Building Efficiency
Start of page content
The Building Efficiency Strategy in the City’s Climate Action Plan (CAP) aims to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with buildings in Encinitas by increasing the energy efficiency of residential, commercial (nonresidential) and municipal buildings. Many buildings in our community utilize the burning of natural gas for activities including space heating, water heating, pool heating, clothes drying and cooking which releases greenhouse gases and other harmful emissions into the air. To reduce GHG emissions, the CAP aims to set higher energy efficiency standards for residential and nonresidential buildings, in addition to installing energy efficiency measures at municipal facilities.
Implementation of the Building Efficiency Strategy is estimated to reduce the City’s GHG emissions by 941 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MTCO2e) by 2020 and 675 MTCO2e by 2030.
Explore the sections below to see what the City is doing to achieve these goals.
BE 1-4: Energy Efficiency & Decarbonization
Building Efficiency
In 2012, buildings accounted for 36 percent of the City’s total emissions due to electricity and natural gas consumption. The City’s CAP aims to reduce energy use, support building electrification and increase energy efficiency in residential, nonresidential and municipal buildings.
The City of Encinitas continues to make strides in improving energy efficiency primarily through the adoption of building standards that require enhancing existing building energy efficiency and encourage building decarbonization. The California Building Standards Code, made up of 11 different parts, governs requirements for construction such as new construction, remodels and repairs throughout the state. While the California Building Standards Code is primarily focused on health and safety, Part 6, the California Energy Code, and Part 11, the California Green Building Standards Code, both establish regulations that advance emissions reductions. The California Energy Code contains requirements that drive building energy efficiency and decarbonization. The California Green Building Standards Code, also referred to as CALGreen, contains regulations for water efficiency and conservation, material conservation and resource efficiency, environmental quality, electric vehicle charging and more.
In the past few years, the City has adopted several energy efficiency and green building regulations as local code additions that go beyond the minimum requirements of the California Energy Code and CALGreen. These local code additions, also known as “reach codes,” produce additional emissions reductions and fulfilled CAP measures BE-1 through BE-4 via adoption of Ordinance Nos. 2022-13, 2022-14 and 2024-04. For the City to be able to adopt a reach code related to energy efficiency, the City must demonstrate the modifications will save energy and be cost-effective when installed by an applicant. The state cannot approve any reach code related to energy efficiency adopted by a jurisdiction unless it has undergone evaluation and analysis to demonstrate cost-effectiveness.
"A green home costs less to run, it's going to last longer, and has good indoor air quality so it's going to be healthier and more comfortable"
Jeff Admas
- Alliance Green Builders
BE-3: Adopt Higher Energy Efficiency Standards for Commercial Buildings
Energy Efficiency & Steel Framing
Ordinance No. 2022-14 partially enacted CAP Measure BE-3, requiring higher energy efficiency standards for commercial (nonresidential) buildings. All nonresidential buildings with additions greater than 1,000 square feet, or with a permit value greater than $200,000 and including steel framing, are required to design the steel framing for maximum energy efficiency to avoid heat loss. The GHG reduction target for this measure will be achieved if a total reduction of 1.4 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity use and 5,000 therms of natural gas use is accomplished by 2030. However, due to enforcement limitations, Ordinance No. 2022-14 was repealed in June 2024. Measure BE-3 is now considered on hold. Currently, studies are being conducted to find alternative code measures.
BE-4: Require Decarbonization of New Commercial Buildings
Commerical Building Electrification
Ordinance No. 2022-14 enacted a building code requiring new nonresidential buildings to be constructed as all-electric, supporting CAP Measures BE-4. The GHG reduction target for this measure will be achieved if a total reduction of 54,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity use and 500,000 therms of natural gas use is accomplished by 2030.
Currently, the City is unable to adopt a high energy performance requirement, similar to the one adopted to enact CAP Measure BE-2, for new high-rise multifamily or nonresidential development because there is not a cost-effective option. If in the future this requirement becomes cost-effective, City Council may consider the adoption of such an ordinance.
Energy Efficiency and Green Building Requirements
Reach Code Implementation
To help the community understand these updated requirements, the City launched a three-part video series titled “Encinitas Energy Efficiency and Green Building Requirements.” These videos serve as a guide for how to comply with the City’s unique codes and breaks down the Climate Action Plan (CAP) Checklists for both single-family and multifamily projects to ensure that new construction, additions and alterations meet the City’s electrification and efficiency standards.
In 2025, the City started requiring CAP Checklists to be included in the building plan set on a dedicated plan sheet to demonstrate compliance with Ordinance Nos. 2022-13, 2022-14 and 2024-04. Further, the City initiated a dedicated inspection class for CAP measures in 2025 to confirm building construction is consistent with what was listed on the submitted CAP Checklists, as required by the City’s local energy and green building requirements. In 2025, 111 CAP inspections were conducted.
Reach Code Implementation
Reach Code Readoption
Updates to the California Building Standards Code, including the California Energy Code and CALGreen, are completed on a triennial (every three years) basis. Cities must readopt any reach codes they wish to carry forward for each updated building code cycle. The 2025 California Building Standards Code is the current building code that was adopted by the state in July 2025 and went into effect on January 1, 2026. A new state law, AB 130, presented several challenges with reach code adoptions for the building code update.
On June 30, 2025, AB 130 was signed into law and states that, from October 1, 2025, to June 1, 2031, a city or county shall not make changes to the residential building code, unless certain conditions are met. While AB 130 outlined six conditions potentially allowing a jurisdiction to adopt residential reach codes during the six-year moratorium, the safest option to carry forward existing reach codes under the 2025 building code required the City to swiftly readopt existing reach codes to the fullest extent possible before October 1, 2025. Therefore, the Encinitas City Council adopted Ordinance No. 2025-11 on September 24, 2025 which readopted reach codes that require single-family and multifamily remodels with a permit value of $50,000 or greater to install a minimum of one energy efficiency upgrade, and newly constructed single-family homes to be designed to support the future conversion from a gas furnace to an electric heat pump compressor when gas furnaces are installed.
The high-performance energy efficiency requirement could not be readopted before the mortarium went into effect because the cost-effectiveness study for 2025 reach code options was not complete. Once the study is complete, the City will evaluate how to use the specified conditions in AB 130 readopt the high-performance requirement during the six-year moratorium.
As of the publishing of the 2025 CAP Annual Report, only five cities in California readopted reach codes before the moratorium took effect on October 1, 2025, including the City of Encinitas. All jurisdictions that adopted reach codes before the AB 130 moratorium had their ordinances approved by the state. Ordinance No. 2025-11 went into effect on January 1, 2026 after it was approved, accepted and filed by the state. Several other cities have attempted to utilize the conditions in AB 130 to adopt ordinances during the moratorium attempted. however, most cities have largely been unsuccessful, as the state has rejected the majority of reach codes adopted after October 1, 2025.
Residential Buildings
How You Can Help
Last updated July 1, 2022
