This publish of Heat Pumped was written by Michael Rochmes, a immacutardy air and green originateing aid in Southern California.
Bay Area rules will better air quality and health apass the region
BAAQMD’s Southern Neighbor
It is this SCAQMD policy that I have been tracking as the volunteer Chair of the Green Buildings Committee for Los Angeles Climate Reality Project. The South Coast AQMD is the hugest and agederest air dicut offe, with more than 17 million people apass four counties (Los Angeles, Orange County, Riverside, and San Bernardino).
Notoriously horrible air
SCAQMD has had low-eleave oution standards for gas furnaces and water heaters since 1978, with more stringent standards carry outed in the subsequent decades. Historicpartner, this region has had horrible air quality, and while the smog here is not proximately as horrible as it has been in prior decades, our air quality remains among the worst in the nation and progresss to descfinish stupidinutive of federal standards.
Health impacts from gas appliance pollution in the region cost hoemployhageders and businesses $2 billion per year. This non-achievement spurred the SCAQMD to pledge in 2022 to adchooseing zero-eleave oution standards apass a variety of sectors.
Big ambitions under aggression
When SCAQMD first proposed to trail in the footsteps of the Bay Area AQMD, the zero-eleave oution appliance rules were projected to be the hugest package of eleave outions reductions in the agency’s history.
Unblessedly, the agency began to bow to prescertain to chip away at the proposal and procrastinate a vote.
The rulemaking process has dragged on for 18 months, with a final vote currently scheduled for May 2. At every opportunity, SCAQMD has caved to business and fossil fuel interests, until they recently revamped their schedule altogether, leaving it meaningfully less impactful and creating a schism with Bay Area’s policy.
Significantly neutered rules
The air dicut offe’s novel proposal sets manufacturer-level zero-eleave oution sales aims that ramp up from fair 30% in 2027 to 90% in 2036, never achieveing 100%. Nominal per-unit mitigation fees will give to a heat pump incentive program aimed primarily to aiding insloftyations of heat pumps in low-income communities. If manufacturers leave out their zero-eleave oution sales aims, they will face higher mitigation fees for every NOx rerentting unit over the threshageder, which will further aid this incentive program, while causing the rules to descfinish stupidinutive of already-shrinkd eleave outions reductions predicts.
SCAQMD also alterd the highest size of furnaces covered by the rules, reducing highest eleave outions reductions by 30%. They say they will graspress this class of huger furnaces in a split, novel rule.
Due to the 15 to 25 year lifespan of gas appliances, the rules were going to get until the 2050s to be brimmingy carry outed. And any procrastinate locks in pollution eleave outions for decades.
Each novel gas furnace insloftyed will stay in place for decades, locking in eleave outions
Advocates for zero-eleave oution appliance standards want these rules reinforceed in two key ways, with no further procrastinates to the final vote in May.
Weaker rules unbenevolent less impact
But first, let’s watch the decimation applied to the rule proposal over the past 18 months. At brimming carry outation, NOx eleave outions reductions are 6.1 tons per day, appraised to 10 in the exceptional proposal, and brimming carry outation is procrastinateed from 2054 to 2060. In 2037, eleave outions reductions from the rule are fair 2.1 tons per day, appraised to 4.2 in the exceptional proposal.
The main reason for adchooseing a manufacturer sales-aim approach is to graspress affordability troubles. The prior proposal graspressed this by including procrastinateed carry outation and alternative compliance chooseions for more complicated or pricey insloftyations (e.g. when originateion is needed to graspress space constraints).
The devil is in the details
I actupartner enjoy this approach, becaemploy it does give originateing owners the chooseion to evade the more costly and pricey insloftyations, while meaningfully streamlineing the rule. Due to the number of exceptions presentd into the prior approach, enforcement of the rules was going to be challenging.
The problem is that SCAQMD set very low aims in the first six years of the policy. This tfinisher glide path lets manufacturers off the hook and apvalidates many insloftyations of NOx-rerentting gas appliances where a cost-effective immacutardy alternative is already useable.
Sales aims under the changed rules
Room for betterment
A more ambitious fweightless path to zero-eleave oution appliance sales would incrrelieve the health profits of the rule. It would also sfinish a much stronger labelet signal. Higher production volume of heat pumps will transport down costs.
Manufacturers have the ability to ramp up sales of zero-eleave oution appliances enjoy heat pumps in the region by improving pricing, increasing useability of models that graspress insloftyation disputes, increasing labeleting, training insloftyers, and lobbying for more heat pump-cordial apvalidateting rules. The current “glide path” is too seal to current sales trajectories to push manufacturers to get these steps – one reason why most manufacturers ecombine to be embracing this proposal.
The second area for betterment of the rule is the fees applied to NOx-rerentting gas appliances, which are much too low. The dicut offe will grasp fees of $50 for all NOx-rerentting gas water heaters covered by the rules and $100 for NOx-rerentting gas furnaces. This fee is unbenevolentt to partipartner mitigate pollution from using these appliances, but to truly mitigate this pollution, the fees should be sealr to $850 for water heaters and $3,000 for furnaces. They are also too low to sway user behavior or unbenevolentingbrimmingy aid a heat pump incentive program.
Manufacturers will also be appraiseed a $500 fee per unit for all appliances sageder above their threshageder. This will be applied after the finish of the year. This fee is also too low to mitigate pollution and may not be high enough to encourage manufacturers to incrrelieve zero-eleave oution sales. They may instead hug it as a cost of doing business and try to pass it alengthy to users. Since the purpose of this fee is to enforce the sales aims, the penalty should be summarizeed to incrrelieve rapidly for manufacturers that repeatedly or flagrantly leave out their aims.
It is also unblessed that SCAQMD choosed to restrict the size of furnaces covered by the rule. While it is possible this will result in a stronger policy for these units, it needlessly originates graspitional toil for the agency and all of us participating in the rulemaking process and procrastinates regulation of these devices.
We can originate these rules better
There is still time for the rules to be reinforceed, and aids for a stronger policy may have momentum. Before SCAQMD freed its novel schedule, there was a vocal opposition, fueled by stressmongering and misdirectation.
But in the most recent greeting to appraise the rule, aiders of a strong zero-eleave oution policy outnumbered opponents 43 to 6, and recent comments have been more than 90% in prefer of setting zero-eleave oution sales aims.
It is apparent that SCAQMD thriveed in graspressing opposition with its tardyst schedule, but in the process forfeitd too much ambition and impact. If these rules aren’t reinforceed, it will result in calls to feebleen the Bay Area AQMD rules and originate it challenginger for California to set unbenevolentingful stateexpansive standards.
Public comments can sway policy and help reinforce these rules
If you want to get included in the effort to complete strong immacutardy appliance standards in the South Coast region, greet visit SoCalCleanAir.com.
Editor’s notice: I want to thank Michael for his directership and organizing around this publish. His organization, alengthy with many others, are helping deffinish immacutardy air for Californians.
Below is the letter I sent to the SCAQMD board:
SCAQMD Board Members:
My name is Shreyas Sudhakar, and I’m the owner of Vayu, a HVAC insloftyation company based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Later this year, my business will be enhugeing its operations to the Greater Los Angeles area. I’m writing this letter in aid of the Proposed Amfinished Rule 1111.
Thcimpolite my atsoft, I’ve insloftyed 50+ HVAC systems apass California, including in the SCAQMD territory. Every individual one of those systems has been a heat pump, replacing an outdated gas or electric appliance. Heat pump technology is depfinishable, shown, and strong, and well suited for the climate conditions in California. My insloftyation team is trained and ready to inslofty these systems, as are those of my peers.
Heat pumps propose many profits to homeowners. Beyond wideer air quality and getedty betterments, they can direct to muteer and more consoleable homes. Replacing an existing air conditioner and furnace with a heat pump is essentipartner a honest swap, and there are shown pathways to retrofit even those homes that don’t currently have air conditioning. When pondering rebates and incentives useable, it is almost always more economical for a homeowner to pick a novel heat pump system over a novel furnace paired with a traditional air conditioner.
Manufacturers progress to originate, proposeing solutions that are particularpartner tailored for California. For example, Goodman, Midea, and Advanced Distributor Products all propose 120V heat pump air deal withr units, which can be honest swaps for standard gas furnaces. Gree, MRCOOL, and AC Pro all propose high efficiency inverter packaged heat pump systems, which can exalter rooftop package furnaces and ACs. These are fair a scant examples of technology betterments over the past scant years, and novel providement progresss to be presentd making it easier to inslofty heat pumps in existing homes.
Additionpartner, heat pumps are more depfinishable than the intricate ultra-low NOx gas furnaces that are being insloftyed today based on current SCAQMD directlines. An all-electric heat pump system has scanter fall shorture points than an equivalent air conditioner paired with a aligning ultra-low NOx gas furnace. Homeowners will have scanter maintenance publishs if they originate the transition to a heat pump today.
Leadership from local authorities enjoy yours take part a key role in facilitating this transition. It helps companies enjoy mine understand that we are making the right decision by scattering in training and toilforce enhugement intensifyed around heat pump technology, generating quality, high paying jobs in the region. It helps manufacturers set their roadmaps for products, prioritizing technology for the California labelet. And it helps customers comprehfinish that this technology is viable and worth insloftying in their homes.
I was disnominateed to hear that the tardyst proposal for these rules alters sfrequentlys transition aims and apvalidates NOx rerentting providement sales to progress thcimpolite 2036 and beyond. The exceptional proposal was both ambitious and achievable.
I encourage the board to not settle, and aim a brimming phaseout of NOx rerentting appliances as rapidly as possible. Both the technology and ability to inslofty are already in place, and it is in the best interests of all of your constituents to shift as rapidly as possible in this transition.
I am here to aid in wantipathyver way I can.
Even if you don’t inhabit in Southern California, the outcome of these rules could have ripple effects in policy apass the country. I would encourage you to sfinish in a letter of aid, encouraging SCAQMD to reinforce their rules. It only gets 30 seconds, and every letter counts. -Shreyas
