The California Energy Commission has adopted building standards that require solar photovoltaic systems for all new homes, condos and apartment buildings of three stories high or less starting in 2020.
The building energy efficiency standards, which are the first in the nation to require solar, will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an amount equivalent to taking 115,000 fossil fuel cars off the road. The new rules will take effect Jan. 1, 2020.
Under the new standards, nonresidential buildings will use about 30 percent less energy due mainly to lighting upgrades.
The Energy Commission also approved the 2018–2019 Investment Plan Update for the Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program (ARFVTP), which invests in alternative and renewable fuel and advanced vehicle technologies. Now in its 10th year, the program has invested more than $750 million in 615 projects covering a broad spectrum of alternative fuels and technologies.
