Many Bay Area cities are looking at ways to address the energy use and greenhouse gas emissions from existing buildings. This webpage is intended as a resource to help jurisdictions find out about and assess different approaches. We will add resources as they are developed.
Single-Family Residences
White Paper
This white paper by Emily Alvarez and Bruce Mast examines local government policy levers for requiring energy efficiency and/or electrification, and associated energy, greenhouse gas emissions, and equity tradeoffs, for existing single family residential buildings.
BayREN Policy Calculator
The BayREN Policy Calculator aims to help local governments estimate and visualize the potential energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) impacts from a suite of policy options for upgrading the existing single-family housing stock. The tool analyzes five policy options from the white paper above: (1) code compliance policies; (2) disclosure ordinances; (3) replacement at time of appliance burnout; (4) time of remodel reach codes; and (5) building performance standards.
Bay Area jurisdictions can use this tool to craft and compare policies to increase energy efficiency and decarbonization in existing single-family residential buildings. The tool is in its beta testing phase, and jurisdictions and other stakeholders are encouraged to use it and contact Emily Alvarez from BayREN with feedback.
Download the Policy Calculator
Municipal Buildings
BayREN has prepared a guide for local government staff that covers different approaches to reducing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions for these buildings, including information on current incentive, financing and technical assistance programs available in the Bay Area.