Title
Resolution Recommending an Ordinance to Promote Energy Efficiency and Decarbonization in New Construction and Major Renovations Through a Carbon Pollution Impact Fee (Feb. 16, 2025 Revision)
Body
WHEREAS, in November 2019, Ann Arbor City Council unanimously adopted a Climate Emergency Declaration committing to a path to carbon neutrality by the year 2030;
WHEREAS, in June 2020, City Council unanimously adopted the A2ZERO Carbon Neutrality Plan, a document that lays out seven strategies for our community to achieve carbon neutrality;
WHEREAS, buildings account for 65% of Ann Arbor's total emissions, with direct fossil gas combustion (scope 1 emissions) currently accounting for roughly half that amount, the other half consisting of indirect electricity generation (scope 2 emissions)i;
WHEREAS, Strategy 2, Action 1 of the A2ZERO plan includes the following assumption: "All new residential and commercial buildings are designed and built to operate without the use of natural gas, reducing the increased cost associated with retrofitting existing systems."
WHEREAS, Strategy 3, action 2 of the A2ZERO plan includes the following assumption: "All new construction from 2022 through 2030 (and beyond) is built to net zero energy standards, which includes no natural gas consumption."
WHEREAS, since A2ZERO plan adoption and despite the plan's stated strategies, the city has approved 32 separate development projects using gas heating, totaling 2,971,525 square feet;
WHEREAS, these buildings, collectively, when complete, will emit from fossil gas combustion approximately 25,000 metric tons CO2e emissions annually;
WHEREAS, all these buildings will require future retrofitting to replace gas HVAC with electric, at a cost many times greater than any marginal cost difference for ground-up construction, for example with air or ground source heat pumps;
WHEREAS, there exist no statutory or administrative restrictions on new construction in Ann Arbor using fossil gas infrastructu...
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