SAN JOSE BUILDING REACH CODE
ADMINISTRATIVE UPDATE (ITEM 6.2)
City Council Meeting
September 12, 2023
Presented by
Kerrie Romanow, Director – Environmental Services Department Julie Benabente, Deputy Director – Environmental Services Department Delivering world-class utility services and programs
to improve health, environment, and economy.
• Overview of Building Standards and
Reach Codes
• Background on the City’s Building
Reach Code
• Proposed Building Reach
Code Readoption and
Administrative Updates
• Next Steps
AGENDA FOR TODAY
1 BUILDING STANDARDS AND REACH CODES OVERVIEW
California Building Energy Efficiency Standards (Efficiency Standards) & California Green Building Standards
(CALGreen)
• Set by the California Energy Commission (CEC)
• Increase energy conservation and reduce energy costs in buildings
• Adopted every three years
Building Reach Code
• Increases building code requirements above the current Efficiency Standards.
• Can be adopted at any time
• Must meet CEC’s cost effectiveness standards
2 CITY OF SAN JOSÉ REACH CODE BACKGROUND
Climate Smart San José (2018)
City of San José Building Reach Code
2019: Required solar- and electrification-
readiness, incentivized all-electric buildings,
and required electric vehicle (EV)-readiness
and equipment installation
2022: Readopted 2019 EV-readiness and equipment installation requirements • Cost effectiveness studies not available at that time to support re-adoption of other components
2023: All cost effectiveness studies now available so remaining reach code requirements can be re-adopted
3 PROPOSED REACH CODE UPDATE OVERVIEW
The 2022 Efficiency Standards included the following updated requirements:
• Photovoltaic solar installation in high-rise multifamily and specified non-residential new construction
• Prewiring for future electrification in single-family and low- and high-rise multifamily • Increased energy efficiency across all building types The Proposed Reach Code only includes:
1. Solar-readiness requirements for high-rise multifamily and non-residential construction
2. Electric-readiness requirements for residential and non-residential construction.
3. Updated energy efficiency requirements for all new construction (incentivizing all- electric)
4. Minor additional administrative updates
Does not include additional EV-readiness reach code for new multifamily buildings being evaluated under a separate City work stream.
4 Solar-readiness refers to providing reserved roof space (“solar zone”) for the future installation of solar panels.
The Proposed Reach Code extends
solar-readiness to all building types,
matching 2019 San José Reach Code
requirements.
SOLAR -READINESS
5 Electric-readiness refers to the installation of an electrical circuit that is capable of powering an electric appliance when a gas appliance is installed.
ELECTRIC -READINESS
The Proposed Reach Code requires:
• Single-family and Multifamily: Space designation for
a future heat pump water heater in alignment with draft 2025 Efficiency Standards
• Non-residential: Revised electric-readiness
requirements to allow more design flexibility when
working with the highly variable non-residential building market
6 • Similar to the 2019 reach code, the Proposed Reach Code requires higher energy performance buildings (i.e. higher “compliance margins”) to reduce emissions
• Compliance margins refer to how a proposed building performs compared to a ‘standard’ building constructed to code minimum requirements • Can be expressed as a percentage or integer, with a positive figure indicating better energy performance (lower energy use)
• Higher compliance margins are more easily achieved by specifying all- electric appliances
• The 2022 Efficiency Standards added metrics for buildings to use to show compliance
• The Proposed Reach Code uses the Source Energy metric to measure compliance margins
• Represents a more complete picture of a building's energy efficiency.
INCREASED ENERGY EFFICIENCY
7 Proposed reach code includes the following compliance margins:
• Represents the maximum values found to be cost-effective or the existing thresholds under the 2019 San José Reach Code, whichever was lower • Small-to-medium Retail/Grocery/Schools/Banks are exempt as the 2022 Efficiency Standards strongly encourage these buildings to have heat pumps. • Industrial/Manufacturing is excluded due to highly variable process loads.
INCREASED ENERGY EFFICIENCY (CONT’D)
Occupancy Type Source Energy Compliance Margins
Single-family 8 (Energy Design Rating 1 measurement)
Multifamily 6%
Office/Mercantile 10%
Hotel/Motel 6%
All Other Non-residential Occupancies 6%
8 • In addition to readopting 2019 reach code components where not already covered by the 2022 Efficiency Standards, staff is proposing the following administrative updates to clarify and align the proposed reach code with the 2022 Efficiency Standards:
• Definitions
• Added “Electric Heating Appliance” and “Net Free Area” referenced in electric-readiness requirements.
• Not including the “Mixed Fuel Buildings” and “All-Electric Building” definitions
• Prescriptive Requirements
• Not including prescriptive requirements for mixed fuel buildings for simplification and to allow flexibility.
ADMINISTRATIVE UPDATES
9 Benefits of the Proposed Reach
Code include:
• Reducing community-wide
greenhouse gas emissions in line
with the City’s Climate Smart San
José (“Climate Smart”) plan and
carbon neutrality by 2030 goals;
• Providing financial benefits related
to lower-cost electric construction;
and
• Supporting public health by
decreasing air pollution emissions
and exposure.
BUILDING REACH CODE
BENEFITS
10 RECOMMENDATION
• Make findings related to the local geographical,
topographical, climatic conditions and cost effectiveness, which are necessary to make modifications to the State
of California’s Building Energy Efficiency Standards;
• Approve an Ordinance amending various sections of
Chapter 24.12 of Title 24 (Technical Codes) to modify
provisions of the 2022 California Building Energy
Efficiency Standards with certain exceptions,
modifications, and additions which serve as a reach code to increase building efficiency, mandate electric- and
solar-readiness, and incentivize all-electric development; and
• Authorize the City Manager to submit a reach code
submittal package to the California Energy Commission
for its approval as required by law.
If approved, the Proposed Reach Code would be
effective October 1, 2023.
11 Questions