RULES COMMITTEE: 11/5/2025
Item: B.1
File ID: ROGC 25-351
TO: Honorable Mayor & FROM: Toni J. Taber, MMC
City Council City Clerk
SUBJECT: The Public Record DATE: November 5, 2025
October 23, 2025 – October 30, 2025
ITEMS FILED FOR THE PUBLIC RECORD
Letters from Boards, Commissions, and Committees
1. Letter from Climate Advisory Commission, dated October 29, 2025, regarding: Support for the provisions and goals of the Existing Single-Family Building Reach Code brought to Council on September 9, 2025.
Letters from the Public
____________________________
Toni J. Taber, MMC
City Clerk
TJT/tt
Climate Advisory Commission
October 29, 2025
Dear Rules and Open Government Committee and Energy Department, The Climate Advisory Commission strongly supports the provisions and goals of the Existing Single-Family Building Reach Code brought to Council on September 9, 2025. We thank and commend staff for preparing this ordinance. As it did not pass the vote by City Council, we propose that Climate Smart and San José Clean Energy conduct focused public outreach to encourage replacement with a heat pump at HVAC burnout in the absence of the ordinance requirement, in addition to outreach encouraging heat pump installation at furnace burnout or preferably before the burnout of either appliance.
The HVAC to heat pump replacement is highly important both for emissions reductions and for the financial feasibility of home electrification. The staff analysis of the proposed ordinance found that its AC to Heat Pump provision would decrease our city’s greenhouse gas emissions by thousands of metric tons annually. We must work to achieve as much of this same progress as possible without the requirements the enhanced Reach Code would have provided.
In addition, the HVAC to heat pump conversion can, in many cases, prove a financial benefit or even necessity. In households with an aging AC and gas furnace, replacing the HVAC at its burnout with a similar HVAC or AC system will still require the installation of a heat pump should the furnace break down after the implementation of the Bay Area Air District’s Zero-NOx rules in 2029. Thus, going straight to a heat pump replacing the HVAC or AC only could save homeowners the entire cost of the HVAC or AC unit. Additionally, replacing an old HVAC systems with a heat pump HVAC makes for the simplest and least costly installation. Many homeowners are unaware of these considerations and of the benefits of converting gas- based HVAC to heat pump HVAC. Enhanced public outreach has the potential to provide the information and resources they need to decide to install a heat pump based system.
Thus, we offer some of the following strategies for SJCE and Climate Smart to use in enhanced public outreach to promote heat pump installation, particularly replacement at HVAC burnout:
Public Record: 1
Climate Advisory Commission
• Identify households with aging furnace and air condition (e.g., by reviewing HVAC and AC installation permit records, offering an opt-in program, or distributing reminders such as fridge magnets, etc.)
• Conduct strong and clear public outreach on why replacing a failing HVAC or AC system with a heat pump will often save significant amounts of money in both the medium and long term.
• Offer a very clear step-by-step guide to replacing the HVAC with a heat pump, including all available rebates, contractor networks, and concierge services. • This information could be distributed with power bills or in mailers. • The HVAC to heat pump transition could be connected with SJCE’s potential direct install and aggregation program.
• Consider enhanced rebate totals for heat pump installation at HVAC burnout, focused on low-income households.
• Also, direct outreach to AC/HVAC and solar panel contractors so they are prepared to offer heat pump installation to customers in any situation, particularly at the burnout of heating and AC systems.
We cannot afford to lose any opportunity for climate action, and so we hope to continue working with Climate Smart and the Energy Department to achieve as much of the goal of the proposed reach code as possible. We invite Energy Department staff who have worked on the ordinance and/or related electrification public outreach to attend the Commission’s November meeting to present on the public outreach that is currently planned and receive input from the Commission.
Sincerely,
/s/ Mani Bekele, Commission Youth Representative
On behalf of the San José Climate Advisory Commission