Buildings
A New Approach to America’s Rapidly Aging Gas Infrastructure
Spending on America’s Gas Systems Has Grown Dramatically in Recent Years Across the United States, the utilities that provide natural gas to homes and businesses have rapidly increased total spending, tripling from roughly $5 billion per year to $15 billion between 2009 and 2017, according to data from the American…
Making Our Existing Buildings Zero Carbon: A Three-Pronged Approach
To keep average global temperature rise to less than 1.5°C—which the IPCC states is necessary to avoid climate catastrophe—we need to fix our buildings. They are the largest end-users of energy, producing nearly 40 percent of US carbon emissions. Today, only a small fraction of our buildings do not produce…
Innovation Opportunities in Grid-Interactive Efficient Buildings
What if buildings could communicate with the electric grid to save money and reduce their environmental impacts? Buildings drive up to 80 percent of the peak demand on the grid, and peak demand drives grid investments in generation, transmission, and distribution assets, so there is a huge opportunity to balance…
Equity and Climate: A Solution for Home Rentals
Lack of affordable housing and energy burdens plague many people and communities. Cities throughout the United States are looking for solutions to create greater equity. Many of these cities are part of the over 3,600 US cities, states, and businesses that have pledged support for the goals established in the…
Decarbonizing Buildings for All
Lowering carbon emissions from the buildings sector (which produces nearly 40 percent of US carbon emissions) is a crucial part of getting to a decarbonized economy. However, when we implement efficiency or renewable energy projects in buildings, the projects are often targeted to those who can afford new technologies.
