Report aids local governments on policy options, pathways to electrify new buildings

A new report and infographic released by the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project (SWEEP) provides guidance for local governments on policy options and pathways to electrify new buildings.

The report, “Building Electrification: How Cities and Counties are Implementing Electrification Policies – with Adoptable Code Language,” provides insight to encourage more all-electric buildings. Such structures would eliminate natural gas and propane-fueled appliances and equipment as options.

This strategy is a way to improve energy efficiency, indoor air quality, and climate emissions in the built environment. It is a key to meeting climate and public health goals, according to a SWEEP press release.

“With the electric grid increasingly powered by renewables such as solar and wind, and with advanced technologies like heat pumps and induction stoves now widely available, most experts agree this is the quickest way to zero-carbon buildings,” the release says.

The report offers “the full spectrum of electrification policies they could adopt, along with examples of similar communities that have already gone down this path,” said Jim Meyers, SWEEP buildings program director and author of the report. “Going a step further, we’re providing code language that local governments can adopt directly into their building codes.”