Design

The City of Vancouver has a carbon standard for buildings that will effectively require all electric buildings by 2025. Menlo Park adopted new green building standards for the Bayfront area as part of a General Plan Update in 2016. These standards were the first time any city had required 100% Renewable Energy for new buildings. Some cities, such as San Mateo, Mountain View, and San Jose have expressed interest in a similar approach using zoning or building codes to direct developers to avoid connecting to gas for new construction and instead build zero carbon structures. The City of San Jose is already promoting Zero Net Carbon (ZNC) commercial and residential buildings through its recently approved Climate Smart San José. 

The Campaign plans to:

• Continue promoting and supporting zero carbon building policy through zoning standards for all interested cities in Silicon Valley.
• Reach out to local groups to broaden a coalition and converge around campaign language.
• Continue outreach and dialogue with City Council Members, Planning Commissioners, and staff identifying Natural Gas phase out as a top priority on sustainability.