The Santa Monica city council approved an ordinance at the end of October requiring all new single-family homes built in the city be net-zero energy (ZNE). There are various definitions for ZNE buildings, but Santa Monica is using the one in the 2016 California Green Building Standards Code, which defines a ZNE building as one where the building generates as much energy as it consumes, using renewable sources such as solar or wind.

The ordinance will go into effect in 2017 pending approval by the California Energy Commission, according to a city statement. The new ordinance also requires that new low-rise multi-family buildings be designed to use 15 per cent less energy than the 2016 California Energy Code requires, while new high-rise apartments and non-residential buildings will have to use 10 per cent less.

Located in water-scarce southern California, Santa Monica’s new ZNE by-law is the first of its kind in the world – and is well ahead of California’s energy efficiency roadmap requiring all new residential construction achieve ZNE by 2020, and all new commercial construction by 2030.

Dean Kubani, the city’s Chief Sustainability Officer, said the ordinance makes environmental and economic sense. “With the price of utility power continuing to rise, ZNE homeowners will avoid those escalating costs while benefitting from local renewable power for all of their energy needs.”