Santa Monica, CA became the first city in the world to require all new single-family home construction to generate Zero-Net Energy (ZNE), reported Realtor.com. ZNE means that newly constructed homes must generate renewable energy equal to what they will take from power utilities over a year. Santa Monica beat the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) deadline of 2020 for all new California homes to adhere to ZNE. All commercial buildings in California are required to adhere to ZNE by 2030.
Compliance with ZNE could raise the price of a $300,000 home by $23K. Also, for each $1,000 increase in home prices, 14,000 families in California would be priced out of the market, according to the National Association of Home Builders.