Healthy, Resilient California Schools with a Fraction of the AC
Good architecture is the first mechanical system. For years we designed schools with no air conditioning at all, just heating, natural ventilation, and good architecture. It worked beautifully. Then the climate shifted, and teachers came back after a hot summer with a simple message: we need AC. That wasn't passive design failing. It was a signal.
The answer isn't full AC everywhere. It's the smallest system that manages the risk, designed from the ground up with architecture doing its job first. I wrote about what that looks like, the comfort conversation engineers rarely have with owners, why ventilation and heating are actually a gift to designers, and what happens when you let integrated design tunnel through the cost barrier.
Title 24 2025 Highlights: Not Everything, Just the Good Stuff
2026 is here and with it a new energy code in California. We wanted to highlight some of the things we thought were most intriguing and people should know about, specifically the less discussed yet amazing optional restructured code format, so easy to find things!
We summarized this in the blog and for those who love media we made 6 short videos over on YouTube for you as well. Go check them out!
Maintaining the Machine: What California’s Energy Code Cycles Teach Us About Progress
Every three years, California’s building energy code evolves, adding new goals, tools, and layers of complexity. At A2 Efficiency, we’ve learned that progress in this field isn’t linear; it’s cyclical and collaborative. Each cycle builds on what came before, reminding us that progress also means maintaining what already works.
We’re revisiting the visual tools we created in 2023 to map the complex web of actors and timelines behind the code. With Assembly Bill 130 pausing certain residential updates, it’s worth asking: What does real progress look like when we’re maintaining multiple codes at once?
Thermal Comfort Design Assessments
As a building design professional, the art of explaining thermal comfort is a tricky topic since comfort is a very personal phenomenon and everyone has their own experiences and understands what comfort should be. While there are comfort standards, and in theory there have been for some time, few engineers and architects have time to read these in the myriad of things to pay attention to these days.
Demystifying Decarbonization
Decarbonization is reshaping how engineers and energy professionals approach building systems, infrastructure, and long-term planning. Here, we break down what decarbonization really means, why it matters, and how practical efficiency strategies can make a real difference for businesses, buildings, and communities.
