Ban on fossil fuels in new Northampton buildings sent on to City Council

City Councilors Alex Jarrett, Garrick Perry and Marissa Elkins listen to public comments during a forum on a proposed ordinance that would ban fossil fuels in new buildings and renovations in Northampton.

City Councilors Alex Jarrett, Garrick Perry and Marissa Elkins listen to public comments during a forum on a proposed ordinance that would ban fossil fuels in new buildings and renovations in Northampton. STAFF PHOTO/ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

Staff Writer

Published: 01-07-2025 4:31 PM

Modified: 01-07-2025 5:44 PM


NORTHAMPTON — A measure to effectively ban the use of fossil fuels in all new buildings and renovation projects citywide is advancing to the full City Council, but not before leaders of local architecture firms voiced concerns about it at a subcommittee meeting Monday night.

Though they recommended sending the proposed ordinance forward, some members of the council’s Committee on Legislative Matters said more exceptions to the rules should be considered.

Under the proposed new building code, set to take effect on Jan. 27 pending council approval, all new buildings or renovations to existing buildings would be required to be all-electric, with any use of fossil fuels prohibited. The council is expected to take up the ordinance at its next meeting on Jan. 16.

At Monday’s hearing, city Climate Action and Project Administration Director Ben Weil explained some of the exemptions in the ordinance, part of a state-sponsored program that 10 municipalities are set to take part in. Northampton is the only participant in western Massachusetts, with other members either in well-to-do suburbs of Boston or on Martha’s Vineyard.

Although new heating systems installed in buildings would have to meet the new guidelines, “like-for-like” replacements of existing fossil fuel equipment, such as a boiler with another boiler, would be permitted, Weil said.

“Replacements are not considered a major renovation — they’re not incurring this thing. So it’s not like all of a sudden you can’t replace your boiler with anything other than a air-to-water heat pump. That wouldn’t be reasonable,” Weil said. “If new equipment is not being added, then it’s not part of the discussion.”

Several exceptions are in place already for certain types of buildings and facilities should the new building code take effect. Research labs, hospitals and medical offices would be exempt from the new code, as would be outdoor cooking and heating appliances and emergency generators. Historical buildings are also exempt if following the ordinance “would change the historic fabric of the building,” according to Weil.

The city already has a specialized “stretch” building code that restricts the use of fossil fuels. But while fuels are allowed under the current code if the building has solar and wiring to support future electrification, along with a Home Energy Rating System of 42 or lower, indicating a high level of energy efficiency, the new building code would do away with that allowance entirely.

Opposition raised

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Several members of the public objected to the proposed ordinance’s stricter requirements. Dorrie Brooks, who co-manages the firm Jones Whitsett Architects, said that while she was in support of eliminating fossil fuels, she felt the city was not in the same position as some of the other municipalities in the program to take this step.

“We’re not Newton; we’re not Arlington. The value of the properties in this city are significantly lower; you know the quality and condition of many of them. They’re in desperate need of renovation. Both our downtown and many residences,” Brooks said. “The challenge is that if we take this and add this burden on top of other burdens that a property owner has in trying to renovate their property, we create the conditions by which they may choose not to renovate at all.”

Aelan Tierney, president of Kuhn Riddle Architects & Designers in Amherst and a Northampton resident, expressed similar sentiments.

“As a practicing architect and someone who’s working with clients who sometimes are challenged to build just the basics, we have found that even just the stretch code in some communities have caused projects to have stopped,” Tierney said. “If we are now creating much more demand on the grid, what does that mean for the costs?”

Others spoke more favorably of the program, including Adin Maynard of Power House Energy Consulting, a Northampton firm that provides home ratings for energy efficiency. Maynard said adoption of the ordinance would be a way to pressure utility companies to electrify their systems and become more sustainable.

“Utilities are publicly regulated, shareholder-owned companies. As we know in our capitalist society, they’re not going to do that on their own goodwill,” Maynard said. “As hard as it is, we have to step up in this moment and take initiative and be the leader to electrify our grid.”

Florence resident Tom Bassett also voiced his support for the ordinance but said there needed to be more communication by the city to the public on how exactly the new code will work.

“There’s quite a large percentage of the population that doesn’t know much about this kind of initiative, and they think it is dictating that they not use any fossil fuels and dictating what they buy for appliances,” Bassett said. “It’s an opportunity to really turn around people’s view on what it means to be making changes to help mitigate climate change.”

Ultimately the committee, consisting of councilors Alex Jarrett, Rachel Maiore, Marissa Elkins and Garrick Perry, voted unanimously to recommend the ordinance to the council, although they acknowledged some of the criticisms brought before them.

“I remain steadfast in my support of this movement, but I have some concerns,” said Elkins. “I wish I knew if we could write this in a way so that we could be a part of this project but with a great deal of flexibility going forward to adjust what needs to be dealt with.”

Maiore, who represents Ward 7 and also helped draft the ordinance along with Jarrett, retained her strong support for the measure.

“We have very generous exemptions happening here, very thoughtful ones,” Maiore said. “I’m comfortable with a positive recommendation, with the understanding or contingent on us addressing the identified issues.”

Alexander MacDougall can be reached at amacdougall@gazettenet.com.