"I believe that this is moving in a direction that our general plan wanted us to do without putting any undue restriction on anyone,"
"I've learned the way we cool our homes ends up heating the Earth in other places,"
The Los Gatos Town Council unanimously adopted the 2026 California Building Standards Code, effective Jan 1, 2026. The state code updates every three years and bars most local residential amendments until June 1, 2031, with exceptions for home hardening, wildfire safety, administrative efficiency, and greenhouse gas reduction strategies. The town approved local reach codes that exceed state energy and green building minima and that form part of the greenhouse gas reduction strategy. Two new reach codes incentivize electrification: replacing old air conditioners with heat pumps and requiring outlet and panel capacity near gas appliances when electrical work occurs within three feet. Youth climate groups and environmental organizations largely supported the updates, while some realtors and homeowners expressed opposition and concern about equipment replacement impacts.
Read at The Mercury News
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