Building electrification and decarbonization describes the shift towards electricity rather than fossil fuels for heating, hot water heating, and cooking appliances and systems. With intentional design and analysis, building electrification and decarbonization can cut energy costs, improve indoor air quality, enhance safety, and bolster tenant and community resiliency.
Electrification Can Include:
- Heating systems (boiler or direct-fired gas heating)
- Domestic hot water systems (water heater)
- Appliances (gas range, gas clothes dryer)
- Backup energy sources (generators)
Building owners need to consider their properties' age, electric capacity, physical space allocation, current fuel sources serving equipment and systems, and acceptable investment paybacks when making upgrades to their buildings.
Efficient Electrification
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The MEA advocates for
efficient electrification, which means that building owners should invest in the overall efficiency of their buildings before upgrading electric systems and appliances.
Furthermore, when evaluating systems that run on electricity, building owners should prioritize efficient equipment such as heat pumps, rather than electric resistance, when making investment decisions.
Has advanced rapidly in the past decade and a broad array of end uses can now be served with heat pumps.
- Buildings electrified efficiently will help ensure the overall transition to electricity does not contribute to utility cost increases for building owners and tenants.
- While electric equipment like heat pumps may be more expensive than electric resistance, operating costs will very likely be lower over the equipment's lifetime.
There are many grants, rebates, tax credits, and financing solutions for electrification improvements. Many of these incentives can be combined to maximize savings. Research available incentives based on your building type or visit the
Financial Resources page for an overview of all funding options:
Commercial & Multi-Family Buildings: Resources
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Building Electrification Technology Roadmap: This guide provides an overview of electrification technologies that replace traditional combustion technologies, site barriers to adoption, and the road to accelerate adoption.
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Medium-Size Commercial Retrofits: How to Electrify Mid-Size Office Buildings: This report analyzes the technical, economic, and environmental implications of retrofitting fossil-gas-fired space heating and domestic hot water systems in a prototypical 50,000 square foot office building.
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Space Heating Electrification for Large Commercial Buildings with Boilers Guide: Most large buildings and many multifamily residences use natural gas or steam boilers to produce hot water to meet space heating demand and tenant comfort requirements. This guidance document focuses on electrification strategies for fossil fuel boilers for existing buildings, which have greater challenges than new-construction applications.
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Central Heat Pump Water Heater Design Guide: Up until recently, electric resistance boilers - which lead to excessive cost and electrical capacity needs - were the only viable electric alternative for water boilers. However, central heat pump water heaters (CHPWH) systems are now commercially viable. This guide is intended to help design engineers become familiar with how to design CHPWH systems in commercial buildings, including multifamily and other multi-tenant buildings.
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2024 Turner Decarbonization Price Index: This price index provides an in-depth analysis of cost structures, market trends, and lead times related to the procurement and deployment of decarbonization technologies.
Single-Family Homes: Resources
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Electrification of Homes Without an Electrical Service Upgrade: Many homeowners are told expensive panel upgrades are needed to decarbonize their homes. However, there are many low-cost solutions that can help you avoid expensive upgrades. For more information on when panel upgrades may be necessary, view this presentation.
Cold Climate Air-Source Heat Pump List: The Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnership (NEEP) offers a list of air-source heat pump systems that meet the latest version of the ccASHP Specification. The voluntary specification includes requirements for both performance levels and a series of reported performance standards.
Air-Source Heat Pump Consumer Buying Guide: This guide helps consumers understand how heat pumps work, their major benefits, how to select the right type of heat pump, and how to find an installer who can provide a high-quality installation.
