Electrifying Building Codes

摘要

Last July, Berkeley, California, became the first city in the nation to ban gas hookups in new buildings, drawing attention to an often underestimated environmental and health risk. Buildings are the second-largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in California after transportation, and gas appliances like furnaces and stoves are partially to blame. Each year, the infrastructure that funnels gas to buildings and homes leaks enough methane (a greenhouse gas 86 times more potent than carbon dioxide) to match the emissions of all vehicles in the country.