Gas-powered building equipment fuels poses serious public health risks

Fifty years ago, the first federal emissions standards for vehicles were established.

But the second-largest human-caused source of nitrogen oxide pollution in the state, gas-fueled building equipment, remains almost completely unregulated. 

In Oregon, over half of homes rely on fossil fuels, primarily gas, for various purposes such as heating, water heating, clothes drying and cooking. This equipment emits nitrogen oxides, fine particulate matter, benzene, formaldehyde and carbon monoxide – many of the same pollutants found in car exhaust.

While Oregonians are aware of the health risks posed by gasoline cars, the extent of the pollution from fossil-fuel heating equipment is often underestimated, despite its significant impact. A recent report from health, environmental justice and climate groups reveals that fossil fuel equipment in the state’s residences and businesses produces more smog-forming nitrogen oxide pollution than Oregon’s power plants.

Fortunately, clean alternatives to polluting fossil fuel appliances are available. Heat pump technologies can provide space and water heating in buildings without generating onsite air pollution and can also offer cooling, which gas furnaces don’t provide. 

State and local governments in Oregon have the authority to transition homes and businesses gradually to pollution-free technologies by adopting healthy air standards for HVAC and water heating equipment. Similar standards have already been established in California’s San Francisco Bay Area and are under development in that state.

Implementing healthy air standards would significantly improve air quality across Oregon, reducing asthma and other pollution-related health issues and decrease health care costs. The total health cost  of fossil fuel heating equipment amounts to almost $88 million annually, according to a new report by Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility, Verde, Oregon Sierra Club and others. When considering climate damages from burning fossil fuels in homes and businesses, along with health costs, the total cost for Oregonians is staggering – approximately $1.1 billion annually.

Communities of color in Oregon bear a disproportionate burden of dirty air from fossil fuel heating equipment. For example, Black Oregonians are exposed to nearly twice the outdoor particulate matter pollution from residential gas furnaces and water heaters compared to white residents. This pollution exacerbates existing hotspots of pollution from other sources like industry, which are more prevalent in communities of color.

Transitioning to pollution-free HVAC and water heating equipment could significantly reduce emissions contributing to climate change. Fossil fuel combustion in homes and buildings produces more carbon pollution than Oregon’s entire industrial sector. Switching to heat pumps from gas equipment reduces climate pollution from the average Oregon home by 41% in the first year and an impressive 84% over the equipment’s lifetime.

Oregon has set a target to install over half a million heat pumps by 2030 and has joined eight other states in a 2024 agreement to ensure that 65% of residential HVAC and water heater sales are heat pumps by 2030 and 90% by 2040. However, the state lacks standards to facilitate achieving these goals.

This spring, Multnomah County has an opportunity to lead the state by initiating the development of healthy air standards for HVAC and water heating equipment, which could serve as a model for statewide action. A 2022 report from the Multnomah County Department of Health highlighted significant threats posed by continued fossil fuel use in buildings, recommending against combustion appliances “to protect public health, improve indoor and outdoor air, reduce emissions, and mitigate climate change.”

The longer we delay taking action, the more severe the public health and environmental justice consequences will become.