HI SB748

Expands water heater options for new single-family home building permits beyond solar water heaters to include ENERGY STAR certified heat pump water heaters

Modifies variance criteria so that installation impracticability for solar heaters relates to poor solar resource, while heat pump heaters may qualify based on interior or exterior space constraints

Removes the 15-year life cycle limitation from the cost-benefit analysis used to justify variances for water heater installations

Requires demand water heaters (gas-tankless instantaneous water heaters) to be ENERGY STAR certified and backed by a life cycle cost-benefit analysis to qualify for a variance

Defines heat pump water heaters as systems that use electricity to move heat rather than generating heat directly