The Ashland Climate & Energy Action Plan (CEAP) was legislated in 2017. It set a goal for the city and its residents to reduce carbon emissions by 8% every year. This requires a reduction in the burning of fossil fuels, principally the gasoline we burn for transportation and the methane gas that we burn to heat our homes.
With assistance from city staff, we are working to consistently measure and publish progress towards those goals.
Fortunately, homeowners are increasingly opting to switch away from burning methane in their homes to using electric heat pumps. Below is some data our group has compiled from public records. As can be seen, more and more polluting gas furnaces are being replaced each year with clean heat pumps. Also, more new construction is being built using heat pumps. This has long-term positive impacts since gas furnaces usually emit more pollution than any other appliance in our homes.
Local Progress
Ashland residents should be pleased with the progress made thus far. Keep up the good work!
Limitations:
- These are counts of all appliances installed. Some appliances are not the primary heat source for a residence.
- Permits do not specify the previous fuel source. By themselves they don’t tell us when fuel switching has occurred.
- Only permits for existing 1 & 2 family residences are included in the above. Multi-family housing, new construction and commercial installs are counted elsewhere.
Notes:
- The above is a count of permits for new 1 & 2 family residences, multi-family residences and accessory dwelling units (ADUs).
- Some permits include both a replacement furnace and a new heat pump. For example, when a house is remodeled and a new accessory dwelling unit is added.
- The 2024 count is as of 5/30/2024.