<
https://www.dailycal.org/news/city/housing/berkeley-implements-nation-first-green-housing-policy/article_7b748d7a-e145-450f-bc4f-bad05085f5d8.html>
"Starting from Jan. 1 of this year, owners of one or two unit houses are
legally required to complete emissions-reducing upgrades to their houses during
a sale, funded by either the seller or the buyer. Berkeley is the first city in
the nation to implement a policy mandating environmental upgrades for home
sales.
This requirement stems from changes made by the Berkeley City Council to the
city’s
Building Emissions Saving Ordinance last year. The policy previously
required owners of one or two unit houses to only complete assessments
determining the best ways to save energy.
The ordinance is Berkeley’s main policy aimed at reducing energy emissions from
buildings, the second largest source of emissions in the city, according to
Berkeley sustainability program coordinator Ammon Reagan. The policy is a
response to the city’s goal to achieve net-zero emissions by 2045.
Though the policy mandates energy assessments for all types of buildings,
ranging from houses to large commercial buildings, its lack of a mandate on
installing emissions-reducing upgrades meant that only about 2-3% of homeowners
actually made the necessary changes to their property.
“When BESO started (in 2015), for a small residential building to a building
less than 25,000 square feet, it required an energy assessment at time of
sale,” Reagan said. “Over the last 10 years we have had BESO, not a lot of
building owners were taking action and reducing emissions … so that led us to
the development of new requirements for time of sale for small residential
buildings.”
The change that went into effect this year mandated homeowners reach the
resilience standard of 6 credits in the event of a sale. To meet the standard,
owners must complete emissions-reducing upgrades in order to reach the
necessary six credits, with each upgrade granting varying amounts. These
include installing a heat pump water heater, solar panels or wall insulation.
These upgrades can either be completed by home sellers before a sale or
deferred to buyers, who would have $5,000 and two years to complete them. Half
of the $5,000 will come from the buyer and the other half from the seller.
Exemptions can be achieved if the house already possesses an electric pump
water heater or heat pump HVAC system, among other improvements."
Via
Reasons to be Cheerful:
<
https://reasonstobecheerful.world/what-were-reading-young-entrepreneurs-uk-market-stalls/>
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
