GREEN BUILDINGS COMMITTEE

LA City Update: New Plan Would Ban Gas In New Construction By April 2023

October 8, 2022

The Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety released its report on building electrification in new construction on September 30, recommending a broad electric-only requirement for most new buildings to start on April 1, 2023.

In May, the City Council adopted a motion calling on city departments to devise a plan for the implementation of all-electric new buildings by the end of the year. So this proposal represents a three-month delay but the report is also a significant step forward in realizing the City Council's goals.

The main exemptions in the proposed policy are cooking equipment in commercial kitchens and new ADUs attached to existing buildings that use the existing building's gas pipes. Exemptions would require electrical wiring and panel capacity to be installed for future conversion. The report did not include an explanation for the exemption for commercial kitchens, other than noting that many other cities include this exemption.

Affordable housing projects would get an extra three months before the policy goes into effect for them on June 1, 2023.

The proposal also includes a requirement for new hotel, motel, and multifamily residential buildings over a to be determined number of units to install a solar thermal water heating system.

The proposal was passed unanimously on Tuesday in the City Council's Planning and Land Use Management (PLUM) Committee.

The report highlights the health and climate benefits of electrification over gas, as well as the cost savings found in all-electric construction.

The cost savings cited are from the California Energy Commission's cost effectiveness studies for the 2019 and 2022 code cycles (only the single-family cost effectiveness study is updated so far for 2022). "The 2022 Single-Family Residential New Construction Cost-Effectiveness Study found an incremental cost savings of $5,234 for all-electric single-family buildings... Annual utility costs were $264-$269 higher in these buildings, but still resulted in lower total lifetime costs due to the upfront incremental cost savings."

The report also found that the proposed policy would not lead to increased DWP connection costs or impact the price of natural gas service for existing customers: " New buildings represent less than 0.5% of the building stock in the City of Los Angles. Therefore, the electrification of new buildings will likely have no significant effect on the price of natural gas service for existing natural gas customers."

The city is also working on reports related to transitioning existing buildings in the city to use only electric appliances.

- Michael Rochmes
Chair, Green Buildings Committee

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