The Geothermal Exchange Organization( GEO) has provided comments to a California Energy Commission (CEC) Workshop Docket. The organization’s comments suggest that there are problems with the Title 24 energy code for building permits that limits the use of geothermal heat pumps (GHPs) in the state.

“Under the current Title 24 process, building designers and owners must struggle to get GHP’s into their projects,” says Doug Dougherty, GEO president. “The Title 24 compliance process requires using ‘work around’ approaches to get GHPs through the State’s energy compliance software.  Worse, the California Energy Commission (CEC) is close to adopting its 2016 Building [energy] Code, which as currently written would simply exclude super-efficient GHP heating and cooling technology from use in California.”

The current Title 24 energy code doesn’t recognize the efficiency of GHPs and the role they could play in reaching California’s energy goals. GEO’s comments ask for a blanket approval of GHPs in the current and future versions of the Title 24 code until CEC can develop and alternative compliance method for the technology.

“California is a state of diversity—in its geography, its population, and its industries,” Dougherty says. “GEO believes that the same must hold true for energy sources if the state is to achieve its energy efficiency, carbon reduction, water conservation and net zero building goals for the future.”

To learn more, visit www.geoexchange.org.