Draft 2025 Energy Code Express Terms

Heat pump requirements for commercial buildings: 

"A. Retail and grocery building spaces in Climate Zones 2 through 15. The space-conditioning system shall
be a heat pump.
B. Retail and grocery building spaces in Climate Zones 1 and 16 with cooling capacity less than 65,000
Btu/hr. The space-conditioning system shall be an air conditioner with furnace.
C. Retail and grocery building spaces in Climate Zones 1 and 16 with cooling capacity 65,000 Btu/hr or
greater. The space-conditioning system shall be a dual-fuel heat pump.
D. School building spaces. For Climate Zones 2 through 15, the space-conditioning system shall be a heat
pump. For Climate Zones 1 and 16, the space-conditioning system shall be a dual-fuel heat pump.
E. Office, financial institution, and library building spaces in Climate Zones 1 through 15. The spaceconditioning system shall be a heat pump.
F. Office, financial institution, and library building spaces in Climate Zone 16 with cooling capacity less
than 65,000 Btu/hr. The space-conditioning system shall be an air conditioner with furnace.
G. Office, financial institution, and library building spaces in Climate Zone 16 with cooling capacity 65,000
Btu/hr or greater. The space-conditioning system shall be a dual-fuel heat pump.
H. Office spaces in warehouses. The space-conditioning system shall be a heat pump in all climate zones.
Exception to Section 140.4(a)2: Systems utilizing recovered heat for space heating. "

"ii. New or replacement of single zone packaged rooftop systems with a direct expansion cooling with
rated cooling capacity less than 65,000 Btu/hr shall meet the applicable requirements in Items a
through d below or shall meet the performance compliance requirements of Section 141.0(b)3.
a. Retail and grocery buildings:
1. In Climate Zones 3 through 13 and Climate Zone 15 shall have a heat pump or comply with
the requirements specified in Table 141.0-E-1.
2. In Climate Zones 2 and 14 shall have an air conditioner with furnace or a heat pump with
economizer.
3. In Climate Zone 1 and 16 shall have an air conditioner with furnace.
b. School buildings:
1. In Climate Zones 1 through 15 shall have a heat pump or comply with the requirements
specified in Table 141.0-E-1.
2. In Climate Zone 16 shall have an air conditioner with furnace.
c. Office and financial institution buildings:
1. In Climate Zones 3 through 13 and 15 shall have a heat pump or comply with the
requirements specified in Table 141.0-E-1.
2. In Climate Zone 2 and 14 shall have an air conditioner with furnace or a heat pump with
economizer.
3. In Climate Zone 1 shall have an air conditioner with furnace or a heat pump.
4. In Climate Zone 16 shall have an air conditioner with furnace.
d. Library buildings:
1. In Climate Zones 1, 3 through 15 shall have a heat pump or comply with the requirements
specified in Table 141.0-E-1.
2. In Climate Zone 2 shall have an air conditioner with furnace or a heat pump with
economizer.
3. In Climate Zone 16 shall have an air conditioner with furnace.

Controls requirements for commercial buildings: 

"(b) Controls for heat pumps with supplementary heaters, for non-residential and multifamily
buildings..
Controls for heat pumps with supplementary heaters for single family residential buildings are provided in Section
150.0(h)9. For non-residential and multi-family buildings Hheat pumps with supplementary electric resistance
heaters shall have controls:
1. That prevent supplementary heater operation when the heating load can be met by the heat pump alone; and
2. In which the cut-on temperature for compression heating is higher than the cut-on temperature for
supplementary heating, and the cut-off temperature for compression heating is higher than the cut-off
temperature for supplementary heating.

Exception 1 to Section 110.2(b): The controls may allow supplementary heater operation during:
A. Defrost; and
B. Transient periods such as start-ups and following room thermostat setpoint advance, if the controls provide
preferential rate control, intelligent recovery, staging, ramping or another control mechanism designed to
preclude the unnecessary operation of supplementary heating.
Exception 2 to Section 110.2(b): Room air-conditioner heat pumps."

Heat pump requirements for residential buildings: 

"ii. When an air conditioner is altered or newly installed in an existing dwelling unit, the system shall comply
with the following requirements:
A. A heat pump as the primary heating source and sized to meet the greater of heating or cooling
load. Supplemental heating may be provided by a new or existing gas furnace or by electric
resistance; or
B. An air conditioner shall meet the following requirements:
a. R-8 duct insulation when ducts located in unconditioned space; and
b. Measured leakage of the duct system must not exceed 5 percent of the airflow of the
system's air handler as confirmed through field verification and diagnostic testing, following
the procedures outlined in Reference Residential Appendix Section RA3.1.4.3.1; and
c. In every control mode, airflow shall equal to or exceeds 400 CFM per ton of nominal cooling
capacity through the return grilles, and the air-handling unit fan efficacy shall be equal to or
less than 0.35 W/CFM. These specific airflow rate and fan efficacy requirements in this
section need to be verified through field confirmation and diagnostic testing, following the
procedures outlined in Reference Residential Appendix RA3.3; and
d. Refrigerant charge verification requirements shall meet Section 150.2(b)1Fi; and
e. Vented attics shall have insulation installed to achieve a U-factor of 0.020 or insulation
installed at the ceiling level shall result in an insulated thermal resistance of R-49 or greater
for the insulation alone; and
f. Air seal all accessible areas of the ceiling plane between the attic and the conditioned space
in accordance with Section 150.2(b)1Jii.
Exception 1 to Section 150.2(b)1Fii: Compliance with Section 150.1(c)6 is not required if the
addition of the heat pump exceeds the existing main service panel capacity according to the
requirements of California Electrical Code Article 220.83 or 220.87 Documentation of electrical
load calculations in accordance with Article 220 must be submitted to the Authority Having
Jurisdiction for both the heat pump and proposed air conditioner.
Exception 2 to Section 150.2(b)1Fii: Compliance with Section 150.1(c)6 is not required if the
addition of the heat pump exceeds the existing heating load by 12,000 Btu/h or more.
Documentation of heating load calculations in accordance with 150.0(h). "

Controls requirements for residential buildings: 

"7. Supplementary heating control configuration. Heat pumps with supplementary heat, including, but not
limited to electric resistance heaters or gas furnace supplementary heating shall comply with the following
requirements:
A. Lock out supplementary heating above an outdoor air temperature of no greater than 35°F. There are
additional thermostat requirements in section 150.0(i)2.
B. The installer shall certify on the Certificate of Installation that the control configuration has been
tested in accordance with the testing procedure found in the CF2R.
C. The controls may allow supplementary heater operation above 35°F only during defrost; or when the
user selects emergency operation.
Exception 1 to Section 150.0(h)7: Room air-conditioner heat pumps.
Exception 2 to Section 150.0(h)7: Buildings in Climate Zone 15.
Exception 3 to Section 150.0(h)7: Buildings with a conditioned floor space less than 500 square feet in
climate zones 7. "

Heat pump requirements for residential multi-family buildings:

"3. Dwelling unit space-conditioning systems.
A. Heating system type. Space-conditioning systems serving dwelling units shall meet i or ii. Systems that cannot
meet the requirements of i or ii, including multi-zone systems and systems using central boilers or chillers,
shall comply with the performance requirements of Section 170.1.
i. Multifamily buildings three habitable stories or fewer. For Climate Zones 1 through 15, the spaceconditioning system shall be a heat pump. For Climate Zone 16, the space-conditioning system shall be an
air conditioner with furnace. Additionally, balanced ventilation systems serving these dwelling units shall
meet the applicable requirements of Section 170.2(c)3Bivc.
2025 Building Energy Efficiency Standards Page 15
SECTION 170.2 – PRESCRIPTIVE APPROACH
ii. Multifamily buildings four habitable stories or greater. For Climate Zones 2 through 15, the spaceconditioning system shall be a heat pump. For Climate Zones 1 and 16, the space-conditioning system shall
be a dual-fuel heat pump. "

Also---electric ready requirements

"SECTION 160.9 – MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS FOR ELECTRIC READY BUILDINGS
(a) General Requirements. Multifamily buildings shall comply with the applicable requirements of subsection 160.9. The
building electrical system shall be sized to meet the future electric requirements of the electric ready equipment specified
in sections 160.9(a) through (e)."

Controls requirements for multi-family residential buildings: 

"C. Heat pump controls.
All heat pumps with supplementary electric resistance heaters shall be installed with controls that comply
with Section 110.2(b). "