OLYMPIA (AP) — After efforts to restrict the use of natural gas in future commercial building heating systems in Washington stalled in the Legislature, the state’s Building Code Council adopted revisions to the state’s energy code that require new businesses and apartments to mostly use heat pumps to warm air and water starting next year.
The Spokesman-Review reported that the council approved the changes on an 11-3 vote Friday. The new rules take effect July 1, 2023.
Under the revised code, new commercial buildings would have to use heat pumps for space heating. The plan would effectively ban HVAC systems that use fossil fuels like natural gas — including most standard furnaces — or systems that use electric resistance, such as baseboard heaters, wall heaters, radiant heat systems and electric furnaces. Certain exceptions allow electric resistance to be used in specific situations as approved by a code official and some exceptions also would be allowed for space heating using a fossil fuel.
For water heating, 50 percent of water must be warmed by a heat pump system, while the rest can be heated by an additional source like electric resistance or fossil fuels.
