As businesses strive for ambitious emissions reductions, electrification has become crucial in supporting corporate climate efforts and helping companies adhere to tightening mandates. For the building sector, this means replacing traditional fossil fuel-burning equipment with electric alternatives, which offers an effective means to reduce operational carbon emissions. There are four major types of building end-uses that can be served by combustion-based building systems: space heating (or reheat), service water heating, cooking, and clothes drying/laundry.
While it may sound simple in concept, traditional electrification approaches for retrofits come with their obstacles (namely oversizing, which leads to costly, cumbersome equipment replacements), which begs the question: is there a better way to electrify?
This post explores the drivers behind electrification and highlights a unique approach for existing buildings that not only supports building owners and asset managers’ carbon reduction goals but also saves money. Note, while Stok assists clients in developing guidelines and sustainability standards that require all-electric buildings, we focus here on the immense potential for decarbonization in existing buildings.
DRIVERS: GOALS, GOVERNMENT, AND THE GRID
The growing push for electrification largely stems from companies’ increasingly bold sustainability goals aligned with decarbonization efforts. While strategies like energy efficiency, energy management, and renewables can significantly reduce the building sector’s carbon emissions, electrification is the only way to directly eliminate an existing building’s fossil fuel consumption.
At the same time, governments and regulatory bodies are implementing more aggressive electrification policies that businesses must prepare for before the impending mandates hit.
Moreover, as an increasing number of cities adopt carbon-free electricity grids, electrification has become an even more compelling solution. With the growing mix of renewable energy used for electricity production, the shift from gas appliances to all-electric appliances and technologies powered by an increasingly clean grid is widely recognized as a critical pathway for achieving significant greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction.
ROADBLOCK #1: OVERSIZING = OVERPAYING
Traditional electrification approaches for retrofits often involve matching the heating capacity of gas boilers in an existing building and proposing like-for-like electric boiler or heat pump replacements; however, this method has its flaws, the greatest of which lies in the fact that gas boilers and heaters have historically been oversized.
Conducting an infrastructure evaluation with the assumption that the existing gas equipment is already right sized will result in unnecessarily oversized replacement equipment assumptions, which will create a false understanding of capacity needs and can lead to an incorrect conclusion on true costs and feasibility. Ultimately, this traditional approach can be costly in both the short and long term. Additionally, upgrading existing electrical infrastructure with this approach can be time consuming and cumbersome.
One thing to note is that the electric boiler option is less expensive to purchase and install; however, it will lead to a significant increase in operational energy cost. The heat pump option is preferred since it is three to four times more efficient than gas or electric boilers to operate and offers significant reduction in carbon emissions.
ROADBLOCK #2: FLAWED SIZING APPROACH
Another pitfall for sizing electrification replacements with heat pump retrofits is using the same traditional approach as sizing gas water heating systems. Gas water heating systems are sized with low storage and high heat capacity; however, heat pump water heating systems should be sized oppositely – with high storage and low heat capacity. Thus, when using a like-for-like approach, the retrofit project will result in unnecessary and costly additional heat pump installations and electrical infrastructure upgrades. Understanding this electrification sizing approach for your retrofit is key to reducing upfront construction cost and minimizing equipment failure in operations.
A VALUE-ADD APPROACH: OPTIMIZING ELECTRIC OPTIONS
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- Rapid Calibrated Electrification Modeling: Stok’s unique approach, in partnership with an innovative third-party engineering firm, challenges traditional electrification practices. By avoiding oversized gas equipment and time-consuming load calculations, this approach utilizes rapid calibrated ensemble models to accurately assess actual heating and cooling load profiles in existing buildings and central plants. This enables the proper sizing of electric options, uncovering opportunities to leverage energy efficiency to better facilitate electrification, resulting in reduced upfront and operational costs and minimized electrical infrastructure upgrades, ultimately saving clients money.
- Comprehensive & Actionable Electrification Approach: As a whole, Stok’s approach is centered around creating meaningful and actionable recommendations with stakeholder engagement. We develop a range of viable engineered electrification options including direct equipment replacement technologies (such as electric boilers, heat pumps, and heat recovery chillers), integrated equipment and load approaches (such as load reduction and load management systems), and holistic approaches (such as heat recovery and integrated efficiency measures). Electrification options for food service including induction kitchens, onsite renewables, and battery storage potentials are also evaluated for a holistic electrification solution. Through a financial lens, Stok also develops a comprehensive capital cost estimate for implementing each proposed electrification scenario and explores federal, state, and local incentive opportunities to help with financing the implementation phase.
Electrification is a vital component of corporate climate efforts, offering a direct and immediate path to reduce carbon emissions. In existing buildings, where immense decarbonization opportunities exist, this unique approach revolutionizes traditional electrification practices by optimizing the sizing of electric equipment options, ultimately providing carbon reductions and a cost-saving solution. Embracing electrification in this way helps companies serve sustainability goals with a financial lens and contributes to a greener, more sustainable future.
