The Los Gatos Town Council on Nov. 4 approved new policies that would apply to new homes and renovations and address greenhouse gas reduction.
The council voted unanimously to adopt the latest iteration of the California Building Standards Code, which goes into effect statewide on Jan. 1, 2026. The code is updated every three years, and municipalities are restricted from making local amendments as it applies to residential development until June 1, 2031. However, there are exceptions for amendments regarding home hardening, wildfire safety, administrative efficiency or greenhouse gas reduction strategies.
In adopting the state code, the council also approved reach codes that exceed the state’s minimum building energy and green building standards, saying that the reach codes are integral to the town’s greenhouse gas reduction strategy.
Additionally, the town implemented two new reach codes that incentivize electrification. One requires old air conditioners to be replaced with heat pumps, which, according to the Department of Energy, are an energy-efficient alternative to furnaces and air conditioners. The pumps transfer heat from one part of the house to another to maintain a constant temperature.
The other reach code requires outlet and panel capacity to accommodate electrical appliances if any electrical work is required within three feet of a gas appliance.
“I believe that this is moving in a direction that our general plan wanted us to do without putting any undue restriction on anyone,” said Councilmember Maria Ristow.
The updated codes were largely supported by youth climate groups and other organizations focused on environmental sustainability.
“I’ve learned the way we cool our homes ends up heating the Earth in other places,” said a Los Gatos High School student who supported the installation of heat pumps instead of new air conditioners.
Much of the opposition to the reach codes came from realtors and homeowners who feared that replacing gas-powered or outdated appliances would be too costly and that the codes were asking too much of people who just wanted to modify their homes.
“I don’t have any way to interpret (the reach code on electrical readiness) as anything other than, ‘We’re going to make you do upgrades now that are costlier and more complicated, even if you may not need them for two, three, five, 10 or 20 years,’” said a speaker over Zoom.
Much of the discussion was around the cost of upgrading panels and circuits to accommodate increased electrification. Representatives from Silicon Valley Clean Energy and consultants from TRC Energy reassured the council and members of the public that the reach codes may not trigger circuit panel upgrades or costly underground work as heat pumps can use the same electricity source as an air conditioner and that neither reach code requires service panel upgrades.
Silicon Valley Clean Energy offers a $2,500-$3,500 rebate for heat pumps and a $500 rebate per pre-wired circuit for electrical appliances or $2,000 for four circuits in a house.