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California agrees standards for greater use of electric heating
California energy regulators have approved energy efficiency standards aimed at vastly expanding the use of electric appliances for space and water heating in new homes and businesses, in a shift away from using fossil fuels to heat and cool buildings. The California Energy Commission said the revised building regulations would support the state’s efforts to combat global warming by slashing greenhouse gases over the next 30 years equivalent to taking nearly 2.2m cars off the road for a year. California has long been acknowledged as one of the main trailblazers worldwide for setting energy saving standards. Latterly, it has been at the forefront of efforts to address the impact of natural gas on climate change. In the last two years, more than over 25 California cities have introduced measures to reduce the use of natural gas in buildings. But, unlike proposals due in England, the state’s update will not impose an all-out ban on natural gas even for new construction. However, it includes a requirement to install solar and energy storage systems in most new commercial buildings, demands that singlefamily homes be built “electric ready” to support electric vehicles and appliances and strengthens ventilation standards to improve indoor air quality. Homes and businesses in California, which updates its building regulations every three years, account for a quarter of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions. The new code will take effect in January 2023. Heat pumps, an alternative to gas-fuelled water and space heating, are currently used in less than 6 per cent of new home construction in California. The new building code will establish heat pumps as the baseline technology when builders are designing homes to meet state efficiency standards. Significantly, homes may still be built with gas heating systems, but builders in those cases will have to find extra efficiency gains in other parts of the building such as windows or walls.
PACKAGE OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY POLICIES
EU aiming for 9% energy use cut by 2030 The European Commission has published a new package of energy efficiency policies with a goal for EU countries to collectively cut energy consumption by 9 per cent by 2030, compared with their projected energy use by that date under current plans. To hit that goal, countries will be required to put in place measures to cut their final energy consumption by 1.5 per cent each year from 2024 to 2030, nearly doubling an existing requirement of 0.8 per cent. Europe renovates just 1 per cent of buildings to save energy each year. Brussels hopes countries will use the EU’s €800bn COVID-19 economic recovery fund to launch a wave of green renovations, boosting construction sector jobs. The Commission also proposes that each of the 27 countries will renovate 3 per cent of all buildings owned or occupied by public bodies each year to transform them into “nearly zero-energy buildings.” Currently, countries are required to renovate 3 per cent of central government buildings to weaker standards. But central government buildings make up less than 1 per cent of the roughly 260m buildings in the EU, while public buildings make up roughly 10 per cent. Existing legislation will be upgraded, beginning with the Energy Efficiency Directive. Other directives set to be
revisited include the Eco Design and the Energy Performance of Buildings directives. The Commission argues that all revenues from carbon permit auctions under the EU’s Emissions Trading System and national CO2 auctions will have to be channelled to green investments, including investments in energy efficiency measures and renewables. These include revenues from proposed new areas of surface transport and of buildings. Efficiency requirements will have to be considered in public tenders, and governments will have to focus on increasing energy savings among vulnerable consumers, helping to alleviate fuel poverty. The EU only achieved its earlier, more modest 20 per cent reduction by
Welsh government commits to £250m for new low-carbon homes The Welsh Government has doubled its spending on social housing for rent, committing an initial £250m in 2021/22 for 20,000 new low carbon homes. The plans will seek to address
a rising demand for housing and the climate crisis, providing “good quality and affordable green homes” to those who need them. All homes will be built to new quality and environmental standards with
2020 energy efficiency target, due to “exceptional circumstances,” a clear reference to the economic impact of the pandemic. Current national climate and energy plans for 2030 are considered far too weak -- providing a maximum 29.4 per cent reduction in energy consumption across the continent, well below the existing EU objective for 32.5 per cent efficiency. All of these initiatives are incorporated within the EC’s “Fit for 55” programme. This is designed to deliver a 55 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions across the EU27 between 1990 and 2030. Firm details of the precise programme must be negotiated with EU countries and the European Parliament, a process that can take roughly two years.
the aim for some of the stock to go beyond net zero and produce more energy than they use. Visiting one of Wales’ first “positive energy” social housing schemes, the Minister for Climate Change who is responsible for housing, Julie James, said Wales & West Housing’s Rhiw Cefn Gwlad scheme in Bridgend was “an exemplar” for developers, housing associations and councils to follow. The 14-home development has made use of the latest technical innovations in renewable energy, from exhaust air heat pumps integrated with mechanical ventilation, to large solar photovoltaic roof systems coupled with a Tesla battery system. The residents who took possession in January this year, received their first negative energy bill in March, meaning the excess energy their homes have generated has already been pumped back into the national grid.
06 | ENERGY IN BUILDINGS & INDUSTRY | SEPTEMBER 2021
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