Escalante Meadows Achieves GreenPoint Rated Gold Certification

In Balance Green Consulting is very excited to announce that the Escalante Meadows community has achieved GreenPoint Rated Gold Certification! In Balance worked alongside the Housing Authority of the County of Santa Barbara (HASBARCO), GreenPoint Rater, Josh Gardner, Arris Studio, and Ashwood Construction on GreenPoint Rated, Title 24 compliance and energy optimization, and Commissioning.

The recently completed multifamily housing development in Guadalupe consists of 10 residential buildings that house 80 affordable housing units of 1-, 2-, 3-, and 4-bedroom apartments and a two-story community center. The almost 9-acre site includes many amenities such as playgrounds, a basketball court, barbecue and picnic area, and community garden space.

The community center is unique in that it serves not just the residents, but provides excellent resources for the larger community, including computer labs, a wellness clinic, offices, an all-electric commercial kitchen and gathering space, a children’s center with classrooms and a play area, and more.

The project team prioritized pursuing an all-electric design very early in the design process. Not only was the goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but also to eliminate combustion through the burning of fossil fuels, which improves indoor air quality for residents, creating a healthier indoor environment. Each residential unit utilizes heat pumps for space conditioning, an integrated heat pump water heater, and ENERGY STAR appliances. The water heater and outdoor heat pump unit are located outside on each residential unit’s balcony area as seen above, with the water heater in an outdoor closet.

The extensive PV system consists of photovoltaic modules spread across 11 parking carports and a few of the buildings’ roof areas. The system is estimated to produce approximately 444,875 kWh of electricity per year, offsetting almost 80% of the project’s total estimated electricity usage for all residential buildings and the community building.

In Balance also provided Commissioning services for the residential and community buildings, commissioning the HVAC, water heating, lighting, and landscape irrigation systems. This ensures the systems are functioning properly and allows for corrections to be made to optimize performance.

Going forward, all new multifamily housing projects pursuing GreenPoint Rated are required to be all-electric. The Escalante Meadows project is an excellent example of what a high performing, all-electric multifamily housing community can look like, which is reflected in the GreenPoint Rated Gold certification. Congratulations to the team on certification!

EV Charging Stations and ADA

In 2017, we wrote a blog post about the ‘new’ overlap of EV charging stations and accessibility requirements. A few years have passed (!) and we thought a quick update would be helpful.

How Many?

CALGreen mandatory measures require EV charging stations based on the number of regular parking spaces. Note that although CALGreen also has requirements for “EV Capable” spaces (conduit but no charging equipment), access compliance is triggered when charging equipment is installed. Although we sometimes shorthand access compliance requirements as “ADA”, (Americans with Disabilities Act), in California we are also referring to the California Building Code (CBC) Chapter 11B. This code section applies to public buildings, commercial buildings, and public housing. We’ll touch on Chapter 11A and private multi-family housing below.

Once you know the number of charging stations required, then CBC Chapter 11B notes how many must be accessible. In the following chart, we meld the two to summarize the quantity of each:

*If you are providing more than 25 EV charging stations, be sure to consult the Access Compliance Reference Manual for additional requirements.

Of course, the chargers themselves must be accessible, including the reach height, operable parts, etc.

Size and Dimensions

The key point is that even if you only have one EV charging space, whether as required by code or elective, that first space must be van accessible, meaning 12’ wide and 18’ long, with a 5’-wide access aisle.  The 2nd, 3rd and 4th stations do not need to be accessible, but a fifth station would need to be standard accessible, meaning 9’ wide and adjacent to the access aisle.  Those spaces do not serve as your Accessible Parking Spaces, and should not be labeled as such.  Accessible charging spaces do need a path of travel to the building.  The following diagram is provided in CBC Chapter 11B.

There are alternate layouts, such as locating the charging station at the top of the access aisle to be shared by two parking spaces, with the Path of travel behind each vehicles. 

There are plenty more details in the code section, so be sure to check out CBC 11B-228 and 11B-812.

What about Multi-family Housing?

Accessibility for EV parking spaces for private multi-family housing is covered under CALGreen. CBC Chapter 11A Housing Accessibility does not directly address accessible EVCS requirements, so those requirements have been added to CALGreen and are similar to the CBC Chapter 11B listed above.

For Multifamily development projects of 20 dwelling units or more (4.106.4.2.2), 5% of the total provided parking spaces must have EV Charging Stations (EVCS). Again, EV Capable and EV Ready spaces are also called out in CALGreen, but accessibility is triggered when charging equipment is actually installed.

For those spaces with EVCS, 1 in every 25 spaces must be van accessible, with an 18’ x 9’ space, 8’-wide access aisle, a path of travel, etc. Same as the CBC, a van accessible space may also be accommodated with a 12’-wide parking space and 5’-wide aisle, depending on your preferred lay-out.

Note that Chapter 11A still addresses distribution of accessible spaces in a multi-family housing project and other details which apply to EVCS, so both codes apply.

Plan Ahead

Although EV Capable and EV Ready spaces do not have charging equipment so do not trigger access compliance, the intent is to make adding EVCS easy in the future, so best to plan ahead for easy addition of signage or potential re-striping to accommodate van parking and path of travel.

What’s with all the RENs?

You may have noticed more programs and offerings by Regional Energy Networks lately. Also known as “RENs” (like a wren), these public agencies are formed through a state-regulated process run through the Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). RENs are funded through the small user fee we all see on our utility bills. Those fees generally go to the large investor-owned utilities (IOUs) like PG&E and Edison for energy efficiency programs. But several years ago, some local counties got together to request that a portion of those funds go directly to the local communities, to meet gaps the large IOUs weren’t able to address. RENs throughout the state now serve as program administrators and deliver energy programs to local communities – all at no cost to the customer!

A few RENs, including those in the Bay Area and Central Coast, have been operating for several years while others have recently been approved and are just now getting set up. Here is the current list and general territories.

1.        BAYREN – San Franciso Bay Area

2.        SoCalREN – Southern California

3.        3C-REN – Tri-Counties: SLO, Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties

4.        I-REN – Inland: San Bernardino and Riverside Counties

5.        CCR REN - Central California Rural areas including San Joaquin Valley, Eastern Sierra and northern Central Coast

6.        Rural REN – Northern California

7.        SDREN – San Diego

Together, these seven RENs cover 94% of California residents! For coordination and efficiency, they are all part of a convening entity known as CalREN.

Each REN establishes its own objectives and programs, which are reviewed by the CPUC. Programs can include direct incentives for home or business energy upgrades, training for contractors and professionals, career programs for youth, and code support for building departments. Each REN focuses on its community needs, particularly underserved and hard-to-reach populations.

Be sure to sign up for your REN’s newsletter so you can take advantage of classes, incentives, articles and more. CalREN links to all of the RENs in the state.

At In Balance Green Consulting, we’re proud to partner with 3C-REN, I-REN and CCR-REN to provide Building Performance Training, Energy Code and CALGreen Training and Energy Code Coach services.

If you have questions, reach out and we’ll put you in touch with the best REN for you and your project.

An Overview of 2025 Energy Code Updates

Every three years California updates its building codes under Title 24. The Energy Code, Part 6, is no exception, but unique to the Energy Code, California by law must show cost effectiveness, meaning long-term operational savings will offset any upfront cost increase.  This process requires the California Energy Commission (CEC) to continually evaluate proposed energy saving measures before they become part of the new code. According to the CEC the proposed 2025 Standards are estimated to provide $4.8 billion in statewide energy cost savings.

The new 2025 Energy Code was formally adopted by the CEC in September 2024 and will take effect January 1, 2026.

Some key take-aways from the 2025 code cycle include:

•       Encourage energy efficient heat pump technology for space and water heating

•       Expand PV systems and battery storage standards

•       Improve indoor air quality by strengthening ventilation standards

•       Save water and save energy by reducing water use in homes and non-residential buildings

Libraries, which are often used as shelters, are now singled out with increased requirements for PV solar and battery energy storage systems.

And Restaurants, which are considered high energy users, have a fairly dramatic increase in the PV and battery capacity requirements under the 2025 Energy Code Standards.

Through our partnerships with Regional Energy Networks (RENs), we will be offering free online energy code update courses throughout this year and into 2026. Classes are usually one hour and cover different project types.  For 3C-REN (SLO, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties), check out their training calendar, and of course you’re welcome to connect with the free Energy Code Coach service.

We’re also providing training and energy code coach services for Inland REN (I-REN – San Bernardino and Riverside Counties), and the newly-formed Central California Rural REN (CCR-REN – Central Valley, Monterey, Inyo and more). If you have a group that would like training, reach out – we may be able to come to you!

We look forward to supporting our region in implementing the current code while preparing for the new code cycle.