As state and local governments continue to take the lead in acting to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across their economies, policymakers across the U.S. are focusing on the role that buildings play in meeting climate change mitigation goals.

While public and private sector analyses reach similar conclusions — that reducing the carbon-intensity of buildings must be part of broader policy initiatives toward decarbonizing our economy — transitioning buildings away from utilizing natural gas for space and water heating to electricity exclusively presents significant challenges, from physical infrastructure and electricity grid modernization to the economics of retrofitting millions of households and commercial buildings.

These challenges are not necessarily insurmountable. However, pragmatic, stepwise solutions — rather than one-size-fits-all — will be absolutely necessary to achieve governmental building decarbonization goals by 2030 and 2050, respectively.