Campaign for

FOSSIL FREE BUILDINGS

in Silicon Valley

Our goal is to accelerate
the phase out of fossil fuels
in all buildings in Silicon Valley

With close to 40% of greenhouse gas emissions coming from energy use in buildings, eliminating systems that use fossil fuels is one of the most impactful actions cities can take to tackle climate change.

Read why »

Success Phasing Out Fossil Fuels
in New Construction!

Participating Cities & Counties

Since 2019, 27 Cities & 2 Counties in Silicon Valley have adopted Policies to Avoid Gas Use in New Homes & Buildings (through “Reach Codes” & Gas Bans), including:

Belmont, Brisbane, Burlingame, Campbell, Cupertino, Daly City, East Palo Alto, Half Moon Bay, Hillsborough, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos, Menlo Park, Millbrae, Milpitas, Morgan Hill, Mountain View, Pacifica, Palo Alto, Redwood City, Saratoga, San Carlos, San Jose, the City of San Mateo, the City of Santa Clara, South San Francisco, and Sunnyvale, plus San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties.

See what we accomplished in 2021 »

Our Focus

Elements of our Campaign

In California, the Building Decarbonization Coalition is supporting policies that promote all electric, carbon free buildings. We invite local partners to join us.

Learn more by clicking on a topic below.

ADOPT

“Reach” energy codes that lead new construction to be all electric, avoiding new gas connections.

DESIGN

Zero carbon standards through city planning & zoning updates

BUILD

A zero-carbon movement through community outreach

DEVELOP

Strategies to retrofit existing buildings & fund electrification

ZERO-EMISSIONS, ALL-ELECTRIC GUIDEBOOKS

Pocket guide to all electric retrofits -JPG

A Guide to All-Electric Home Retrofits

A simple “how-to” guide for electrifying single-family homes through retrofits or low-impact appliance replacements.

Quick Facts – Guide to All-Electric Retrofits

Electrifying your home without upsizing the electric panel: The Watt Diet

Learn how to avoid costly electrical upgrades through thoughtful product selection or by using load sharing devices.

ALL-ELECTRIC NEW CONSTRUCTION GUIDES

Single Family

Multi Family

Commercial Construction

HEALTH & ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF NATURAL GAS

Ten Truths About Natural Gas

We have the technology and affordable alternatives to natural gas to make all new construction go All-Electric, supported by clean, carbon free power that is now widely available. The stakes are high and so are the benefits.

Indoor Air Pollution: the Link between Climate and Health

According to new research from MIT, the combustion emissions from the building sector now contributes to the largest share of premature deaths associated with air pollution.

Effects Of Residential Gas Appliances On Indoor And Outdoor Air Quality And Public Health In California

UCLA Department of Environmental Health Sciences Research Investigates the Effect of Residential Gas Appliances on Air Quality and Public Health in California

Indoor Air Pollution from Cooking

Cooking can contaminate the indoor air with harmful pollutants, but range hoods can effectively remove them.

OTHER RESOURCES

The Switch is On

Tools, support, and resources for Californians making the switch to electrification.

Silicon Valley Clean Energy eHub

Sonoma Clean Power Advanced Energy Center

Sierra Club Building Electrification Action Plan

Bay Area Reach Codes

8 Facts About Natural Gas

The Benefits of Induction Cooking

Crowdsourced Contractors You Can Use

Electrification FAQ

Our Partners

Our Campaign seeks climate, environmental, and social justice NGOs, community groups, and green building stakeholders who share the Fossil Free Buildings goal to join the campaign.

Partners need only support the goal of the campaign. They can also participate in regular strategic planning calls and meetings, join outreach actions, help research and develop support materials, and create subcommittees to pursue related actions. Partners may not profit from or receive any gifts from fossil fuel companies or related entities.

For additional information please inquire at info.MenloSpark@gmail.com

Background

Natural gas, a fossil fuel, is California’s second largest source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions behind transportation, contributing roughly one third or more of total GHG emissions. Community choice energy agencies have begun delivering carbon free (or nearly carbon free) electricity to all customers at market rates. At the same time rapid technology improvements have increased the efficiency of electric heating and appliances, while the costs have come down making all electric, zero carbon buildings not just environmentally preferable but also an opportunity to save money on construction and energy use. This means that one of the most impactful climate policy steps that Silicon Valley cities can take is avoiding natural gas in new buildings, via all electric, Zero Carbon designs.

Although natural gas was once considered a bridge fuel, much of it now comes from “fracking”. Many new studies show that natural gas has exceptionally high global warming emissions when the lifecycle of the fuel (including leaks) is considered. Natural gas also poses direct safety hazards with leaks that can lead to explosions or fires. For example, the 2010 gas pipeline explosion in San Bruno killed eight people and destroyed 38 homes. However, every year, there are thousands of fires and dozens of deaths caused by gas leaks that do not make headline news. Gas use inside buildings that are not well ventilated also leads to chronic health impacts, as well as hundreds more deaths every year from carbon monoxide poisoning. Finally, relatively large capital investments in long-lived natural gas infrastructure and the devices are at high risk becoming stranded assets as we switch away from natural gas use. (Here are two resources with more info on the impacts of natural gas from Menlo Spark and Climate Reality.)

Many cities have begun exploring policies to avoid natural gas in buildings in response to the climate crisis, and also because of the health and safety impacts. Eugene, Oregon is planning to use their upcoming contract negotiation with the local gas company to explore requirements for reduced emissions to help meet city climate goals, and possibly prohibit new gas connections unless the company demonstrates a plan to decarbonize. The City of Hayward is now slated to require all-electric buildings through CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) for new multi-family developments downtown. The City Council of Arcata adopted a plan to establish a moratorium on new gas installations and to phase out its use completely by 2035.

Other cities, such as Boulder, Burlington, and Sommerville MA have programs assisting buildings- and home-owners in electrifying. These city-based programs, supported by the Building Electrification Initiative through the Urban Sustainability Directors Network and the Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance, are demonstrating strategies to scale up the electrification of building heating and cooling systems.