Hello City Menlo Park Council members,
My name is Kristin Hansen and I live at 535 St. Francis Place in Menlo Park. We recently completed a home remodel, during which we converted our home to being nearly 100% electricity-powered, vs gas-powered. We do retain a gas line for our clothes dryer, which we did not want to replace, and for our outdoor grill and fire pit, both of which are used very infrequently. Our HVAC system, water heater, pool heater, and all kitchen appliances are electricity powered, including our new electric induction range and oven.
Additionally, we installed 28 solar panels on our roof, a Tesla Powerwall, and solar-heated pipes that circulate our pool water to warm it. The solar panels and Powerwall also help charge our electric eGolf.
We worked with a Redwood City based company called Emerald Eco to design and implement our electrification and solar plans.
My main recommendation is that the city of Menlo Park initiate an educational / advisory program that proactively targets home builders and remodelers. When we filed permits to remodel, this would have been a perfect time for the city of Menlo Park to contact us recommending why and how we should consider phasing out gas as part of our remodeling process - but no one did! It was completely based on our own initiative plus financial capability.
I believe that many of Menlo Park's high net worth homeowners and remodelers would be very open to timely and educational outreach from the City, to nudge them towards better decisions. Imagine, for example, if every high-end remodel and rebuild occurring over the past 24 months on Oakdell included a required consultative meeting between the City and the homeowner, as part of the permitting process, to encourage them to review and consider non-gas alternatives for their home systems and appliances. This falls short of mandates (which are likely to incur headwinds, based on all the rhetoric I see on NextDoor, for example) but could have a huge impact nonetheless. This consultative step could include everything from informing homeowners about available rebates, to connecting them with other homeowners (like me) who are willing to provide testimonials about our experience.
Thank you for considering this input. I'd be glad to speak at the Aug 31st meeting, if helpful, but I'm not sure how to add myself as a speaker.
Best,
Kristin Hansen
415-309-0188
