Sausalito will require builders to use low-carbon concrete.<\/p>\n
The policy, part of a periodic energy and building code update to comply with state law, was approved Tuesday by the City Council.<\/p>\n
The council also updated its code to reflect the state\u2019s latest environmental building code standards and adopt so-called \u201creach codes,\u201d which exceed that baseline by allowing property owners to choose from a menu of improvements that reduce climate-changing emissions.<\/p>\n
The council gave preliminary approval to the residential standards last fall, but technicalities delayed final approval of several energy efficiency measures, a staff report said. Those updates were removed from the amendments presented to the council on Tuesday. A section adding the low-carbon requirement was added.<\/p>\n
\u201cLow-carbon concrete standards address emissions from construction materials, specifically concrete, which is a significant source of embodied carbon,\u201d said Alexandra Anderson, sustainability and resiliency manager. \u201cMarin County adopted low-carbon standards in 2019, becoming a national leader in this space.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSince then, the local market has adapted, making these materials readily available and cost competitive for use in both public and private projects,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The action by Sausalito follows Mill Valley\u2019s recent adoption of a similar low-carbon concrete requirement.<\/p>\n
Mark Palmer, chair of the Sausalito Sustainability Commission, praised California\u2019s ongoing building code updates and the low-carbon concrete provision.<\/p>\n
\u201cCalifornia has shown that strong building standards work,\u201d he said. \u201cCalifornia\u2019s energy consumption per capita is among the lowest in the nation, second only to Hawaii, and it\u2019s been declining \u2014 down nearly 9% in the last decade.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStates without these commitments have seen energy use go up,\u201d Palmer said. \u201cBuilding codes are one of society\u2019s most successful, boring technologies. When they work, nothing happens. Roofs stay on. Walls don\u2019t collapse. Fires spread more slowly, and people are protected. And because nothing happens, we forget what we paid for.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anderson and Palmer both said the city needs to do more to meet the state\u2019s carbon reduction targets.<\/p>\n
\u201cReducing emissions from natural gas in buildings is particularly important given that 28% of Sausalito\u2019s emissions come from natural gas use,\u201d Anderson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSausalito must reduce current emissions by roughly 80% over the next 20 years,\u201d Palmer said. \u201cThat requires every sector to contribute, especially buildings where the city has direct authority through its building code.\u201d<\/p>\n
The code updates were unanimously adopted by the council after little discussion.<\/p>\n
Councilmember Jill Hoffman said she voted no last fall because it was unclear if certain energy efficiency requirements would result in fewer greenhouse gas emissions.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re now taking it out,\u201d she said. \u201cOther jurisdictions have done studies and there\u2019s no significant greenhouse gas reductions for that section.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sausalito will require builders to use low-carbon concrete. The policy, part of a periodic energy and building code…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13508,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[1842,7,643,181,23,992,100,180,993,266,101,103,102,3624,3625,104,106,105],"class_list":{"0":"post-260270","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco","8":"tag-air-pollution","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-environment","11":"tag-latest-headlines","12":"tag-local-news","13":"tag-marin-county","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-newsletter","16":"tag-north-bay","17":"tag-northern-california","18":"tag-san-francisco","19":"tag-san-francisco-headlines","20":"tag-san-francisco-news","21":"tag-sausalito","22":"tag-sausalito-city-council","23":"tag-sf","24":"tag-sf-headlines","25":"tag-sf-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=260270"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260270\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=260270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=260270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=260270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}