What Title 24 Means for Californians Looking to Build an ADU?

The recently passed California Title 24 Building Energy Efficiency Standards were designed to promote sustainability. It ensures new and existing buildings achieve energy efficiency and preserve outdoor and indoor environmental quality standards and guidelines. These energy efficiency standards apply to additions, alterations, repairs, and new buildings (including Accessory Dwelling Units or ADUs). 

Accessory Dwelling Units or ADUs might be the next investment that you make into your home. An ADU is a dwelling that is either attached or detached from the main house that exists on the same lot. They are also widely known as mother-in-law apartments, granny-flats, cottages.

If you want to avoid solar in your ADU design haven't gotten a permit yet, you can't. If the ADU plans were submitted to the permit office in 2019 and your ADU will qualify under the 2019 laws and can avoid Title 24. 

Otherwise, there are two exceptions:

1. Correctional facilities like jails 
2. If you're building a high rise. These codes only impact new buildings under three stories tall. 

If you start an ADU project for your home after 2020, you are now adhering to the California energy standard to reduce energy consumption by adding solar panels to your home. ADUs must include a solar energy system that can generate enough to offset the dwelling's annual electrical usage. 

Net-zero electricity's goal is to reduce the use of carbon-based fossil-fuels by offsetting the amount of power we consume with a source that can generate electricity. This means that the total amount of energy that the building consumes on an annual basis must be equal to roughly the same amount of renewable energy that is generated on the site. Thankfully, it isn't required to be net-zero electricity yet. Instead, the guideline as of 2020 is to add a modest-sized solar array to your new building. Each city can have its own set of instructions. For example, Santa Monica, Pasadena, and Lancaster have standards that are above the state's requirements. 

So if you shoot for the goal of achieving net-zero energy, you be ahead of the curve. With the expected energy code changes across the next decade, you won't need to add more solar panels in the future. Plus, your energy consumption is only going to get larger, not smaller. If you're interested in getting prepared for an increase in rate hikes from your utility provider like SCE or PG&E, you'll be glad; you went solar.

We've never had a customer regret not getting more panels; they only regret not getting more panels. Most of our customers have asked to add solar panels to their existing solar energy system. Most homeowners expect that they will use more electricity in the future, not less.

Most homeowners want to know the minimum number of panels that are required to add for your ADU. The minimum that we have seen installed on an ADU is to have at least eight (8) panels for 1,000 sqft or less. 

As early as possible because they will be required when submitting your permit to your local permit office. Title 24 impacts your ADUs permit application. You will also need to include site plans, evaluations, design, and what is known as a Title 24 calculation. Title 24 is a state mandate that impacts your local permit office. It impacts how energy efficient a building must be before a permit for the development is approved. 

Because ADUs tend to be small, it's harder for designers and architects to design to meet Title 24 regulations, and that requirement will now even more challenging starting in 2020. Also, this may add more upfront costs to your ADU project. 

Title 24 is a wonderful initiative that shouldn't hold you back from your ADU project. Now that you have a better understanding of how Title 24 impacts your ADU and the solar requirements, you should know that you need to ensure that your ADU design includes solar in the permit plans.