Denver officials Tuesday defended the city's phase-out of natural gas heating and cooling systems and its electrification goals for commercial buildings in response to a Denver Gazette story.
The city's 2021 Energize Denver Renewable Heating and Cooling Plan attributes 11.76% of Denver’s emissions from natural gas use to commercial buildings. Combined, commercial and residential use of gas comprise 24% of the city’s total GHG emissions. The plan calls for eliminating greenhouse gas emissions and making Denver’s electrical grid 80-100% renewable by 2030.
“The headline is really misleading and is causing undue alarm within our community,” said Chelsea Warren, spokesperson for the city’s Office of Climate Action, Sustainability, and Resiliency (OCASR). “There is no 'ban' on natural gas: natural gas stoves, fireplaces, and grills are still allowed in commercial buildings.”
The city emphasized the new building codes apply to commercial heating and cooling equipment and only for replacement of equipment that has reached its end of life or has failed.
But the code restrictions on heating systems become increasingly stringent in the coming years, although it allows for exemptions for emergency replacement and economic hardship.
Starting on Jan 1, 2024, gas furnaces and water heaters will not be allowed in new commercial and multifamily construction. In 2025, the city will no longer issue permits for certain types of gas heating and cooling systems for existing commercial and multifamily buildings. And, after 2027, the city will no longer issue permits for any gas heating and cooling equipment in commercial buildings.
Laura Schwartz, spokesperson for Denver Community Planning and Development, said residential single-family homeowners and single-family home landlords don’t have to worry about the new commercial code requirements — which only apply to apartments, residential condominiums, and townhouses.
As of March 1, applicants for replacement equipment not willing to electrify will have to go through a more complicated permitting process to replace faulty units with like-new units, a reversal of the previous permitting process.
“This March 1 code change is meant to encourage commercial building owners to consider electric heating and cooling sources,” Warren said. “The current code today allows natural gas replacement to be a quick permit while replacing with an electric heating and cooling source is an application which incentivizes building owners to choose the quick permit option.”
Critics say electrification will be expensive and likely require new electrical equipment.
The city countered that studies show that the costs of replacing gas equipment with electric are comparable.
“This policy does not add to their capital costs, only requiring that — if it is cost effective — they partially electrify at the time of equipment replacement,” Warren said.
Denver offers incentives to reduce the cost of the switchover.
“We are offering incentives like the Building Electrification Pilot Program to help encourage building owners to plan and make the switch before the building code requires them to in 2025 or 2027,” said Warren.
Denver has a pilot program funded with $7 million to do up to 70 electrification projects.
“So far, we have received over 140 applications and have selected our first 20 to move forward in the process,” Warren said. “We use a prioritization matrix to prioritize Equity Priority Buildings and equipment that is closer to end of useful life.”
