Some cities have elected to have more stringent requirements for CALGreen (Title 24, Part 11) and the Energy Code (Title 24, Part 6) than the Energy Commission requires. When cities elect to go this route, they need to get approval through the Energy Commission showing cost effectiveness before these local ordinances can be enforced by the local building department. Some cities now require PV for both new residential and nonresidential buildings under the current 2016 code cycle (i.e. San Francisco, Palo Alto). New ordinances for the 2019 code will need Energy Commission approval. There is no standard language for these local ordinances, and we at Gabel Energy will work with you on how best your building can be designed to meet them.
Here is a link to a helpful online resource you can use to look up local ordinances in effect in different California cities:
The graphic below shows an example from the website, but you’ll need to go online for live links.