{"id":8779,"date":"2018-05-09T15:27:21","date_gmt":"2018-05-09T19:27:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/Life-Insurance-Blog\/?guid=6cd94ad9fae19552e75d9d56c3b0a4f6"},"modified":"2018-05-09T15:27:21","modified_gmt":"2018-05-09T19:27:21","slug":"california-regulator-oks-solar-panels-mandate-for-new-homes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/2018\/05\/09\/california-regulator-oks-solar-panels-mandate-for-new-homes\/","title":{"rendered":"California regulator OKs solar panels mandate for new homes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>SACRAMENTO, Calif. &#8212; California moved a step closer Wednesday to requiring solar panels on new homes and low-rise apartment buildings starting in 2020, the first such mandate nationwide and the state&#8217;s latest step to curb greenhouse gas emissions.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Adoption of these standards represents a quantum leap in statewide building standards,&#8221; said Robert Raymer, technical director for the California Building Industry Association. &#8220;You can bet every other of the 49 states will be watching closely to see what happens.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Raymer spoke before the California Energy Commission approved the requirement, alongside new regulations to improve ventilation and indoor air quality. They still need backing from the state&#8217;s Building Standards Commission. The state updates its building codes, including energy efficiency standards, every three years.<\/p>\n<p>The commission estimates solar panels would boost construction costs for a single-family home by roughly $10,000. But consumers would get that money and more back in energy savings, according to the commission.<\/p>\n<p>California has positioned itself as the nationwide leader on clean energy, pushing for more electric vehicles on the roads and fewer emissions from residential and commercial buildings.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This is a very bold and visionary step that we&#8217;re taking,&#8221; said David Hochschild, one of the energy commission&#8217;s five members.<\/p>\n<p>Representatives from construction groups, public utilities and solar manufacturers all spoke in support of the plan, which they&#8217;ve helped the commission develop for years. No industry groups spoke in opposition.<\/p>\n<p>But Republican legislative leaders argue Californians can&#8217;t afford to pay any more for housing in the state&#8217;s already extremely expensive market.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s just going to drive the cost up and make California, once again, not affordable to live,&#8221; Assemblyman Brian Dahle, the chamber&#8217;s Republican leader, said Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>About 117,000 new single-family homes and 48,000 multi-family units will be built in 2020, the commission estimates.<\/p>\n<p>The regulations include exceptions when solar panels aren&#8217;t feasible &#8212; such as on a home shrouded in shade &#8212; or cost effective. Installing storage batteries or allowing community-shared solar generation are available options. The requirement would only apply to newly constructed homes, although many homeowners are choosing to install solar panels with the help of rebate programs.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This is going to be an important step forward for our state to continue to lead the clean energy economy,&#8221; said Kelly Knutsen, director of technology advancement for the California Solar and Storage Association.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SACRAMENTO, Calif. &mdash; California moved a step closer Wednesday to requiring solar panels on new homes and low-rise apartment buildings starting in 2020, the first such mandate nationwide and the state&rsquo;s latest step to curb greenhouse gas emissions. &ldquo;Adoption of these standards represents a quantum leap in statewide building standards,&rdquo; said Robert Raymer, technical director [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":578,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8779"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/578"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8779"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8779\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8780,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8779\/revisions\/8780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}