Avon adopts net-zero building code roadmap, designed to bring regional building emissions down by 2050
Chris Dillmann/Vail Daily archive
Buildings are comparable to transportation in the amount of carbon added to the atmosphere, and the two categories far outweigh any other in terms of emissions. On Tuesday, the Avon Town Council took another step toward making a dent in the town’s building emissions by adopting a net-zero building code roadmap.
As Eagle County entities strive to reach a 50% emissions reduction by 2030, and 80% by 2050 — or 100% reduction by 2050 if the goal is reset — cutting off buildings’ sources of fossil fuels becomes increasingly important.
Avon is currently committed to achieving a 50% greenhouse gas reduction from 2014 levels by 2030 and 80% by 2050, along with implementing net-zero or all-electric construction requirements by 2030 by agreeing to the county’s Climate Action Plan.
The net zero building code roadmap, led locally by Walking Mountains Science Center and Lotus Engineering & Sustainability, lays out the framework for Eagle, Pitkin and Garfield County municipalities to shift toward requiring all new buildings to be built net zero by 2030.
To reach the county’s climate goals, older buildings will eventually need to be retrofitted to be net zero, but the plan is currently focused on new construction.
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“If we build it right the first time, we will not have to spend all of our time and energy trying to figure out how we retrofit our new buildings to meet our climate goals,” said Kim Schlaepfer, managing director of climate mitigation and resiliency planning for Lotus Engineering & Sustainability.
Notably, the resolution the Town Council adopted does not hold Avon to any specific standards yet but rather serves as a statement that the town supports the roadmap’s message and efforts.
Avon is “committing to participate in the process, but we’re not making a commitment today to adopt a regulation that we haven’t even seen yet,” said Eric Heil, Avon town manager.
Why reach a net-zero building code by 2030?
There is urgency to the adoption of the net-zero roadmap and, soon, the expectation for net-zero buildings.
“Starting now is key,” said Gina McCrackin, manager of the Climate Action Collaborative.
The reasons for this are twofold: First, there is the impending threat of climate change, which only worsens as buildings continue to emit fossil fuels. Second, Avon has plans to add a significant amount of development to the town over the coming years. It will be much easier — and cheaper — to build the buildings net-zero the first time rather than retrofitting them with net zero technology down the line.
“Avon is a high growth area in Eagle County,” Heil said. “Every new building that is built that has fossil fuel heating is digging the greenhouse gas hole bigger.”
“There’s a lot of new development that can come into the town of Avon, and through building codes, we can ensure that we don’t need to go and reinvest into that infrastructure in the future,” McCrackin said.
Roadmap’s creators worked with the local workforce
“We really wanted to make sure that this was rooted in reality and in what our workforce can achieve,” Schlaepfer said.
The plan’s creators hosted listening sessions throughout the Eagle River and Roaring Fork valleys for members of the workforce that work on buildings, drawing over 100 participants.
From the listening sessions, they learned that if municipalities want net-zero buildings, they need to set standards for the workforce to follow. There is also a need for regionally aligned codes so that builders working across the region do not have to remember several different sets of laws. Members of the workforce also shared that there has been a big demand for heat pump electrification recently.
During the sessions, members of the building workforce also shared some challenges in reaching net zero new construction by 2030.
For one, there is limited availability of a skilled workforce — people who know how to install and work on heat pumps. Second, there is the unclear cost of heat pumps. Schlaepfer said she heard from some contractors who are only doing heat pumps, while others said the cost of heat pump installation was too high and they preferred to continue to install natural gas-powered furnaces.
What does the roadmap ask of buildings?
The roadmap defines net-zero buildings in Eagle and Pitkin County according to a list of expectations. Net-zero buildings must be powered by electricity, use renewable energy from the grid and/or onsite generation, have the ability to store energy or shift energy use to reduce peak demand on the energy grid, achieve energy performance above base International Energy Conservation Code, be designed to minimize embodied carbon, and are EV-ready.
The roadmap utilizes a three-step plan that allows it to be flexible but bring all local municipalities to net zero by 2030 together.
Some of the steps include consistent energy code updates, all-electric requirements for new construction, required battery storage for homes with solar panels and demand response for water heating and thermostat capability. Demand response, a state-led request, seeks to ensure that buildings can be prompted to lower their energy use if the grid is strained during peak times.
The roadmap also asks that “very large” homes have additional efficiency installed. “Large homes have a significantly larger energy footprint, and, therefore, should be doing more to rein in their energy use,” Schlaepfer said.
If Avon adopts the roadmap’s suggestions and requires all new construction in town to be net zero by 2030, it would save over 130,000 metric tons of carbon cumulatively from 2030 to 2050. This is equivalent to the energy use of nearly 18,000 homes for a year.
There are a limited number of examples of all-electric construction. The Walking Mountains Science Center educator housing is one such example in Avon.
Avon has continually made efforts to establish itself at the forefront of climate leadership.
The town resolved to build all community housing all-electric and net zero since last winter and adopted more stringent updates to its Exterior Energy Offset Program that require community members to offset their outdoor energy use with renewables or pay higher fees.
Avon has an “electric preferred” code right now, which asks that new construction wire buildings in a way that enables them to easily be switched from a gas fuel source to an electric source.
Avon is planning to heat its public works garage using electricity, and Avon and the Vail Valley Foundation will soon break ground on an all-electric preschool.
Still, there are questions about the upfront and monthly costs and maintenance of climate friendly buildings.
“We don’t want to make new construction cost more,” Heil said. “We also know we don’t want to make housing living more expensive.”
“I would like to get, when we can, a better understanding of the costs,” said Rich Carroll, Avon’s mayor pro tem. “I think the upfront costs are important, the monthly cost for energy usage, and let’s not forget about the maintenance.”
Avon does not plan to move to require net-zero construction for all new buildings until these questions have more satisfactory answers.
“We know that we want to build in a smart way that makes the monthly utility bills comparable to conventional, or maybe even better,” Heil said.
