Electrification & Decarbonization of Buildings

 

Photo by Doris Morgan on Unsplash

Jan Filinger of Studio.e Architecture brought to my attention the advocacy efforts of many in our community to transition away from the built environment’s reliance upon fossil fuels. The impacts of climate change—including catastrophic drought and wildfires here in the western United States—are increasingly evident and intensifying exponentially. We cannot stop climate change, but we can attempt to slow its inexorable progress. Jan’s entreaty to his fellow professionals in the building sector was to add their names to a letter addressed to the mayor and city council that supports policies to transition structures from polluting fossil fuels to renewable electricity.

Electrification is a prevalent building decarbonization strategy. Switching space and water heating from natural gas-powered systems to electric alternatives (such as electric heat pumps) can slash carbon emissions and provide an effective path toward net zero (balancing the amount of greenhouse gases produced and the amount removed from the atmosphere).

According to the Community Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventory, natural gas—which is predominantly comprised of methane, a potent greenhouse gas and major contributor to global warming—accounts for 40 percent of Eugene’s fossil fuel use, while homes and buildings consume nearly 43 percent of all energy in Oregon. Building energy accounts for 32 percent of local emissions. Remarkably, merely swapping out gas appliances for electric ones would reduce the average household’s climate footprint by 50 percent. 

Building energy accounts for 32 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in Eugene.

Fossil Free Eugene—a coalition of grassroots organizations calling on the City of Eugene to take immediate action reduce our reliance on natural gas—points out our electrical grid is already very clean, largely reliant upon renewable energy sources (as much as 77 percent coming from hydroelectric generation). Fossil Free Eugene argues the obstacles toward total electrification of our new and existing building inventory, while substantial, are not so great that we should not immediately move toward that goal.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, NW Natural—the primary distributor of natural gas in western Oregon—is actively countering the evidence of climate risks through misleading advertising promoting continued consumption of their product. 

The letter Jan asked everyone to sign strongly encourages the City of Eugene to follow through with its climate commitments by reducing dependence on fossil fuels in our buildings and homes. The technology to build high-performance all-electric homes and buildings already exists, and innovation is driving even more advanced technology. To its credit, the City of Eugene passed its Climate Recovery Ordinance (CRO) in 2014, which set bold targets to reduce consumption of fossil fuels. Toward meeting these targets, the City is drafting ordinances prohibiting fossil fuel infrastructure in new low-rise residential buildings after June 1, 2023; in turn, new commercial construction will be required to do likewise. In 2021, the City Council directed the City Manager to formalize Eugene’s Climate Action Plan commitment to completely decarbonizing the entire existing stock of residential and commercial buildings by 2045. 

The council’s work session last week focused upon the development of a plan for community engagement in consideration of building electrification and decarbonization initiatives. I tuned in to the work session and was impressed by the depth and breadth of the discussion and the obvious appreciation by the mayor, the city councilors, and city staff of the significant charge they have assumed. Kudos to all for their commitment and dedication to realizing the CRO goals. 

Below is the letter Jan asked us to sign to demonstrate our support for policies intended to expedite the electrification and decarbonization of buildings here in Eugene. I added my signature today.

Mayor Vinis and Eugene City Council:
 
We, the undersigned Eugene and Oregon-based building industry professionals, urge you to adopt policies to transition homes and buildings in Eugene from polluting fossil fuels to renewable electricity as a proactive measure to address the climate crisis. We especially support programs to encourage the adoption of high efficiency heat pump systems in new construction, as well as in existing homes and buildings.
 
Homes and buildings represent approximately 32% of Eugene’s greenhouse gas emissions and are one of the fastest growing sources of emissions in the City. Since Eugene’s Climate Recovery Ordinance (CRO), initiated in 2014, calls for an average annual emissions reduction of 7.6% across sectors and a 50% reduction in fossil fuel use of 2010 levels by 2030, the City is far from achieving its goals. 

To achieve our ambitious climate targets, protect our residents, and build a viable future for coming generations, we must utilize the best building techniques and technologies that are currently fully adopted in the marketplace, readily available, affordable, and environmentally preferable. That is why we support the policies currently being considered by the City of Eugene to transition our city to renewable electricity by requiring that new commercial and residential buildings be constructed with all electric heating and water heating, and to create a program to transition existing residential and commercial buildings to all-electric systems for heating and water heating by 2035. In the Eugene Climate Action Plan 2.0 Gap Analysis, policies similar to those that the City is currently considering were suggested by City staff as a means of achieving our CRO goals, goals which the city is quickly falling behind on. 

These policies will strongly increase the rate of adoption of heat pumps, which is critical both to reducing emissions in the City, as well as increasing our community’s resilience to climate-driven heat waves, wildfires, cold spells, and reducing strain on the local electrical grid. 

In addition to being all-electric, the immediately tangible benefits of heat pump systems are multifold: 

• Heat pump air conditioners provide both cooling in summer and heat in winter, offering increased resilience in climate-driven extreme weather conditions
• Heat pump air conditioners are between 300% and 500% more efficient than traditional gas furnaces
• Heat pump air conditioners and some heat pump water heaters are effective even when outdoor temperatures are as low as negative 25 F
• Heat pump water heaters are between 300% and 500% more efficient than gas water heater
• Heat pumps can be scaled to any project – from residential and educational to large scale commercial and industrial buildings

Furthermore, new electric construction has significant benefits for health and safety, and the climate, including:

• Reduced indoor and outdoor air pollution and the associated health risks caused by unhealthy air quality from gas appliances 
• Reduced upfront construction costs and consumer utility expenses, thanks to the elimination of gas plumbing and necessary exhaust ductwork and to the great energy-efficiency of heat pumps and heat pump hot water heaters
• Reduced risk of consumers being stuck with stranded assets as the local, state and federal government pass policies to transition off of gas infrastructure 

It is time to signal to the market that we need to move away from fossil fuels in our homes and buildings. In our professional practices we have found that building all-electric new homes and buildings is a proven, robust, efficient, and economically viable solution already adopted across the marketplace. The market for electric-only HVAC and hot water equipment is mature and poses very little risk to developers and engineers alike. In Eugene alone, a significant number of new housing developments have been successful in adopting all-electric energy strategies including St. Vincent DePaul’s Iris Place, St. Vincent DePaul’s Stellar Apartments, and Square One Villages’ Opportunity Village. 

All-electric new construction will contribute to Eugene’s stated climate goals and will protect its citizens and future generations from the accelerating physical and economic impacts of climate change. Given this fact, we can no longer justify prolonging the use of gas in new construction when there are more viable, more sustainable, more profitable, and healthier alternatives readily available today. This is especially true as Eugene’s electrical grid is already one of the cleanest in the nation, and, with the implementation of Oregon House Bill 2021, Oregon’s electricity will be increasingly generated by renewable technology. 

A recent analysis from the highly respected non-partisan, non-profit think-tank RMI, demonstrated the significant economic and climate benefits of all-electric residential construction in Eugene. Specifically, RMI’s Eugene-specific analysis shows that: 

• All-electric homes constructed with an Energy Star-rated heat pump cost $3,446 less to build than a similar mixed-fuel home. 
• Because of low electricity rates and a mild climate, heat pumps in Eugene were also found to significantly lower annual utility bills, saving rate payers up to $390 a year in utilities compared to a mixed-fuel home. 
• All-electric homes in Eugene emit 70% less carbon over a 15-year period than a mixed-fuel home. 

The technology to build high-performance all-electric homes and buildings already exists in the market today and innovation is driving more advanced products. Concrete policies like the ones that the City of Eugene is considering meet a triple bottom line of benefiting our climate, our economy, and our community. 

Detailed research has shown that such policies are not only critical to meeting the City’s carbon reduction goals but will save Eugene residents money, particularly low-income and historically marginalized populations who suffer disproportionate energy burdens and harms from the health effects of gas in the home. 

The feasibility of successfully realizing such an ordinance is demonstrated by the ever-growing list of cities and states implementing electrification policies, including: 

• New York City, NY
• San Francisco, CA
• Seattle, WA
• Denver, CO
• Los Angeles, CA
• Washington D.C.
• Boston, MA
• Berkeley, CA
• Brookline, MA

In 2010, when Eugene created its first Community Climate and Energy Action Plan, it joined a growing list of forward-thinking cities around the world that are addressing climate change and energy challenges through dedicated planning efforts. Eugene’s CRO continues to include some of the strongest greenhouse gas emission reduction goals in the nation. 

Thanks to these strong commitments, Eugene is already a national leader in climate policy. At this critical point in time we, the architects, designers, builders, engineers, and suppliers at work in our community, urge you to uphold the bold commitments that you made a decade ago and have reaffirmed countless times since, and to push forward in taking this important step to effectively address the climate crisis. Let’s create a better future for our community by transitioning our homes and buildings from polluting fossil-fuel to clean, renewable electricity. 

Sincerely,

• Jan Fillinger, AIA, LEED ap, Principal, Studio.e Architecture PC
• Kaley Fought, AIA, AIA Oregon President 2022-2023, American Institute of Architects (AIA) Oregon
• David Heslam, Executive Director, Earth Advantage
• Alexi Miller, Acting Director of Building Innovation, New Buildings Institute
• Joe Emerson, Founder, The Zero Energy Project
• Jeff Bissonnette, Policy & Legislative Consultant, NW Energy Coalition
• Josh Salinger, Founder & CEO, Passive House Northwest, Founder & CEO, Birdsmouth
• Mike Steffen, Director of Innovation, Walsh Construction
• Alex Boetzel, Director of Operations and Sustainability, Green Hammer
• Cameo Konfrst, Communications & Development Director, Community Energy Project
• Mark Perepelitza, Principal, SERA Architects
• Neil Baunsgard, Transportation and Climate Advocacy Manager, The Environmental Center
• Mike Ardeljan, Owner, Dream Home Building and Design
• Peter Grube, Founder, NorthWest AeroBarrier
• Heather DeGrella, Sustainable Design Director, Opsis Architecture
• Angela Crowley-Koch, Executive Director, Oregon Solar + Storage Industries Association
• Pat Schellerup, Director of Operations, Imagine Energy
• Ashley Haight, ZERO Coalition Manager, ZERO Coalition
• Alain Rebeyrol, Architect, Composite Architecture LLC
• Carl Christianson, Owner, G. Christianson Construction
• James McDonald, Green Home Builder, Ecobuilding Collaborative of Oregon 
• Anita Van Asperdt, Landscape Architect, LandCurrent landscape architects
• Nir Pearlson, Architect, Aligned Architecture
• Teri Reifer, Manager, Covision LLC
• Quince A Sterry, Architect, Q Sterry - Inspired Architecture, LLC
• Dylan Lamar, Architect, Passive House Consultant, Cultivate, Inc.
• Jeremiah Chavez, Solar Installation Contractor-Project Manager, Energy Design Co.
• Rick Robertson, Builder-Owner, Six Degrees Construction 
• Rob Cellini, Owner, Home Rehab PDX
• Win Swafford, Owner/Member, Domestic Tranquility
• Jesse Elliott, Architecture, Voussoir Architecture, Inc.
• Eric Corey Freed, Architect, Director of Sustainability
• Mia Kalatzes, Architectural Design Associate
• Dean Lamoureux, Residential Design + Build construction
• Colin Dean, AIA, Architect
• Cameron Murray Ewing, Designer
• Gene Johnson, Professional Engineering / Principal
• Jocelyn Reynolds, Architecture/Associate Designer
• Justen Stiles, Architectural Designer, CPHC
• Nancy Yen-wen Chen, Associate Professor of Architecture
• Eli Nafziger, Architect
• Matthew Bokar, Architect
• Anne DeLaney, Architect
• Mark Young, Architect
• Alison Kwok, PhD., FAIA
• Gene Mowery, Owner's Representative/Project Manager
• Alec Dakers, Lead Designer and Partner, Rainbow Valley Design and Construction
• Tobin Newburgh, Lead Designer and Partner, Rainbow Valley Design and Construction
• Howard A Houseknecht, Residential builder
• Scott Stolarczyk, AIA, Architect
• Randy Nishimura, AIA, Architect