Every three years, the State of California adopts new sets of codes. 

These codes include requirements for buildings, and another set of requirements for energy in buildings. 

The State requires all jurisdictions to adopt the state codes as their building codes. In addition, the State permits jurisdictions to adopt other voluntary measures, known as Cal Green Codes. 

Fairfax, together with other Towns in Marin County, adopted Cal Green Tier 1 last cycle. We have been working with these codes for the past three years. The great thing about these Cal Green Codes is that they are not prescriptive; they give each building owner, designer, and builder a menu of options to choose from. 

At the end of this year, Fairfax will consider which version of the New Building Codes to adopt. 

To help us, we have invited representatives from the California Building Standards Commission to teach us about the new codes. A representative from the CBSC will join us at the upcoming meeting of the Climate Action Committee to talk to us about what the new codes contain. 

In our recent conversations with CBSC, they told us that only ten jurisdictions in the state had adopted Tier 1; we are one of them. And, they told us, nobody had adopted Tier 2; we are considering it this cycle. 

Come join us, learn about the codes, and help us help Fairfax take on our existential problem. 

MEETING INFO HERE:

​https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89527178659?pwd=VTdDd2t4QjNBK2YwZUZpWkZ1b0pSUT09
 
Or ZOOM: +1.669.900.6833
 
Meeting ID: 895 2717 8659
 
Passcode: 298584


Thank you for being part of the fight against our climate catastrophe. 

Tomorrow, Saturday February 26, from 9-12, the Climate Action Committee will be meeting to think about our work for next year. 

We will be reviewing our progress during the current fiscal year (ending in June) and developing goals for next year. 

Excitingly, we will be joined by a couple of new members of the CAC, as well as our NEW SUSTAINABILITY COORDINATOR, Sean Youra.

We hope as many of you will join us as possible. We have a lot of work to do to save the planet, and we need help. 

Here is the call in info:

​On Zoom:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89527178659?pwd=VTdDd2t4QjNBK2YwZUZpWkZ1b0pSUT09
Meeting ID: 895 2717 8659
Passcode: 298584
To speak during the public comment period, use the Raise Hand icon to be added to the queue. You will be unmuted when it is your turn.
By telephone: +1 669 900 6833 and enter the Meeting ABOVE when prompted. To speak during the public comment period, press *9 to be added to the queue. You will be unmuted when it is your turn.

One of the key pillars for Decarbonization is to electrify everything. 

Fairfax has been, and continues to be leader in this effort. 

We were the first Town to require all-electric construction for new buildings. Now, others, including the County are considering following us. 

Recently, the Town Council approved recommendations from the Police and Town staff to move forward with the purchase of Electric police vehicles and charging stations. The Town is, increasingly, Walking the Talk. 

Last week, Mayor Stephanie Hellman became one of the first Mayors in America to join the Mayors & Municipal Leaders for Electrification; a growing group of leaders from around the country working together with the non-profit group, Rewiring America, to help all of us move towards better ways of powering our lives.

Thank you, Town of Fairfax. Thank you, Town Council and Staff. Thank you, Climate Action Committee. Thank you, Mayor Hellman.

​Together, we can do what needs to be done.  

Most of us know that we are in a Code Red situation; if humanity does not reduce our collective emissions at least 50% by 2030, our children and grand-children will have a very scary future. 

The enormity of this challenge is staggering, really. It is hard for the human mind to even comprehend this reality. (HERE). 

Studies from the EPA say that Gasoline Powered Lawn and Gardening Equipment (GLGE) "is an important source of toxic and carcinogenic exhaust and fine particulate matter." (HERE). 

These small off-road engines (SOREs) also contribute significantly to the growing CO2 in the atmosphere. (HERE). In our Town of Fairfax, 

In our last GHG inventory for the Town, we emit about 481 tons of carbon every year from these SOREs. And, when we were working on the Climate Action Plan, we had more than one person tell us we needed to focus on eliminating gas-powered lawn equipment, and to move towards all-electric equipment. 

But, the State of California has beat us to it. State Law AB1346 will forbid the sale of any gas-fired SOREs beginning January 1, 2024. The state is also going to provide subsidies to help people and companies to transition towards electric alternatives, $30M this year. We have a little bit less than two years to prepare for the ban. Other states are starting to follow suit. Other Towns in Marin are already starting to require the USE of electric equipment right now.  

So, we on the CAC are going to consider this issue tonight, at our meeting. We are going to think about how to help our people make this transition, and we are thinking about how to also move towards a requirement for use of all-electric equipment. 

I grew up mowing lawns for college money; I know that smell of oil and gas well. The state has made a significant step towards driving down our collective carbon footprint, and now is our chance to help. 

Join us tonight to be part of the discussion, and send us your comments. 

Thank you for being part of the solution. 
​

From the Fairfax Climate Action Committee to all of our neighbors, we are so grateful to you for all that you do to take care of each other and to take care of our fragile environment. We face big challenges, but our commitment to working together, to being a community, will be the force that allows us to overcome them. 

And so, on this time of love and peace and giving, we want to give you a small gift. This free guide will help all of us find ways to do our part to save our world. It will take each of us doing what we can, and all of us collectively, doing it together. 

Thank you, and may you all have the most delightful, joyous, peaceful, and healthy of holiday seasons. 

OPEN HERE:

Recently, I needed to buy a new dryer for my house. 

Trying to walk the talk, i did not want to buy a gas-fired dryer, but i was worried about what kinds of electric dryers might be out there, and how much they might cost. 

After a little bit of research, I learned about heat pump electric dryers. These have been used in Europe for many years (so, they have worked out the kinks) and have been sold in the US for a number of years. 

These devices are quite amazing. 

Before I tout the advantages, let me be upfront with the problems. 

They are more expensive in terms of first cost, than conventional dryers. 

Doing a quick google search, these things range between $800 and $1400 for a new one. I have not been able to find any rebates to help pay for these. 

BUT, they deliver so many benefits: 

1. Much cheaper to operate - they save energy and money every time you use them. I have not done the calcs, but various national organizations, using national averages, say that they are equivalent in life-time cost with conventional dryers, and better than that where energy costs are higher (energy costs in California are higher than national average, so we should do better overall, with these devices). (HERE is a great overview.)
2. They don’t require venting to the outside, and they don’t require ventilation for the room. 
3. They save at least 28% on energy consumption. 
4. They are ALL-ELECTRIC, and run on a conventional 120 volt outlet. 
5. They work at lower temperatures, and are gentler on clothes, so they last longer. Clothes come out softer, and with fewer wrinkles. 
6. They generate water, which they condense out of the air. You can capture this water, and use it to flush toilets, thus helping to also reduce your water consumption. 

All in all, these things are pretty amazing (of course, I am an engineer, and so effective technology is especially exciting to me!)

I have written in the past, that, as our appliance wear out, we should be moving to all-electric. One of the challenges with doing this is that, often, electric appliances require upgrades to the wiring and/or service panels in our homes. A great benefit of this technology is that no upgrades are required. So, it is an especially great way to move towards electrification. 

I’ve had mine for about a week now, and have dried several loads. I love it, and it feels good to take another step towards decarbonization. 

Remember, when you need to replace any appliance in your home, you will be ahead of the game when you make it electric, and not gas. 

(By the way, you can also hang your clothes out to dry, which is even MORE inexpensive, and even MORE environmentally friendly!!)

Thank you for your efforts to make our community, and our world a better place. 


​

Earlier this year, we conducted a Public Comment Period for the proposed Climate Action Plan for our beloved Town of Fairfax. 

Many people wrote some version of the same comment:

”I am retired, and I do not have a large income. I can’t afford to buy a Tesla or a Solar Panel. Please do not pass unfounded mandates. Please help us find the money to do climate-smart work. We sympathise with the need for change, but help us to find the money.”

We took that very seriously, Our previous blog posts on this topic noted that the Town Resolution calling for us to get to zero carbon by 2030 also noted the critical importance of bringing in outside resources to help. And, our blog responses earlier this year noted that we would try to do whatever we could to make this happen. 

Now, there are at least two great new happenings. 

First, the Infrastructure Law that the Président is going to sign into law this week includes a massive amount of money specifically to help low- and moderate- income people (and, according to the Federal Guidelines, that is a LOT of us), to weatherise and improve our homes. It is not clear what the timing and mechanism for this will be. 

It’s interesting, but statistics show that 71% of electricity today is used in our homes and buildings. (HERE).  Certainly that is true here, and these energy spends are about half of our total carbon footprint. 

The better news is that we have, today, in our bank account, I allocated money from the first action by our Federal government, the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). 

ARPA had a number of specific ways the funds could be used. One of these specific ways was to help low- and moderate- income people with weatherization and energy upgrades. 

In Fairfax, we care about the Climate. 

In Fairfax, we care about Social Justice, and our economically disadvantaged people. 

In Fairfax, we have money that the Federal Government earmarked for this purpose. 

On Tuesday night, the Climate Action Committee will host its regular meeting. Among the things we will do, we will consider a recommendation to the Town Council to allocate a large amount of this otherwise unallocated money to one of the specifically enumerated purposes of that law. 

The Town heard you, when you said you needed help to do what needs to be done, and we have been looking for ways to help. The Town needs to hear from you again, so we will follow through. 

Join us. Together, we can be the change we wish to see. 

​

A number of years ago, the Town's Climate Action Committee recommended to the Town Council that we move Town Operations to Zero Emissions. 

Over time, we have made significant steps towards doing so. 

We switched many of the Town's Street Lights to LEDs, dramatically reducing our energy consumption, and saving the town money we can use for other purposes. 

We switched our purchase of electricity to MCE Deep Green, so that we eliminated 100% of all emissions associated with our electricity consumption. 

We were able to obtain a pro bono energy and electrification assessment, giving us a roadmap to eliminating our burning of methane. 

The virus derailed this work, like so many things, but our new staff have begun making progress. 

We have a new proposal to consider upgrading the remainder of our older street lights to LEDs. Again, this will save the town both energy and money (though, because we are buying 100% renewable electricity, this will not, in an accounting sense, reduce our emissions). 

We have now installed needed electricity to replace the water heater and stove in the Women's Center with electric versions, and we are looking at additional upgrades to make this building totally electric. 

And, last night, the Climate Action Committee recommended that the Town adopt a purchasing policy for vehicles, to tilt the playing field towards zero-emission vehicles. 

The Town of Fairfax has declared a Climate Emergency, and we have set ourselves a very ambitious goal of reaching zero emissions by 2030. This goal asks a lot of all of us. It is critically important that the Town itself provide the leadership to show people that we are serious, and that it is possible. 

And we are. 

Thank you to the Council and Staff of our Town. Lets join them!

Last week, the Fairfax Town Council appointed Mr. Mitch Greer to join the Climate Action Committee. 

Mitch is a Barista (with a bit of luck, he will be joining us as a FAIRFAX Barista), an environmentalist, and an artist. 

Mitch has trained at the California College of the Arts, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the San Francisco Art Institute. 

Mitch and his partner have recently relocated to Fairfax, and he spends his non-coffee time participating in an All We can Save circle, and marching with Fridays for the Future. 

Mitch has already been volunteering with us, and we are happy to welcome him to the great group of folks already working hard to help this Town lead the way into the future our kids will thank us for. 

Welcome, Mitch, and thanks to ALL of the Fairfax CAC for your continued work; you all inspire me.