Going Electric

A heating revolution for NYC’s buildings

Original publication by Urban Green Council • April 22, 2020

In order to cut emissions and comply with Local Law 97, New York City’s buildings will need to electrify their heating and hot water systems. This means replacing fossil fuel-burning boilers and furnaces with highly-efficient electric heat pumps.

Overcoming these barriers will be a multi-decade process, and we need to start now. Going Electric identifies nine next steps to jumpstart electrification in multifamily buildings.

Next steps for advancing electrification in multifamily buildings

Electrifying our heating and hot water systems will be a multi-decade process, which is why we need to begin paving the way now. To address the barriers to electrification in large residential buildings, we should:

What are heat pumps?

Heat pumps move heat inside in the winter and outside in summer. They are incredibly efficient and can deliver large amounts of heat, even on the coldest days, using very little electricity.

Even with today’s fossil fuel-dominated electric grid, heat pumps will save carbon in almost all building retrofits and new construction. Once renewable energy scales up in NYC, the savings will be dramatic, and electrification will be a critical path for buildings to comply with Local Law 97.

This report was made possible with support from The Scherman Foundation.