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By Will Mbah
Candidate for Somerville City Councilor at Large

The Somerville Commission on Energy Use and Climate Change last week endorsed a proposed action by the city’s Office of Sustainability and Environment to seek designation of the city as one of ten Massachusetts municipalities that will enact Fossil-Fuel Free ordinances. 

This new demonstration program will test the effectiveness of municipal regulations to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions by prohibiting oil, natural gas or other fuel-burning systems in new and renovated buildings.  Under the state law, the Commonwealth Department of Energy Resources will authorize ten selected cities and towns to enact such local laws.     

In practical terms, this will mean that new residential units will not have gas stoves and house and apartment building boilers and heating systems will be electricity powered or mechanical heat-pump systems.  Similar rules would apply for commercial and industrial buildings, with the exception (stated in the law) of “laboratories for scientific or medical research and medical offices.”

The exceptions recognize that, at the present time, the available technologies of heating appliances or systems do not yet achieve the precise controls of heat/power that certain biological, chemical or medical processes require.   

Somerville will have to compete to participate

Because it is a demonstration project, the state will allow only ten municipalities to participate, and nine cities and towns have already been selected to ensure comparable measurements of anticipated development – building types, scale and density.  Somerville is not in the selected nine and, thus, it will have to compete for the tenth place against any other cities or towns that also apply. 

In order to prepare an application, the city will draft an ordinance (in the form of a Home Rule petition) and fill out the program application forms during September.  These will then be presented to the Mayor and City Council for review and adoption, before the deadline of submission in early November.  It will also be possible to submit an application to the state, stating the city’s intention while the draft ordinance is still pending city review. 

Because the form and content of a draft ordinance should be fairly straight-forward, the Commission members expect that all the work can be done in time for the application deadline.

What will be the content of a Fossil-Fuel Free ordinance?

As defined in the state law, the text of the ordinance will do two things:  First, it will state clearly that new buildings and major renovations will be permitted only if they do not have fossil fuel systems and equipment.  Second, there will be an exception for the two categories of medical offices and medical and scientific laboratories. 

The question of whether a particular project is a major renovation will be answered by the laws, governing building permits, in which the term “major renovation” is defined.  Generally, it means work involving more than 50% of the floor area of an existing building.  However, there are some details of measurement when separate condo units and small-scale houses are involved.  

Possible individual building exemption or variance

The city can probably add to the two required rules an additional section that provides for project-specific exemptions or variances.  This would likely describe an appeal process – similar to the BZA – that would allow a building developer to provide evidence that the particular project cannot be designed or function properly without a fossil-fuel system. 

The ordinance would require the applicant to provide evidence, and the appeals board to make a finding, of either: (i) technological infeasibility – available equipment will not work properly in a building of the particular design, location or functions; or (ii) significant cost burden to substitute fossil-fuel free equipment for standard heating equipment.

At the meeting, the members of the city Commission on Energy Use and Climate Change agreed with the general idea that some variance procedure should be included.  However, they hope to ensure that it will be narrowly applied and only be used when a strong or substantial problem of technology or cost is involved.  In particular, they recommended to the city Department that a careful analysis of the impact on affordable housing development costs be undertaken.  They also urged the city staff to look the question of whether residential rents might be impacted by any added costs of building renovations.

One issue that the commissioners did not address but which has arisen in other cities is whether restaurant spaces could be allowed exception or variance to continue using gas stoves or coal-fired pizza ovens.     

Possible exemption of city-owned buildings      

Another issue of possible exemption that the commissioners discussed is whether the rules of the ordinance should apply to city-owned buildings – in particular to the major renovations that must be done on older city facilities and school buildings.  For any new construction, it should be relatively easy to comply, since fossil-fuel free equipment and systems for schools and public buildings are becoming widely available.  For old buildings like City Hall and the adjacent 1858 Building on the Highland Avenue Campus – a total retrofit of heat, power and cooling systems may prove difficult and highly expensive.

The general sentiment of the commission members, however, appeared to be against a pre-determined exemption of city projects.  The city’s policy on environmental protection and climate change has been to use its own projects to “lead by example” and the commission members hope and expect that this will continue.       

I am adding my voice in support of this proposed city action, which is another way that we can move ahead with our Climate Forward Plans.  I share the concerns, expressed by the commission members, to look carefully at the potential impacts on affordable housing development costs and rents.  I also agree that a blanket exemption of city building projects should not be in the ordinance, but if there is a variance for technical and design difficulties, this could apply to city building renovations, when appropriate.

If you want to learn more or support my campaign, please visit my website at willmbah.com.