Page 62 - Green Builder Magazine Sept-Oct 2021

CODE ARENA

The lates rules, regulations and codes impacting sustainable construction.

A matter of timing? The move to ban
natural gas in some cities is underway.
Now the real question is “how soon?”
and “who’s first?” CREDIT: ONURDONGEL/ISTOCK

To Ban or inciting a riot, although that ban was lifted 26 years later.

None of the aforementioned bans had anything to do with the
building industry, but we are starting to see a new type of ban that
is certainly making its mark on the design and construction of new
buildings: a natural gas ban. That sounds somewhat Draconian,
Not to Ban so perhaps you’re more familiar with the term “electrification.”
And in some places, we’re seeing a counter to this movement:
a ban on natural gas bans. How did we get here, and where are
we going?
The first jurisdiction to enact a natural gas ban on new
construction was Berkeley, California, but they are no longer
BY MIKE COLLIGNON alone. Other cities such as San Jose, Oakland, San Francisco and
THE TOPIC OF BANS is usually one that evokes a fair bit of Seattle, and dozens of other communities, have passed similar
emotion, especially in the U.S., with our Independence Day and or partial prohibitions. These measures are being adopted as
Labor Day celebrations. The definition of “ban” is “to prohibit,” jurisdictions work to meet their respective climate action plans.
which can be viewed as an infringement on personal freedoms. Many of these plans have called for a state, city or county to
However, a ban usually impacts not just an individual, but also achieve net-zero carbon emissions by some benchmark year,
a larger collective group. Banning books has been a way for whether it be 2040, 2045, 2050, etc.
some entity, group or government to prohibit certain thoughts In the words of one Oakland council member, electrification
and ideas from percolating throughout their society. Since the is the equivalent of low-hanging fruit. “State energy policies and
pandemic started, we’ve seen countries enact travel bans to stop lower prices of renewables mean that substituting natural gas
the spread of a highly contagious virus. There was even a time with electricity is one of the quickest, safest and least expensive
when a band named Guns N’ Roses was banned from a city for pathways to eliminating greenhouse gas emissions from

60 GREEN BUILDER September/October 2021 www.greenbuildermedia.com