Electrifying commercial buildings and multifamily dwellings means replacing systems powered by fossil fuel with fully electric systems. This trend offers new challenges and new opportunities to those who build the buildings of the future and those who maintain them.
To understand why this change is happening, consider some of the factors driving electrification.
Global Movement – Reducing carbon emissions is a worldwide concern. The pressure to meet zero-emission standards now comes from every part of the globe.
Local Codes – More local entities are making laws that encourage electrification and discourage fossil fuel use.
Social Trend – Saving resources and preserving the quality of life for future generations is a cause that is close to the hearts of most everyone.
Customer Demand – End users not only want efficient and cost-effective products, they also want to know that the products they use are socially responsible. Many users are willing to pay a premium to make it happen.
External demand is not the only factor making electrification increasingly popular. A large part of electrification’s appeal is the benefits it offers to building owners and their tenants.
Health – Indoor gas combustion from onsite equipment used to heat buildings, heat water, cook, and dry clothes emits dangerous indoor pollution. It produces nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitric oxide, and particles that contribute to heart disease, diabetes, respiratory ailments, and other serious medical conditions. Electrification eliminates these hazards and makes the spaces we live and work in safer.
Environment Improvement – Electrification is the first step in achieving Net-Zero carbon emissions. This is a critical milestone in meeting global emissions targets and reducing global warming.
Increasing Control – Electrical devices and appliances are often programmable and enable owners to schedule use at a particular time of day. This empowers them to schedule usage when power is the cheapest and enhances the overall efficiency of power consumption.
Savings Potential – There is a premium for installing some electrical systems, but their operating and maintenance costs tend to be lower over their lifetime.
In some cases, choosing electric over gas allows you to eliminate entire operational systems yielding long-run cost savings.
What Does Electrification Look Like?
Electrification replaces the gas-powered systems in a commercial building or a multifamily residence with their electrical equivalent.
- Heat pump water heaters replace gas water heaters.
- Heat pump space heaters replace gas furnaces.
- Heat pump clothes dryers replace gas-powered clothes dryers.
- Induction ranges replace gas stoves.
- Installing solar panels.
- Installing a battery storage system.
Because electrical appliances perform equally well occupants rarely notice the difference.
Introducing Battery Storage
Battery storage plays an important role in achieving your electrification goals. An onsite power storage system increases your independence from the grid and mitigates the effects of power outages. Battery storage units also enable you to control your electrical destiny and monthly utility expenses by storing up power when it is most affordable and using it when demand is the highest and power is the most expensive.
A Design-Build Partner Makes Electrification Simple
This design-build partner will deploy their in-house engineering team to work with the architect and the owner to ensure that your needs and requirements for electrification are designed into the project before it breaks ground. The design-build approach not only streamlines the construction process. It guarantees that you have electrical experts involved in every phase of the construction to ensure all electrical systems perform as intended because they were designed correctly and installed by proven professionals.
How Hunt Electric Can Help
With eight different in-house divisions, we can meet all of your electrical needs. From installing a solar array to equipping your building with the latest technology, Hunt Electric gives you a single point of contact to address all your electrical issues.
Don’t be intimidated by the complexities of electrification. The right design-build partner can make the process simple. Contact Hunt Electric to learn more.
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