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.”