Electrification & Decarbonization
The Frick Environmental Center for the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy. AIA COTE Top Ten honoree. Architect: Bohlin Cywinski Jackson.
“Building electrification” refers to using electric technologies instead of combustion-fueled technologies to supply the comforts of a modern building. An electrified building typically uses electric heat pumps for space heating and domestic hot water, as well as electric or induction stoves for cooking.
Electrification supports the long-term goal of building decarbonization. That’s because the grid is getting greener, and also because designing buildings to harmonize with the grid can reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions as well.
Electrification & Decarbonization
Deep Dives
Get up to speed on complex topics. You can also earn CEUs and download PDF Spotlight Reports.
-
Build More or Build Green? Affordable Housing’s False Choice
Feature Article
The housing crisis is also a climate crisis and a social equity crisis. If we change our ways, we can address them all at once.
-
AEC Was Left Out of a Key Decarbonization Pilot. What’s Next?
Feature Article
Science-based targets for the building sector no longer apply to design firms and most construction companies, but experts say AEC must continue leading the industry toward net zero.
-
IRA Tax Breaks May Reinforce Inequities, So We Need to Help
Feature Article
Four tax provisions could be used to include disadvantaged communities in the clean energy transition, but equity outcomes are unclear.
-
How IRA Can Take Ground-Source Heat Pumps Mainstream
Feature Article
Incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act help GSHPs pay for themselves faster than conventional HVAC systems—with far better performance.
Quick Takes
Jump straight to the essentials with these short explanations of green building concepts.
-
Building Decarbonization: Learn the Lingo
Explainer
Building decarbonization 101 for architects, engineers, and sustainability consultants cutting emissions from building materials and operations.
-
Building Decarbonization: How LCA and EPDs Fit in
Explainer
Life-cycle assessment and environmental product declarations reveal embodied carbon and other impacts, but it’s important to know their limits.
Product Guidance
Unbiased information from our product experts helps you separate green from greenwash.
-
On-demand Water Heat Goes All Electric with Heat Pumps, CO₂
Product Review
Intellihot electrifies commercial water heating using heat pumps, CO2 refrigerant, thermal batteries, and no need for water storage.
-
BuildingGreen Announces Top 10 Products for 2024
Product Review
BuildingGreen’s Top 10 industry-transforming products this year include innovative heat-pump energy storage, electric construction equipment, PFAS-free textiles, healthier lighting, PV circularity, and more.
-
Heat-Pump Water Heaters
Product Guide
Heat-pump water heaters are preferable to gas or electric resistance. Those that use CO2 as a refrigerant are future-proofed against refrigerant phaseouts and are also the most efficient.
-
Thermal Energy Storage Increases Heat-Pump Effectiveness
Product Review
Combining water-source heat pumps and ice-based thermal storage creates a “battery” that can provide all-electric heating and cooling, even in cold climates. And it qualifies for IRA funding.
In The News
We break news down to the essentials and provide expert analysis.
-
Talking COP’s Buildings Breakthrough with Lindsay Baker
News Analysis
The Buildings Breakthrough initiative offers a set of actions for the international building sector to collaborate on decarbonization and resilience
-
USGBC Certifies First LEED v5 O+M Projects
News Brief
USGBC announces the first three projects certified under the new LEED v5 Operations & Maintenance (O+M) rating system, still in beta testing.
-
EHDD Launches Spinoff of its Free Whole-Life Carbon Tool
News Brief
Free, whole-life carbon tool C.Scale spins off from EHDD as an independent public benefit corporation.
-
Industry Aligns on Federal Zero-Emissions-Building Definition
News Brief
The federal government finalized its definition of a “zero-emissions building” in June of this year, and now major industry groups have formally announced their intentions to align with it.
Perspective
Thought-provoking opinions from the most trusted minds in sustainability.
-
COP28: Noise and Progress
Op-Ed
The COP28 politics and protests were crucial, but behind the scenes, it was all about good-faith collaboration, community, and commitments.
-
Want to Love the Future? First, Figure Out What It Looks Like
Op-Ed
Bringing forth a habitable planet will require energy, ambition, and purpose. What will fuel this work? Not data and doomsaying—instead, imagination.
-
The Universal Low-Carbon Building Standard Does Six Things
Op-Ed
Here’s how we’re going to deconstruct “net zero” and rebuild it as a comprehensive standard that applies to every building.
-
This is the Universal Low-Carbon Building Standard We Need
Op-Ed
The building industry’s current net-zero-energy and net-zero-carbon standards got complicated for a reason, but they don’t have to stay that way.
Learning Resources
Syllabus supplements and CEU content, with automatic reporting for AIA and GBCI.
-
Build More or Build Green? Affordable Housing’s False Choice
Feature Article
The housing crisis is also a climate crisis and a social equity crisis. If we change our ways, we can address them all at once.
-
Build Green on a Budget: Lessons from Affordable Housing
Spotlight Report
-
Affordable Housing or Green Housing? We Can Say Yes to Both
Webcast
Yes, available funding for building and rehabilitating affordable housing is inadequate—but that’s all the more reason to get this right when we get the chance.
-
We Must Decarbonize Existing Buildings by 2050—but How?
Feature Article
Curbing carbon emissions requires that we address our vast stock of existing buildings. Here’s how to make the case and get it done.
Just For Fun
Something weird happens every April at BuildingGreen...
-
Public Demonstrations Challenge Company’s Decarbonization Efforts
April Fools
Decarbonization is the new buzzword in sustainability, but efforts to lower one product’s embodied carbon are being challenged by an increasingly agitated public.
