If California pauses new local building codes, it risks slowing climate progress

With the devastating Los Angeles blazes still fresh in memory, cities across the Bay Area region are developing plans to lower the climate-heating emissions that are fanning the flames.

But a dangerous new bill now threatens this progress. AB 306, while purporting to address the fallout from this year’s fires, could actually increase the risk of future fires and pause local progress to address other climate disasters.

This week the provisions of AB 306 were put on the fast track for approval as state leaders shifted the contents of the bill into a budget trailer bill — a process that will make it eligible for approval by midnight Monday. 

While some narrow exceptions were added, the measure would still ban most local governments from adopting stronger building codes that promote energy efficiency until 2031. This severely limits improvements for six years — even as climate disasters intensify and technology advances — and circumvents local control and the normal legislative process in the state Senate.

We know firsthand how much of a mistake this would be. In San Jose and Palo Alto, we proved that smart building codes are one of our state’s best tools for increasing climate resilience, cutting pollution, lowering energy bills and protecting public health.

In 2019 the San Jose and Palo Alto city councils approved codes that cut development costs by going all-in on electrification, while cutting back on expensive and often unnecessary gas hookups. This — combined with additional incentives for solar panels and electric vehicle chargers in San Jose and for home appliances in Palo Alto — is creating cleaner air and reducing emissions, all without breaking the bank. 

Thousands of Palo Alto and San Jose residents now enjoy lower energy costs and healthier air quality, thanks to their all-electric homes.

Across the state, cities have followed the lead of San Jose and Palo Alto, by crafting building codes that are tailored to each community’s needs. Local challenges, such as sea level rise, housing shortages, or wildfire risks are often best addressed with locally-crafted solutions.

The proposed measure in the budget trailer bill puts this progress at risk. 

Proponents claim it will help fire victims rebuild affordably. The evidence says otherwise. Multiple studies have confirmed that there is “no clear correlation between energy code updates and rising housing prices.”

If anything, pausing code updates would worsen California’s affordability crisis. New energy standards have saved Californians more than $100 billion in utility costs over the past 50 years, and the next update is expected to save another $4.8 billion. 

Cities we represent and others across California deserve to benefit from these proven savings, but now they risk getting stuck with outdated, energy-wasting appliances. 

Energy-efficient homes aren’t just cheaper to live in — they are also cheaper to build. As we saw from our successes in our cities, building with efficient electric appliances can save up to $10,000 per unit by eliminating the need for gas line infrastructure.

The building code pause would also pause this commonsense progress, taking control away from local cities without making housing any more affordable.

Here’s the cruel irony:  this “wildfire recovery” option could make future fires worse. By blocking local clean energy policies that reduce climate-warming pollution and stripping communities of the flexibility to update codes based on advances in technology, the proposed change leaves us more vulnerable to the next disaster. 

Lawmakers should be empowering communities to be agile in response to new technologies and to explore localized solutions that promote efficiency and affordability. Cutting pollution and facilitating housing construction can co-exist.