Belmont Citizen-Herald — February 27, 2020
The Belmont Energy Committee submitted a proposed Warrant article this week to the Select Board that would, amongst other things, ban the use of natural gas in new residential construction for uses other than home cooking. Once upon a time, natural gas was considered to be the “clean” fuel, an environmentally responsible alternative. That view, however, was built on a comparison of gas to fuels such as fuel oil and coal. In today’s world, the environmental and public health dangers arising from the use of natural gas in the home have been well-documented. As Belmont Light achieves its goal of being emission-free by 2022, it is reasonable to require new construction to use electricity to heat and cool homes, and to provide hot water.
The use of natural gas inside today’s homes has been found to be of particular danger to children. Recent research by Physicians for Social Responsibility reports that natural gas results in a degradation in indoor air quality. This is of particular concern given that kids spend 80% of their time indoors. Poor indoor air quality substantially contributes to respiratory illnesses for children, including asthma.
Cooking with natural gas is of particular danger to children. According to a study by Mothers Out Front, a national environmental organization mobilized around climate change, “cooking with gas is associated with increased risks of current and lifetime asthma. [An 11] study meta-analysis looked at the effects of indoor [nitrogen dioxide] and cooking with gas on asthma and wheeze in children. The analysis showed that children living in a home with a gas cooking stove have a 42% increased risk of current asthma and a 24% increased lifetime risk of asthma.” It is, however, not simply cooking with natural gas that contributes to environmental degradation and indoor air quality problems. The use of natural gas for hot water and home heating is also dangerous.
Fixing the problem, at least in new construction and substantial rehabilitation, is eminently economically feasible. One recent study for MassSave estimated that all-electric construction results in a $754 construction premium for a 2,500 square foot single family home, compared to the same home fitted with the most efficient gas heat and hot water systems and electric central air conditioning. This premium is less than a 0.1% increase in cost for a typical new home.
In addition, when a new all-electric building is compared to an existing home in Belmont, the new all-electric one will be significantly less expensive to operate than natural gas, due to the far better sealing and insulation required in new buildings.
The proposed Belmont ban on natural gas hook-ups in new construction is a reasoned, and moderate, proposal to address health problems and climate change. For example, if you currently have gas heating and/or hot water, you not only can keep it, but you can replace it should you wish to do so. The proposed bylaw affects only new construction and/or gut renovations.
Even if you renovate your home, the bylaw applies only if the renovation affects 50% or more of the total floor space in your home. Moreover, if you add an addition to your home, the work area in the original space would have to be over 50% of the original structure to trigger the proposed bylaw in the context of an addition. Just an addition alone without major rehabilitation in the existing portions of the building would not trigger the proposed bylaw. The vast majority of additions, such as adding a porch or remodeling a kitchen, do not meet this threshold.
Belmont has made a strong commitment to address climate change at the local level. Town Meeting has endorsed the objective of reducing emissions by 80% by the year 2050. Achieving this objective does not occur through the pursuit of business as usual. The Belmont Energy Committee’s “inventory” of emission sources in Belmont, as presented to, and discussed at, each of the last two annual Town Meetings, has found that the vast majority of carbon emissions in our community arises from residential buildings. To require that new construction, including substantial renovations, not further contribute to the degradation of our environment, and to the health problems of our children, is a reasonable approach.
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