HomeMy WebLinkAbout9/3/2019 Item 18, Barry
Wilbanks, Megan
From:Bronwyn Barry <bronwyn@naphnetwork.org>
Sent:Monday, September
To:E-mail Council Website
Cc:Mike Horgan; eric@carbonfreeslo.org; KCarr@tipsfromsurvivors.com
Subject:Reach Code
Dear SLO City Council Members,
Firstly, I'd like to thank you for hosting me last week in your lovely city for the 'Decarbonizing Our Future With Better
Buildings' event. It was a great honor to contribute and a real treat to spend time in your charming city. The
organization and the turnout for this event was extremely encouraging and the leadership in SLO on climate action was
abundantly evident.
NAPHN Support for the SLO Electrification Reach Code
As a follow up, on behalf of the North American Passive House Network, I'd like to strongly urge you to adopt the
Electrification Reach Code under your consideration tomorrow. As I was able to demonstrate, the benefits of
transitioning to all-electric buildings make both sound economic and environmental sense. An Electrification Reach
Code is only the first step on your path towards decarbonizing the buildings of San Luis Obispo. I sincerely hope the start
of your journey will not be delayed, or deferred.
No time left to fear change
While it is natural for many to fear change and to attempt to resist adopting new codes and measures, we no longer
have the luxury of time to spend debating our transition to renewable source energy. Indeed, we may have already
waited too long. We've just experienced the hottest summer on record in almost every northern hemisphere country
across the globe. Right now, Hurricane Dorian - the fifth Category 5 Hurricane this year - is bearing down on Florida. We
are about to enter another fire season here in California and must prepare for the worst. My point is that our climate
has already changed dramatically. We are VERY LATE in our attempts to reverse the damage we have already done to
our planet, as illustrated by this graph extracted from the most recent United Nations Inter-Governmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC) Report.
1
Correct an imbalance
By transforming your buildings to enable them to use renewable electricity, the SLO City Council has an opportunity to
begin living within our earth's natural systems, while simultaneously supporting a healthier, cleaner and cheaper energy
source. This is the building equivalent of banning cigarettes from public spaces - it's just that simple.
I wish you the courage, strength and fortitude to make the right decision and adopt your Electric Reach Code for
buildings.
Best regards,
Bronwyn
--
Bronwyn Barry, CPHD
Board President
North American Passive House Network
m: 415.819.7978
naphnetwork.org
Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook
2