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Administrative Report
Discussion Item
TO: HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: Lucas Seibert, Community Development Director
DATE PREPARED: July 29, 2025
MEETING DATE: August 12, 2025
SUBJECT: First reading and introduction of an ordinance amending and restating Section 9-1.1001 and adding Section 9-1.701(g) of the Ojai Municipal Code to establish efficiency requirements for single-family homeowners for major renovations and additions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the City of Ojai
Recommendation
That the City Council introduce an ordinance amending and restating Section 9-1.1001 and adding Section 9-1.701(g) of the Ojai Municipal Code to establish efficiency requirements for singlefamily homeowners for major renovations and additions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the City of Ojai.
Background
In 2024, the City registered for the existing building efficiency and electrification code pilot program through the Clean Power Alliance (CPA). As part of the pilot program, CPA helped the City identify opportunities to require homeowners to implement energy efficiency measures when renovating or adding to existing single-family homes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions within the City.
Adopting a local energy code for renovations to existing buildings is one way for the City to continue its efforts to increase energy efficiency and reduce emissions. The majority of the City building stock is residential with single-family homes making up approximately 88% of all residential buildings. Medium to large renovations to existing single-family properties were identified as an effective opportunity to make improvements that can result in reduced energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.
At the December 10, 2024 City Council meeting, the City Council requested staff to return with an ordinance that requires homeowners of existing single-family homes to include energy efficiency measures when they make major renovations or additions to their home to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve comfort, improve air quality and improve safety within the City. Pursuant to the City Council’s direction, this ordinance was brought before the City Council for the first time at the January 28, 2025 City Council meeting where it did not advance. 5-1
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On April 7, 2025, staff were notified that Assembly Bill 306 (“AB 306”) was pending before the California State Legislature. The initial version of AB 306 would have imposed a moratorium on local building standard modifications for residential units, effectively preempting the City's ability to adopt the proposed California Energy Code changes through June 1, 2031 (“Moratorium”). As a result, the proposed ordinance was placed on hold.
On June 30, 2025, Governor Newsom signed budget trailer bill Assembly Bill 130 (“AB 130”) into law, which fully incorporated an amended version of AB 306. The changes to AB 306 adopted by AB 130 allow the City to adopt the proposed ordinance notwithstanding the moratorium if both of the following occur on or before September 30, 2025:
The proposed ordinance is adopted; and
The City files the changes and modifications to the California Energy Code set forth in the proposed ordinance with the California Building Standards Commission; and The California Building Standards Commission approves the proposed ordinance for filing The City needs to adopt the proposed ordinance by its August 26, 2025 Council meeting for the proposed ordinance to be effective prior to September 30, 2025. Because denial by the California Building Standards Commission could prevent implementation and require ordinance revisions, filing the proposed changes at the earliest opportunity is recommended.
The changes to AB 306 adopted by AB 130 also created another exception to the Moratorium, which allows the City to adopt the proposed ordinance as necessary to implement a local code amendment to that is adopted to align with the City’s general plan (which was approved before June 10, 2025), because the proposed ordinance permits mixed-fuel residential construction consistent with federal law (e.g., EPCA) while still incentivizing all-electric construction as part of the City’s adopted greenhouse gas emissions reduction strategy. However, given the novelty of these ordinances under California law, it is recommended that the proposed ordinance be passed consistent with the exception described in the above paragraph.
The first and second readings of the ordinance must occur at the August 12, 2025 and August 26, 2025 meetings, and the ordinance must be submitted to the California Building Standards Commission before September 30, 2025 to meet the deadline imposed by AB 130.
If adopted at the August 26, 2025 Council meeting, the ordinance would take effect on September 26, 2025. However, the ordinance would apply to applications submitted to the City on or after January 31, 2026 to allow for staff and CPA/TRC to launch an education campaign to the community and contractors about these changes.
Discussion
The California Energy Commission (CEC) requires any local energy standards that exceed the California Energy Code to be (1) cost-effective and (2) use less energy than the state’s requirements. CPA’s consultant, TRC, is creating recommendations tailored to Ojai by using a State tool that shows the most cost-effective ways for the City to require energy efficient upgrades that uses less energy than the state minimum requirements. 5-2
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Flexpath Approach
This ordinance uses a flexible compliance framework, known as "flexpath." A flexpath approach allows property owners to meet energy performance goals through a variety of energy efficiency strategies, rather than following one method (i.e., replacing all gas appliances with electric appliances). This approach provides flexibility by enabling homeowners to meet City requirements by selecting from a range of cost-effective energy efficiency options that best suit their specific circumstances, without the requirement to fully electrify their homes.
Under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA), the federal government has sole authority to set efficiency standards for certain appliances and local governments cannot prohibit consumers from using those appliances (i.e., banning all gas appliances). By allowing homeowners to select energy efficiency measures from a menu of options without requiring them to forego any EPCAcovered appliance to achieve compliance, local jurisdictions can adopt local energy efficiency policies (e.g., duct replacements, duct sealing, added insulation) without preempting EPCA. TRC is following the EPCA regulations in developing recommendations for an Ojai energy efficiency code.
This ordinance does not apply to small projects, repairs (including plumbing and electrical repairs), cosmetics changes, (e.g., carpet, paint), appliance replacements (e.g., kitchen appliances or gas stoves), window projects, roof projects, work that does not require a permit, and any accessory dwelling units, junior accessory dwelling, and tiny houses. This ordinance also includes exemptions for pre-compliance, incompatibility with historical building status, seismic retrofits, fire hardening, temporary structures, and when upgrades present a significant cost burden.
A flexpath approach has been adopted by several other cities to achieve energy efficiency goals and climate commitments including Santa Cruz, San Luis Obispo, and Piedmont. The cities of West Hollywood and Santa Monica are also currently pursuing flexpath approaches.
Proposed Policy Applicability
Based on a review of Ojai’s building stock, the CEC cost-effectiveness tool, and examples from other cities energy codes, the draft ordinance proposed by CPA and TRC requires energy efficiency measures when any of these situations occurs for single-family projects:
Major Addition - Any change to an existing building that increases conditioned floor area by 300 or more square feet in a one-year period.
Major Alteration - Any construction or renovation to an existing structure other than a repair whose altered floor area covers 300 or more square feet in a one-year period. Major Addition and Alteration – Any project whose combined addition and alteration has a floor area equal to or greater than 300 square feet in a one-year period.
The proposed ordinance does not apply to multifamily or commercial projects. Projects that meet the above definitions and for which building permit applications were submitted to the City on or after December 29, 2025 would need to choose from a list of measures for increasing energy performance. The total points would need to meet or exceed an established target for the project 5-3
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to be issued a building permit. As required by the CEC, there must be at least one cost-effective, non-electrification pathway to achieve the established target.
Homeowners will have the option of installing from a list of efficiency and electrification measures and will not be prohibited from using appliances covered by EPCA. Each measure is assigned a point value based on its associated energy savings, as determined by the California Energy Commission. Strategies with higher values are projected to have a greater energy efficiency benefit.
The proposed target for Ojai is 8 points for projects that are between 300 and 999 square feet and 19 points for projects 1,000 square feet and larger.
Table 1 below shows the proposed energy efficiency strategies and associated points value.
Climate Zone 9
Measures
Table 150.0-J
ID Points
Water Heating Package E1 1
Induction Cooktop E2 1
Heat Pump Clothes Dryer E3 1
Air Sealing E4 1
Duct Sealing E5 3
R-49 Attic Insulation E6 5
Windows E7 5
R-13 Wall Insulation E8 3
New Ducts + Duct Sealing E9 6
R-19 Floor Insulation E10 1
R-30 Floor Insulation E11 2
Heat Pump Water Heater (HPWH) E12 12
Solar PV + Electric Ready Pre-Wire E13 17
Heat Pump Space Heater E14 7
Utility Room, Kitchen & Laundry-Related
Electric Ready Pre-Wire M1 Mandatory
Panel-Related Electric Ready Pre-Wire M2 Mandatory
Lighting Measures M3 Mandatory
Table 1 Ojai Flexpath Measures Table
Note: in addition to energy efficiency, these strategies provide direct fire hardening benefits Exemptions
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To accommodate the wide variability in existing buildings, the proposed ordinance includes these exceptions:
1. Repairs are expressly exempt in the ordinance.
2. Projects with a hardship, meaning either that (a) compliance costs are more than 20 percent of total project valuation, or (b) building-specific conditions make compliance technically infeasible. In these cases, homeowners may request a hardship exemption. Approvals and denials of a hardship exemption request will be made by the Chief Building Official, in consultation with the Director of Community Development. As with all building code determinations and interpretations, decisions are appealable to the Building Appeals Board.
3. Projects that can demonstrate that they have previously installed compliance measures will be given credit for those measures.
4. Historic buildings that could not comply without impairing its historic integrity.
5. Alterations completed solely for seismic and fire hardening safety upgrades.
6. Temporary buildings, such as construction trailers.
7. Alterations that consist solely of roof and/or window projects.
8. Mobile, manufactured, or factory-built housing as defined in Division 13 of the California Health and Safety Code.
9. Properties located outside of climate zone 9. Climate zone 9 captures the overwhelming majority of Ojai properties, and this was done to simplify the ordinance.
10. Statewide exempt ADUs and JADUs, and Tiny Houses.
11. In instances where the installation of an EPCA covered appliance is prohibited, portions of the ordinance may be waived.
12. If an applicant can demonstrate compliance with alternate measures using California Energy Commission-certified compliance software.
13. Homes built after December 31, 1991.
As the projects applicable to the flexpath are major alteration and/or additions that require permitted work, applicants will likely already be working with designers and contractors that are familiar with the type of measures included in this ordinance along with energy modeling and the permit application process. These renovations typically cost on the order of tens to over hundreds of thousands of dollars and are typically done once in a lifetime. If missed now, it is unlikely to have an opportunity to make major energy efficiency improvements in these buildings for many years, and the opportunity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at a small incremental cost may be missed.
Available Resources for Lower Cost Renovations
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Many of the compliance measures have rebates, incentives, and tax credits associated with them which could substantially reduce the cost of compliance. Financial resources and technical assistance include tax credits through the Inflation Reduction Act for heat pump hot water heaters and HVAC equipment and rooftop solar generation systems.
General Plan Consistency
The Housing Element of the Ojai General Plan provides that the City strives to promote energy conservation through the use of building codes.
The Air Quality Element of the Ojai General Plan includes these goals within the Energy Conservation goals and objectives, which are part of Ojai’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction strategy:
Reduce energy consumption and promote energy efficiency programs. Encourage the incorporation of energy conservation features in the design of all new construction and the installation of conservation devices in existing developments. Implement planning and building regulations that take advantage of solar heating and natural cooling and require weatherization.
Community Outreach
CPA and TRC conducted outreach on this topic in the fall of 2024. This consisted of conducting a virtual meeting with environmental advocates and facilitating an in-person roundtable discussion with members of the Ojai business community. An information item was included in the October 22nd City Council meeting followed by a concept review item at the December 10th City Council meeting. Issues raised included potential costs to property owners, need for clear standards for compliance, and the potential impact on City staff workload.
On August 5, 2025 at a special meeting of the City Council, the community was invited to a workshop that included an educational presentation by CPA and TRC. The workshop provided a platform for the community and City Council members to ask questions associated with the proposed ordinance. A frequently asked questions (FAQ) document will be generated based on the questions received and together with the presentation materials, will be provided on the City landing page for Single-Family Energy Efficient Ordinance “Flexpath”.
Education First
While the proposed ordinance must become effective by September 30, 2025 to qualify for one of the exemptions to the Moratorium, due to the complexity of this ordinance, the ordinance is structured so that it will only apply to building permit applications submitted to the City of Ojai on or after December 29, 2025. This will allow for community and staff education on the ordinance. TRC and CPA will be available to provide checklists and other implementation resources.
Environmental Review
The ordinance is exempt from CEQA under the general rule, 15061(b)(3), because it can be seen with certainty that the provisions contained herein would not have the potential to cause a significant effect on the environment. Further, this ordinance is exempt per CEQA Guidelines 5-6
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Section 15308, Class 8, Actions by Regulatory Agencies for Protection of Natural Resources, since the proposed ordinance would institute regulatory requirements intended to protect the environment and natural resources.
Alternative Options
1. Take no action; or
2. Provide direction to return with recommendations.
Fiscal Impact
This recommendation has a staffing impact beyond the normal budgeted scope of duties. All Community Development Department (CDD) Staff will require initial education and training beyond the grant acquired for the program effort in partnership with CPA and TRC.
Additionally, for the first six months of operation, CDD would rely on CPA and TRC to address any significant issues related to the launch of this program. For example, a unique situation which is not specifically addressed or covered within the flexpath program. These additional staffing impacts equate to approximately $30,000 to ensure adequate support during initial implementation.
Council Goals
The City Council has adopted a goal of Climate Resiliency. This flexpath ordinance was acknowledged as a priority by the City Council but was not adopted as supporting tactic.
Submitted by:
Lucas Seibert, Community Development Director
Attachment: Draft Energy Efficient Code Ordinance
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