Starting January 1, all new buildings in the county must be electric-powered, while multifamily apartment buildings will be required to provide electric car chargers.
California’s Marin County will require all new buildings to be powered by electricity starting January 1. According to an article by Jack Rogers in Globe St., “The county’s board of supervisors voted unanimously to enact the requirement, designed to cut greenhouse gas emissions by reducing the use of natural gas, the Mercury News reported.”
The ordinance also addresses electric car charging infrastructure in multifamily buildings—“The county is requiring that 15% of new multifamily units with parking spaces have level 2 charging stations, which exceeds the state requirement, which is limited to 5%”—and enacts stricter efficiency standards for building additions and remodels.
“The tougher rules for renovations apply to single-family homes of more than 750 SF,” Rogers notes. “Owners will be required to implement additional energy efficiency and electrifications, including several options, but the county has opted not to required [sic] all-electric renovations at this time.”
In 2019, nearby Berkeley banned natural gas lines in new buildings, citing the impact of greenhouse gas emissions on the climate and public health.
Read the full story: Marin County Requires New Buildings to Be Electric
Improving Indoor Air Quality, One Block at a Time
A movement to switch to electric appliances at the neighborhood scale is taking off in California.
Driving Equity and Clean Air: California Invests in Greener School Transportation
California has awarded $500 million to fund 1,000 zero-emission school buses and chargers for educational agencies as part of its effort to reduce pollution, improve student health, and accelerate the transition to clean transportation.
California Invests Additional $5M in Electric School Buses
The state wants to electrify all of its school bus fleets by 2035.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
US buildings threatened, destroyed by fires set to triple by 2060
Researchers found a high fire risk for socioeconomically vulnerable neighborhoods in the American West.
LA residents may be allowed to paint their own crosswalks
Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky put out a motion instructing the Los Angeles Department of Public Transportation to study the feasibility of allowing volunteers to paint crosswalks.
Dallas moves to overhaul its zoning code
The city's zoning reform will allow more multi-family and mixed-use developments.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority