Batteries, Energy Codes, Embodied Carbon and More!

A New Year – A new lineup of Free Courses!

As we all settle into 2024, here at In Balance Green Consulting we are ramping up for new course offerings. We continue to serve as a proud partner of the Tri-County Regional Energy Network (3C-REN) to provide online and in-person courses on building performance, energy efficiency and Title 24 energy code compliance. All courses are free, thanks to 3C-REN, which is funded through public utility fees.

Online classes that are coming up:

Batteries: Options and implementation

Wednesday, 1/24, 10-11am

Whether you’re interested in resiliency and cost savings for a home or simply meeting energy codes for new construction, understanding battery storage is increasingly important for the building industry. In this course, we’ll go over battery types, what’s currently available and what’s on the horizon, how to size a battery for code compliance or other goals, and what to look for in implementation.

Register HERE.

Using HERS Measures

Wednesday 1/31 and 3/20, 9:30-11am

Third-party verification through HERS measures is a great way to improve energy performance and, more to the point, meet the Title 24 Energy code. In this two-part course, we’ll cover what architects and builders need to know to successfully integrate HERS measures into residential design and construction.

Register for Part 1 and Part 2

Energy Code Implementation: Single Family New

Wednesday, 2/14, 9:30-11am

Since the energy code update took effect in January 2023, the industry is adjusting design, detailing and construction to meet compliance. In this series, we’ll review the code requirements with a focus on what to include in construction documents to streamline the permitting process and tips for construction to ease sign-offs and occupancy. Separate courses over the next few months will cover Single Family New Construction; Single Family Additions and Alterations; ADUs; Multi-Family; and Non-Residential construction.

Register HERE.

Practical Ways to Address Embodied Carbon

Tuesday, 2/20, 10-11am

Embodied Carbon, the term that identifies the collective impacts of extracting, manufacturing and transporting building materials, is appearing on everything from requests for proposals to the next round of the building code. In this course we’ll provide practical approaches to reducing embodied carbon in residential and commercial projects.

Register HERE.

For lots more classes, both live and on-demand, go to 3C-REN.org.

Is your firm, department or organization interested in a particular topic? We’ll come to you! Reach out to us for scheduling.

Energy Use at Home and on the Road!

With new data provided by Southern California Edison (SCE), we are noting changes in both energy source and energy cost for our homes and, importantly, on the road.  According to Edison International’s Countdown to 2045: “Although electric bills will increase, savings from reduced or eliminated fossil fuel expenses will more than offset the increase for households that adopt electrified technologies.”

A few key observations:

Less Energy Use Overall, and More Electric.

Californian are using much less total energy than in the past, with an increasing trend toward lowering use of natural gas and increasing use of electricity. This trend aligns with California’s effort to reduce carbon emissions by requiring that electricity in the grid is generated through clean alternative energy like solar and wind.

New Construction Leads the trend

Newer buildings continue to use less gas and more electricity. New homes use a third less natural gas but 50% more electricity. Onsite renewable energy is required for almost all new construction, bringing energy savings to homes with installed PVs. Use of energy storage systems such as batteries will increase due to the public interest in resiliency and in mitigating power outages, as well as building code requirements for commercial and high-rise multifamily occupancies.

Personal Transportation Makes a Difference

The adoption of electric vehicle technology is increasing more rapidly than projected. Charging a car at home increases the owner’s electric bill, but the cost increase is more than offset by their savings on gasoline.

A Bumpy Road but Results will be Long-term Savings

Reviewing the chart below, we see that today, the combined energy cost for gasoline, electricity and natural gas is over $6,600 per year for the average SCE customer.

www.edison.com/countdownto2045

As we transition to electric vehicles and home equipment, electric bills (either to the grid or to pay for onsite PVs) will increase substantially, but use of any fossil fuel will drop dramatically, so the total energy costs will fall below $3,900 per year by 2045. That reduces the “energy burden” of an average household to less than 3% of their income. The cost savings is not a straight line, however, as the costs savings of electric vehicles are not yet available to everyone, nor are the savings from renewable energy and battery storage.

In the long run, households throughout California are projected to save money, including personal transportation costs, after the transition from fossil fuels.