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Credible, at-scale solutions for eliminating emissions from buildings are still in their infancy. Building decarbonization was cited only once—in a footnote—in the IPCC 6th assessment. However, attention to building decarbonization among policymakers and private sector practitioners is growing, especially in the U.S. This focus is necessary, as we need to decarbonize buildings to achieve local, national, and international climate goals. In the U.S., the built environment accounts for approx. 35% of economy-wide emissions.
New movements can pose an evidence synthesis challenge. Lack of published research, a steep learning curve, and a tendency to ignore relevant historical precedents can constrain the theory of change for the movement. The Building Decarbonization Coalition (BDC) addresses these gaps by drawing together a broad coalition of stakeholders to create and share knowledge. BDC’s membership consists of nearly 400 entities—ranging from multinational corporations like Daikin and Rheem to municipal governments, utilities, and individual practitioners—who are united in their commitment to reducing and eliminating emissions from the built environment.
At the What Works Climate Solutions Summit, we seek to present our findings from a trailblazing new investigation into neighborhood-scale building decarbonization, which is a set of tactics for transitioning thousands of buildings off the methane gas distribution network at once, instead of relying on millions of individual consumers to independently decide to electrify their equipment. We’ve interviewed hundreds of knowledgeable stakeholders across the U.S. to gather and synthesize information that cannot be found in a Google search or academic journal. We have also combed through extensive regulatory proceedings, legislative agendas, and gas company records to surface key insights that have been buried in bureaucracy. We are excited to share these findings with the international climate community so that we can build on this knowledge to evolve our strategy from neighborhood scale to planetary scale.