Building Electrification and why it’s important
A report on recent presentations to MCL’s Climate Action Working Group (CAWG) Building Electrification
by Kate Powers
It’s becoming ever more clear that buildings are having an outsized impact on global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Most buildings run on multiple fuels — electricity to power lights, refrigerators, electronic devices; and fossil fuels, such as natural gas (methane), primarily to power furnaces and water heaters. It’s the use of natural gas in buildings that is responsible for about one quarter of Marin’s GHG emissions. Building electrification is the shift away from fossil fuels combustion toward the use of clean electricity for space and water heating, as well as for appliances.