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The Changing Landscape of Energy Efficiency
Commercial | Non-Commercial |
Improved insulation for walls, ceilings, floors, and windows | Improved insulation for walls, ceilings, floors, and windows |
Reduced air leakage through cracks and openings in the building envelope | Reduced air leakage through cracks and openings in the building envelope |
More efficient heating and cooling systems | More efficient heating and cooling systems |
Improved lighting efficiency | X |
Reduced water consumption | X |
Improved ventilation rates | X |
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Mountain View Seismic Ordinance
Following suit with many other California cities, Mountain View is mandating the retrofit of unreinforced masonry-bearing wall buildings constructed prior to 1933. The provisions of City code Article x111. – Earthquake Hazard Reduction in Existing Buildings depicts minimum standards for structural seismic resistance established primarily to reduce the risk of loss of life or injury and to reduce earthquake damage to rehabilitated buildings. So, what does this mean for Mountain View?
In the United States, seismic ordinances have been adopted in several jurisdictions, including California, Oregon, and Washington. These ordinances generally require the evaluation of buildings identified as being vulnerable to earthquake damage and the implementation of specific retrofit measures if the building is found to be deficient. The type of buildings typically covered by these ordinances includes unreinforced masonry buildings, soft-story buildings, and non-ductile concrete buildings. These requirements address critical safety concerns by increasing the likelihood that occupants can safely exit the building in the event of an earthquake.
Historically, many of these ordinances were passed because of devastating earthquakes. The 1994 Northridge earthquake resulted in 57 deaths and over $20 billion in damage. The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake caused 63 deaths and over $12 billion in damage. And the 1971 San Fernando earthquake resulted in 65 deaths and over $500 million in damage. These earthquakes – and others like them – led to a greater understanding of the importance of seismic safety. As a result, cities began mandating retrofits for buildings of a certain age and construction type. If your building falls into one of these categories, it’s important to get in compliance as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, many buildings in California are at risk of collapse during an earthquake. A study by the US Geological Survey found that, in a major earthquake, up to 28% of wood-frame soft-story buildings could collapse. Wood-frame soft-story buildings make up a large portion of the housing stock in California – an estimated 60% of all apartments in the state are soft-story buildings. Different cities in California have different seismic retrofit ordinances. The City of Los Angeles passed its Seismic Retrofit Ordinance in 2015, which applies to wood-frame soft-story buildings and non-ductile concrete buildings. San Francisco’s Soft-Story Program applies to wood-frame buildings with five or more stories that have soft, weak, or open-front walls and were built before 1978. And Berkeley’s Seismic Retrofit Program applies to all buildings, regardless of construction type or year built.
Mountain View is now mandating all buildings constructed or under construction prior to 1933 which have bearing walls constructed of unreinforced masonry to be retrofitted. Unreinforced masonry buildings are defined as any building built prior to 1933 containing walls constructed wholly or partially with any of the following materials:
- • Unreinforced brick masonry
- • Unreinforced concrete masonry
- • Hollow clay tile
- • Adobe or unburned clay masonry
- • Any other unreinforced tile or masonry construction material.
“This article shall not apply to group M occupancies; detached group R, division 3 occupancies; detached group R, division 1 occupancies with less than five (5) dwelling units used solely for residential purposes; nor to any undamaged building less than nine hundred (900) square feet and containing less than five (5) occupants as determined by 33-A of the 1985 Uniform Building Code.” Source
Time Limits for Compliance starting from August 12, 2022
Structural Analysis
REQUIRED ACTION BY THE OWNER | TIME FRAME FOR COMPLIANCE |
The building owner submits structural analysis or other data indicating that the building complies with this article; or | 270 calendar days from. |
The building owner submits structural analysis and plans for proposed structural alterations of the building to ensure compliance; or | 270 calendar days from. |
The building owner submits plans for the demolition of the building. | 270 calendar days from. |
Structural Upgrade
REQUIRED ACTION BY THE OWNER | TIME FRAME FOR COMPLIANCE |
The City council shall establish a mandatory compliance date for completion of the URM building structural upgrade for demolition. | Within 120 calendar days from the end of the 270-calendar day structural analysis period. |
Letter of Intent
REQUIRED ACTION BY THE OWNER | TIME FRAME FOR COMPLIANCE |
The building owner shall submit a letter of intent to the building official stating intent to upgrade or demolish the building. | Within 180 calendar days after the council adopts the mandatory compliance date. |
1 Where two (2) or more adjacent buildings under separate ownership are to be rehabilitated simultaneously, an extension may be allowed, with a suggested minimum extension of six (6) months. An extension could be granted on submission of a binding agreement between the owners involved, with the actual date of compliance to be determined by the chief building official.
Furthermore, while Mountain View does not currently mandate the retrofit of wood-frame soft-story buildings (as of January 2022) it is likely the city soon will, and this provision will apply to existing buildings that have the following characteristics:
• Ground-floor wood-frame construction with an open layout
• Minimum of two stories
• Three or more dwelling units on a single parcel of land
• Constructed prior to approximately 1980
The May 2018 Mountain View Soft Story Study Report, estimates that approximately 488 buildings within the City of Mountain View would fall within the scope of this potential wood-frame soft-story building ordinance. The 488 buildings identified within the survey have at least three residential units, a total of 5,123 housing units which represents about 16 percent of the city’s total housing, which rivals the percentage of earthquake-vulnerable homes in Oakland and San Francisco.
Seismic retrofitting is vital for the safety of your tenants, employees, and customers. It’s also required by law in many cases and can result in heavy fines from the city for non-compliance. Additionally, if your building is found to be at risk of collapse in an earthquake, you may be ordered to vacate the premises until the retrofit is complete. Check with your city to see what ordinances apply to your commercial building, don’t wait until it’s too late – retrofit your building today and help ensure the safety of everyone inside.
New Energy Benchmark Laws for 2023


"I have a firm belief in the ability and power of women to achieve the things they want to achieve" - Eleanor Roosevelt
A Brief History of Labor Day

Fun Fact: As of 2021, 65% of Americans believe there is intelligent life on other planets!

Stephanie’s Section
Aliens vs. Voyager 1 Do you believe in aliens? It’s a question that has been debated for centuries, and there is still no clear answer. There are those who firmly believe that aliens exist, and others are convinced that aliens are nothing more than a figment of our imagination. There is no right or wrong answer, but it’s certainly an interesting topic to debate. Recently, Voyager 1 has been at the center of this very debate. How and why? You may be wondering what is Voyager 1? Voyager 1 is a space probe launched by NASA on September 5, 1977, to study the outer solar system and interstellar space beyond the sun’s heliosphere. Voyager 1 has been in operation for almost 45 years, and still transmits data back to earth through the Deep Space Network! Recently, Nasa’s engineering team is investigating a mystery taking place on the Voyager 1 spacecraft. The vehicle is more than 11 billion miles from Earth, and for the past several months has been sending back strange readings that have left engineers baffled. As the most distant human-made object from Earth, Voyager 1 is operating at the edge of the solar system, beyond the Sun’s influence, and while the craft is successfully receiving and executing commands from Earth, the readouts from the probe’s AACS (attitude articulation and control system) show something strange is happening on board. The AACS maintains the craft’s orientation, keeping the antenna pointed directly at Earth so that data can be successfully sent back to Nasa. While all indicators suggest the AACS is working as normal, the readings show that something is interfering with the spacecraft’s ability to communicate with Earth. The interference is coming from an unknown source and it’s preventing Voyager 1 from sending back data at its full capacity. It appears Voyager 1 is detecting a never-before-seen interaction between particles from inside our solar system and particles from interstellar space. This is something that was not predicted by models of how these particles should behave. The new findings have been published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, and they could help scientists to better understand the environment around Voyager 1, as well as the transition between our solar system and interstellar space. “The spacecraft are both almost 45 years old, which is far beyond what the mission planners anticipated. We’re also in interstellar space – a high-radiation environment that no spacecraft have flown in before. So there are some big challenges for the engineering team. But I think if there’s a way to solve this issue with the AACS, our team will find it” said Suzanne Dodd, project manager for Voyager 1 and 2 at Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. Source Although the interference is preventing Voyager 1 from functioning at its full capacity, and the team is working to determine the cause of the interference, they haven’t been able to find a definitive answer. They’re confident that they’ll eventually be able to solve the mystery and figure out what’s causing the strange signals. This isn’t the first time that Voyager 1 has picked up strange signals. In 1977, the spacecraft recorded a series of pulses that were later determined to be from two objects colliding in deep space. The last time we picked up strange signals onboard the Voyager 1 it was later explained, but many have theorized that the spacecraft is now picking up signals from an unknown intelligent life form and that’s what is causing the interference. So, what do you believe? Are aliens causing the interference onboard Voyager 1?
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