Jumpstart your home electrification journey, free online tours May 14 & 15
Come to a two-day virtual tour to learn how 12 East Bay homes, apartments, or accessory units have been upgraded to reduce use of fossil fuels and water or prepare for wildfires.
These online events showcase sustainability features such as all-electric appliances, green home resources for renters, greywater and rainwater catchment systems, and strategies for living in a fire zone.
Each tour will be followed by a live Q&A with tenants and homeowners, and experts will be on hand to answer questions about heat pumps, rebates, backyard carbon sequestration, and passive homes.
Tours on Saturday, May 14 and Sunday, May 15
There are two tour dates, each featuring six 10-minute home tours, followed by a 10-minute live Q&A. Register to attend. See the full schedule for details on tours and speakers.
- Saturday, May 14, 10 am – 1 pm
- Sunday, May 15, 10 am – 1 pm
All the homes in each tour – whether an apartment, house, or ADU – are partially or fully electrified. Polluting gas appliances have been swapped out for efficient, all-electric alternatives powered by clean electricity from their local community choice energy provider.
Recordings of the tours and expert presentations will also be available on the East Bay Green Home Tour website, along with other resources on electrification.
If you didn’t get a chance to attend last year's tour, you can view the 2021 home videos.
Green home tours support City climate goals
Recently the City adopted a groundbreaking Existing Buildings Electrification Strategy which lays out a plan for the City to equitably electrify all buildings. In Berkeley and throughout the state, fossil-fuel powered buildings are the second largest source of greenhouse gas emissions.
Methane, the key component of natural gas, is a harmful greenhouse gas that traps 80 times more heat than carbon dioxide. By transitioning buildings to electricity, we can reduce methane leakages in the natural gas system, from extraction to pipeline to our homes and businesses.
As the electric grid gets cleaner each year with the addition of more renewable solar and wind energy, the carbon footprint of all-electric buildings shrinks. In Berkeley, all-electric buildings that have rooftop solar or have already transitioned 100% renewable electricity are already zero-emission.
Building electrification is a key strategy to reach the City’s Fossil Fuel Free and Climate Action Plan goals. Building electrification also supports the City's Strategic Plan goal to "be a global leader in addressing climate change, advancing environmental justice, and protecting the environment."
The City is collaborating with local tour producer Verdant Communications & Project Management, the Ecology Center, and the Berkeley Climate Action Coalition Electrification Working Group to host this event.
Join the East Bay Green Home Tour and discover from your neighbors how to jumpstart your electrification journey.
Links
Media Contact
Strategic Plan Goal
