Title
Commercial Building Electrification Reach Code Recommendation
Recommended Action
Committee Recommendation:
Not referred to a committee.
City Manager Recommendation:
Discuss the proposed Commercial Electrification-Preferred Reach Code and move to forward the recommendations to City Council for approval of an ordinance adopting the recommendations.
Report
Issue:
Whether to discuss the proposed Commercial Electrification-Preferred Reach Code and move to forward the recommendations to City Council for approval of an ordinance adopting the recommendations.
Staff Contact:
Pamela Braff, PhD, Director of Climate Programs, Office of Community Vitality, 360.753.8249
Presenter(s):
Pamela Braff, PhD, Director of Climate Programs
Erik Jensen, Olympia Building Official
Tristan Grant, New Buildings Institute
Background and Analysis:
Building Electrification
Building electrification means using electricity, rather than fossil fuels such as natural gas, for space heating, water heating, and cooking in homes and buildings. As electricity is increasingly produced by non-emitting, renewable sources, such as wind and solar, replacing fossil fuel use in buildings with efficient, all-electric buildings will substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions from buildings.
Washington already has one of the cleanest, electric grids in the country, and the state is currently on a pathway towards a fully decarbonized electric grid by 2045.
The Thurston Climate Mitigation Plan identifies building electrification and phasing out natural gas as key strategies for local action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (See TCMP Strategy B6. Convert to cleaner fuel sources).
Building electrification is also identified as a key strategy in Olympia's 2021 Community Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Strategy Analysis. To achieve Olympia's 2030 and 2040 emissions reduction targets, 100% of Olympia's buildings must be electrified between 2024 and 2039. Achieving this target would requ...
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