Campaign for Fossil Free Buildings

in Silicon Valley

Goal – Accelerate a phase out of fossil fuels including natural gas from all buildings in Silicon Valley.

BACKGROUND

Success Phasing Out Fossil Fuels in
New Construction!

Participating Cities

In 2019 and 2020, 15 Cities & 1 County in Silicon Valley have adopted Policies to Avoid Gas Use in New Homes & Buildings (through “Reach Codes” & Gas Bans), including: Brisbane, Burlingame, Campbell, Cupertino, Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos, Menlo Park, Milpitas, Morgan Hill, Mountain View, Pacifica, Palo Alto, Saratoga, San Jose, and the City of San Mateo, plus San Mateo County.

In 2020, we continue to support more cities adopting Reach Codes and gas bans, as we turn to existing homes & buildings to phase out gas.

Stay up to date on all cities and counties in California with reach codes & gas bans, with this California Building Decarbonization Coalition status table here.

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.

Campaign Partners

Our Focus

Elements of our Campaign

In California, the Building Decarbonization Coalition is supporting a number of policies that promote all electric, carbon free buildings. In 2019, we invite local partners to join us to advance the following policies, as one of the most impactful climate measures that Silicon Valley cities can take, focusing first on preventing new buildings from becoming natural gas dependent.

Learn more by clicking on a topic below.

Adopt “Reach” Energy Codes that Lead New Construction to be All Electric, avoiding new gas connections.

is supporting a number of policies that promote all electric, carbon free buildings. In 2019, we invite local partners to join us to advance the following policies, as one of the most impactful climate measures that Silicon Valley cities can take, focusing first on preventing new buildings from becoming natural gas dependent.

Design Zero Carbon Standards through City Planning & Zoning Updates

Significant outreach will be required to city elected officials and staff, developers, design firms, community members, and other interested stakeholders. A number of resources will be developed to support the policy goals

Community Outreach

Our campaign will work with city officials and staff, developers, design firms, community members, and other interested stakeholders to help educate people about clean, new electric technology. We will share examples of all electric homes and buildings, and provide demos and open house opportunities to show case electric equipment.

Develop Strategies to Retrofit Existing Buildings & Fund Electrification

Cities have additional tools and strategies that can help support electrification of existing buildings. For instance, Beneficial Electrification (BE) entails replacing fossil-fueled devices with their ultra-efficient electric counterparts

The Electric Guidebooks

Health & Environmental Impacts of Fossil Gas

Learn Ten Truths About Natural Gas
UCLA School of Public Health Study Effects of residential Gas Appliances on Indoor and Outdoor Air Quality and Public Health in California
The impact of gas stoves on indoor air pollution and public health
CA Air Resources Board webpage on Pollution from Gas Cookstoves

Other Resources

Factsheet on Building Electrification from Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD)
Induction Cooking Fact Sheet
The Costs and Savings of going All-Electric Infographic
Peninsula Reach Codes Website with additional Resources
A crowdsourced spreadsheet listing contractors who can install electric heaters, WHs & appliances
Building Electrification Action Plan for Climate Leaders by Sierra Club

Our Partners

Citizens’ Climate Lobby – San Mateo Chapter

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.