California: It’s Electric

California has committed to cutting greenhouse gas emissions, increasing renewable and carbon-neutral resources, with a goal of 60% renewable energy by 2030 – in less than eight years. By 2045, the state aims to be completely carbon neutral, replacing fossil fuels with renewably-generated electricity. Electrification of multifamily buildings has been a growing trend in California since 2017. Now, electrification is opening up into a full-blown transition as California realizes there is no way to reach its zero-carbon ambitions while burning natural gas at properties. 

What is Electrification?

Simply put, electrification is when a building replaces its gas-powered systems and appliances with electricity-powered systems and appliances. A fully electrified building uses no natural gas on-site whatsoever. When a property integrates solar photovoltaic (PV), it allows for the production of electricity generated on-site at a lower cost than traditional gas-powered utilities. Because of this, electrification is leading the way as one of the most sustainable solutions for buildings, creating improved energy efficiency and management while ensuring property compliance. 

The Future of Electrification in California

This year marks a watershed moment for electrification: new buildings will likely be subject to a new version of Title 24 that contains an all-electric baseline beginning in 2022. This will make natural-gas-free buildings the default choice for most new developments. For existing buildings, a key transition occurred in California’s lucrative incentive programs. These programs are sunsetting their incentives for LED lighting while ramping up their incentives for electrification technologies. The incentive programs can often cover 50-100% of the cost of an electrification retrofit, but achieving this requires the expertise of a partner, like Bright Power, who can help navigate the complex web of overlapping incentives. 

For property owners, a move towards decarbonization provides opportunities to decrease their portfolios’ carbon footprint while simultaneously increasing net operating income through the electrification of their properties. Utilizing our Find, Fix, Follow approach, our team assesses current property energy usage to find areas of improvement, which we then fix with system improvements and upgrades. We then follow the performance of your building systems to ensure continued high performance and decreased carbon emissions. 

This transition to electrified buildings fundamentally alters the core systems inside multifamily properties. Do you want to be a leader in electrification and control your portfolio’s transition through utilizing incentives, or do you want to wait until it becomes mandated and incentives may not be available? Owners who have experience with electrification and other carbon-neutral technologies will be better positioned to take advantage of opportunities that arise, including reduced capital replacement cost and increased Net Operating Income.

Bright Power is a leader in electrification for multifamily residential buildings in California. We have improved building performance for more than 15,318 buildings and nearly 244,390 apartment units across the state. Contact us to learn more.