Because heat pumps provide both cooling and heating, they eliminate the need for both air conditioning and natural-gas space heating, he added. And that’s not counting the cost of extending natural-gas pipes, which can add thousands of dollars more per building. Because heat pumps capture temperature differentials between indoor and outdoor air, they are also cheaper to operate over the long term, particularly when paired with the rooftop solar that’s also required for all new homes under California building codes, he said.īuilders that choose natural gas appliances, by contrast, will have to meet more complex efficiency mandates that could add thousands of dollars in costs, Delforge said. The cost of heat pumps has fallen in recent years to match their natural-gas counterparts. The rules also require new buildings to come with the electrical wiring to switch to all-electric appliances in the future.īuilders will now save thousands of dollars per home if they opt for heat pump technologies, said Pierre Delforge, senior scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council.

But their efficiency baselines will make electric heat pumps a far more cost-effective choice than natural gas heaters and boilers. The final rules from the CEC don’t ban natural gas. Nearly 50 California cities and counties have already taken steps toward restricting natural gas in new construction. The new Title 24 Building Energy Efficiency Standards have emerged from a yearlong process that pitted advocates of banning natural gas in new buildings against industry groups that argue the move could drive up costs in a state already mired in an affordable housing crisis.

California public utilities code meter