions and more stranded assets for the gas industry, but also condemning residents of those buildings to ever increasing gas bills, greater fuel price
volatility and the likelihood of expensive retrofits in the future. To achieve our climate goals and protect consumers, our first step must be to stop digging the hole deeper and commit
to efficient, electric appliances in every newly constructed building in the state.
Clean Codes Support Our Economy and Housing Costs
The 2021 Washington State Energy Strategy states that building electrification is “the least-cost strategy” to decarbonize the building sector.[7] In addition, one report estimates that
electrifying our building stock would create 5,500 installation jobs in Washington and 80,000 manufacturing jobs nationwide that our state can compete for.[8]
The economic analysis for these proposals <https://sbcc.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2022-06/Supplemental_Amended%20Analysis_Kocher_060122.pdf> showed that a code compliant all-electric
home would save builders $6,570 upfront compared to a code compliant gas home with a gas furnace, water heater, and air conditioning (increasingly vital in our warming climate, as evidenced
by last summer’s dramatic and dangerous heat wave[9]). The Rocky Mountain Institute’s (RMI) Economics of Electrifying Buildings study, as well as several other studies, found that in
Seattle, an all-electric home saves both money and 28 tons of CO2 emissions over a 15-year period[10]. In addition, even before the recent run-up in energy prices, exacerbated by the
Russian invasion of Ukraine, both the EIA and the World Bank forecast significant increases in natural gas costs, but relatively flat electricity costs – making the economic case for
all-electric homes even stronger. Combined with the impacts of the phase-out of gas required under the Climate Commitment Act, any new homes built with gas will face ever increasing
energy bills and an eventual expensive retrofit. This means that any new gas household we allow heightens the severe risk that we are stranding those families with escalating bills.
And those least likely to be able to switch will be low-income households.
Clean Codes Support Healthy Homes and Communities
A recent Harvard study showed that in Washington, burning fossil fuels in buildings was responsible for 52 premature deaths and over $577 million in health impacts in 2017, based on
just their outdoor air pollution alone. Combusting gas in furnaces, stoves and ovens releases dangerous air pollutants like methane (CH4), nitrogen oxide (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO),
fine particulate matter (PM2.5), ultrafine particles, and formaldehyde. These pollutants can lead to a range of respiratory, cardiovascular, and neurological health issues - children
in homes with gas stoves are 42% more likely to develop asthma symptoms[11]. Health burdens related to pollution and other environmental stressors such as extreme heat disproportionately
affect low-to-moderate income communities. Our State Energy Strategy has pledged to address these disparities while also ensuring the “equitable distribution of clean energy benefits
and reduction of burdens to communities highly impacted by climate change.”[12] The SBCC adoption of an energy code that reduces air pollution will empower local communities to repair
the historical inequities that are further aggravated by climate change. Moving away from the use of an explosive gas to heat new buildings also reduces the risk of fire and explosions,
such as that which occurred in the Greenwood neighborhood of Seattle in 2016[13].
As local elected officials, we are responsible for responding to and supporting our communities during extreme weather events like the recent floods, wildfires, droughts and heat. We
are committed to help solve climate change by lowering Washington’s greenhouse gas emissions, and to adapt to its effects by making our communities healthier, safer and more resilient.
Prolonging gas use just makes no sense when there are better, cleaner and safer heat-pump options available now, which take advantage of Washington’s increasingly clean electrical grid.
For all the reasons mentioned above, we strongly believe the SBCC should adopt the proposed code updates for new residential construction and require heat pumps for space and water heating
and increased ventilation for gas stoves, to ensure housing in our communities is sustainable, affordable, equitable, and healthy, now and in the future.
Sincerely,
________________________________
[1] “Cities with Climate Action Plans,” Zero Energy Alliance: https://zeroenergyproject.org/all-cities-with-climate-action-plans/
[2] Washington State Legislature: https://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=70A.45.020
[3] “Clean Energy Transformation Act” Washington State Dept. of Commerce: https://www.commerce.wa.gov/growing-the-economy/energy/ceta/
[4] McKinsey Report: https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/electric-power-and-natural-gas/our-insights/building-decarbonization-how-electric-heat-pumps-could-help-reduce-emissions-today-and-going-forwa
rd
[5] Washington State Legislature: https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=19.27A.160
[6] Washington State Legislature, Climate Commitment Act, Section 15(c): https://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/2021-22/Pdf/Bills/Session%20Laws/Senate/5126-S2.SL.pdf <https://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov
/biennium/2021-22/Pdf/Bills/Session%20Laws/Senate/5126-S2.SL.pdf?q=20220524185403>
[7] Washington State Energy Strategy, pg. 67 (2021): https://bit.ly/3kJ5WOH
[8] Rewiring America, “The Benefits of Electrification,”: https://map.rewiringamerica.org/states/washington-wa
[9] “Hidden Toll of the Northwest Heat Wave: Hundreds of Extra Deaths”: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/08/11/climate/deaths-pacific-northwest-heat-wave.html
[10] “The New Economics of Electrifying Buildings”, RMI. https://rmi.org/insight/the-new-economics-of-electrifying-buildings
[11] “Meta-analysis of the effects of indoor nitrogen dioxide and gas cooking on asthma and wheeze in children”, Internal Journal of Epidemiology: https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyt150
[12] Washington State Energy Strategy, pg. 22 (2021): https://bit.ly/3kJ5WOH
[13] “Seattle explosion leaves heart of Greenwood neighborhood a gigantic mess”: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/greenwood-explosion-destroys-buildings-injures-9-firefighters/
e that we are building healthy, resilient, and affordable homes, by eliminating gas appliances, particularly for space and water heating, which account for the majority of pollution
and carbon emissions from our building sector.
Statewide Clean Codes Are Needed To Support Local Government Efforts
At least a dozen cities and counties in Washington, representing over 1.7 million people, are developing or have implemented climate action plans that commit local resources to curbing
dangerous greenhouse gas emissions.[1] Buildings comprise the second-largest – and fastest growing – component of our state’s GHG emissions. In 2018, burning fossil fuels in Washington
buildings produced emissions equivalent to nearly 4 million cars or 5 coal plants. Washington state is required by law to achieve a 95% reduction in emissions from 1990 levels by 2050[2],
and we are committed to doing our part. However, unlike with commercial construction, our reading of state law is that cities and counties are preempted from implementing energy codes
for residential construction that are more stringent than the state’s minimum requirements. Therefore, to meet our climate commitments, we need the SBCC to act again to finish the job
and require all new buildings across the state to be clean.
Clean Codes Support Our Energy Efficiency and Climate Commitments
Washington is a leader in the clean energy economy. As we continue to move the supply side of our grid to net zero emissions by 2030 and 100% clean electricity by 2045 as required by
state law,[3] we must also reduce overall demand for energy. Heat pumps, which are 2.2 – 4.5 times more efficient[4] than electric resistance or combustion gas equipment, can and must
play a significant role in keeping our state on track for the 70% reduction in energy use that SBCC is required by law to meet.[5]
The Climate Commitment Act passed in 2021 imposes a steadily declining cap on greenhouse gas emissions to achieve a 95% reduction in by 2050; it will require natural gas suppliers to
acquire rapidly declining and thus increasingly expensive pollution allowances, as gas use is phased out entirely over the coming decades. While existing gas customers will receive
some protection from rate increases under the CCA, it’s critical to note that except for low income customers, the act specifically prohibits utilities from using CCA funds for customer
bill credits for locations connected to the gas system after next January [6]. Continuing to add any new buildings to the gas distribution system therefore means not only locking in
decades of carbon and methane emissions and more stranded assets for the gas industry, but also condemning residents of those buildings to ever increasing gas bills, greater fuel price
volatility and the likelihood of expensive retrofits in the future. To achieve our climate goals and protect consumers, our first step must be to stop digging the hole deeper and commit
to efficient, electric appliances in every newly constructed building in the state.
Clean Codes Support Our Economy and Housing Costs
The 2021 Washington State Energy Strategy states that building electrification is “the least-cost strategy” to decarbonize the building sector.[7] In addition, one report estimates that
electrifying our building stock would create 5,500 installation jobs in Washington and 80,000 manufacturing jobs nationwide that our state can compete for.[8]
The economic analysis for these proposals <https://sbcc.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2022-06/Supplemental_Amended%20Analysis_Kocher_060122.pdf> showed that a code compliant all-electric
home would save builders $6,570 upfront compared to a code compliant gas home with a gas furnace, water heater, and air conditioning (increasingly vital in our warming climate, as evidenced
by last summer’s dramatic and dangerous heat wave[9]). The Rocky Mountain Institute’s (RMI) Economics of Electrifying Buildings study, as well as several other studies, found that in
Seattle, an all-electric home saves both money and 28 tons of CO2 emissions over a 15-year period[10]. In addition, even before the recent run-up in energy prices, exacerbated by the
Russian invasion of Ukraine, both the EIA and the World Bank forecast significant increases in natural gas costs, but relatively flat electricity costs – making the economic case for
all-electric homes even stronger. Combined with the impacts of the phase-out of gas required under the Climate Commitment Act, any new homes built with gas will face ever increasing
energy bills and an eventual expensive retrofit. This means that any new gas household we allow heightens the severe risk that we are stranding those families with escalating bills.
And those least likely to be able to switch will be low-income households.
Clean Codes Support Healthy Homes and Communities
A recent Harvard study showed that in Washington, burning fossil fuels in buildings was responsible for 52 premature deaths and over $577 million in health impacts in 2017, based on
just their outdoor air pollution alone. Combusting gas in furnaces, stoves and ovens releases dangerous air pollutants like methane (CH4), nitrogen oxide (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO),
fine particulate matter (PM2.5), ultrafine particles, and formaldehyde. These pollutants can lead to a range of respiratory, cardiovascular, and neurological health issues - children
in homes with gas stoves are 42% more likely to develop asthma symptoms[11]. Health burdens related to pollution and other environmental stressors such as extreme heat disproportionately
affect low-to-moderate income communities. Our State Energy Strategy has pledged to address these disparities while also ensuring the “equitable distribution of clean energy benefits
and reduction of burdens to communities highly impacted by climate change.”[12] The SBCC adoption of an energy code that reduces air pollution will empower local communities to repair
the historical inequities that are further aggravated by climate change. Moving away from the use of an explosive gas to heat new buildings also reduces the risk of fire and explosions,
such as that which occurred in the Greenwood neighborhood of Seattle in 2016[13].
As local elected officials, we are responsible for responding to and supporting our communities during extreme weather events like the recent floods, wildfires, droughts and heat. We
are committed to help solve climate change by lowering Washington’s greenhouse gas emissions, and to adapt to its effects by making our communities healthier, safer and more resilient.
Prolonging gas use just makes no sense when there are better, cleaner and safer heat-pump options available now, which take advantage of Washington’s increasingly clean electrical grid.
For all the reasons mentioned above, we strongly believe the SBCC should adopt the proposed code updates for new residential construction and require heat pumps for space and water heating
and increased ventilation for gas stoves, to ensure housing in our communities is sustainable, affordable, equitable, and healthy, now and in the future.
Sincerely,
________________________________
[1] “Cities with Climate Action Plans,” Zero Energy Alliance: https://zeroenergyproject.org/all-cities-with-climate-action-plans/
[2] Washington State Legislature: https://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=70A.45.020
[3] “Clean Energy Transformation Act” Washington State Dept. of Commerce: https://www.commerce.wa.gov/growing-the-economy/energy/ceta/
[4] McKinsey Report: https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/electric-power-and-natural-gas/our-insights/building-decarbonization-how-electric-heat-pumps-could-help-reduce-emissions-today-and-going-forwa
rd
[5] Washington State Legislature: https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=19.27A.160
[6] Washington State Legislature, Climate Commitment Act, Section 15(c): https://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/2021-22/Pdf/Bills/Session%20Laws/Senate/5126-S2.SL.pdf <https://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov
/biennium/2021-22/Pdf/Bills/Session%20Laws/Senate/5126-S2.SL.pdf?q=20220524185403>
[7] Washington State Energy Strategy, pg. 67 (2021): https://bit.ly/3kJ5WOH
[8] Rewiring America, “The Benefits of Electrification,”: https://map.rewiringamerica.org/states/washington-wa
[9] “Hidden Toll of the Northwest Heat Wave: Hundreds of Extra Deaths”: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/08/11/climate/deaths-pacific-northwest-heat-wave.html
[10] “The New Economics of Electrifying Buildings”, RMI. https://rmi.org/insight/the-new-economics-of-electrifying-buildings
[11] “Meta-analysis of the effects of indoor nitrogen dioxide and gas cooking on asthma and wheeze in children”, Internal Journal of Epidemiology: https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyt150
[12] Washington State Energy Strategy, pg. 22 (2021): https://bit.ly/3kJ5WOH
[13] “Seattle explosion leaves heart of Greenwood neighborhood a gigantic mess”: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/greenwood-explosion-destroys-buildings-injures-9-firefighters/