For any developer or owner with an eye to a more sustainable and resilient future, the choice between running a building on fossil fuels or renewable electricity should be obvious. The building sector is increasingly recognising that electrification has the potential to deliver a trifecta of benefits – for the environment, for society, and for long-term economic rewards.
For new builds, going all-electric is a reasonably straightforward matter of selecting electric options for cooking, heating, and hot water. For older buildings, the change won’t be as easy or as quick as flicking a switch – but it’s the right thing to do.
WHY GO ELECTRIC?
Until recently, gas has been a popular choice for heating, cooking and hot water. But gas is a fossil fuel. When we burn it, or when it leaks during transport, it contributes to our carbon emissions. In the past, the emissions from gas were lower than those associated with burning coal to generate electricity. But the electricity grid is changing quickly and will soon be dominated by renewables – such as solar PV, wind and hydropower – firmed by energy storage solutions.
As buildings move towards being powered by electricity generated from 100% renewable energy sources – and also minimise embodied carbon and maximise energy efficiency – the building sector can make a major contribution to the international quest to achieve ‘net zero’.
Electrification is not a fad. Major ratings systems (NABERS and Greenstar) are regularly realigning their benchmarks to favour all-electric buildings and will penalise a building for using gas. Tenants are seeking environmentally friendly and healthy spaces, investors are looking for futureproofed properties and portfolios, and owners are becoming increasingly aware that installing non-electric assets could risk early obsolescence or non-compliance.
While premium and A-Grade buildings are the first to be impacted (not least because blue chip and government tenants are already demanding electrification), it won’t be long before all other buildings will need to get their electrification journey underway.
WHERE TO BEGIN?
The good news is that for every gas appliance in a building, there is an electric alternative. Unfortunately, the ‘alternative’ might be bigger, more expensive, and in some cases not entirely suitable without other modifications.
Even though there are plenty of electrification solutions, it is important that any works are predicated on a proper ‘needs’ investigation. For an existing building, be sure to assess actual performance – because replacing ‘like for like’ may not be necessary and could be wasteful. For example, if a boiler was oversized when first installed, the new heat pumps in a like-for-like replacement will also be oversized.
Also undertake an energy audit. This audit should explore opportunities to save energy and reduce operating costs. If the audit and the needs investigation reveal that smaller ‘right-sized’ plant will serve, the reduced capital costs could compensate for the audit and investigation costs many times over.
REPLACEMENT OPTIONS – AND IMPLICATIONS
Gas boilers used for heating can be replaced by electric heat pumps, some of which can provide cooling as well as heating. Important considerations here are that heat pumps take up much more space, they contain refrigerants (some of which can be environmentally damaging if they leak), and they generally provide low-grade heat (55 to 60 degrees Celsius, compared to a traditional gas boiler that might operate at 80 degrees). This can be a problem, especially if heating coils are sized for higher temperature, as adopting lower temperature water might necessitate replacing these.
An important consideration for water-based heat pumps is the need to deal with the cold water rejected during operation. Heat rejection is less of an issue for air-based heat pumps, but these generally need to be located outside (perhaps on the roof), and they are much bigger than their water-based alternatives, so significant space will be required
A key concern for many is the impact on the electrical infrastructure of moving away from gas. Although adding new electrical equipment will increase overall electrical consumption, it may not lead to an increase in the electrical ‘demand’ experienced at any given moment, primarily because the heating loads will be lower than the cooling loads, and they occur at different times of the year (so the size of the wires coming into the building will often remain adequate).
There can also be specific and complex challenges with the adoption of instantaneous hot water heaters (in lieu of existing centralised gas systems), but these can be minimised or even nullified through clever design.
WHEN TO MOVE?
Technology is advancing quickly – so some electrification challenges won’t take long to overcome. There are already some smaller high-temperature heat pumps available using environmentally superior refrigerants, and don’t dismiss instantaneous hot water heaters (which only run ‘on demand’ and need far less maintenance).
In our view, electrification is not an area to sit back and ‘watch and wait’. Planning ahead is key to a cost-effective outcome, and this should start as early as possible. Taking action before projects become projects, and certainly well ahead of annual capital planning cycles, would see you well placed to approach change in the most beneficial and cost-effective manner.
Even if expected asset replacement at end-of-life is still some years away, a failure could happen at any time, so make sure you’re not caught off-guard and unaware of your optimal electric replacement options. If a new piece of equipment becomes obsolete in only a few years, it becomes an expensive mistake.
Look for unbiased advice to help you navigate the many technical options, filter through conflicting opinions, and assess the capital and operational costs as well as the lifecycle savings and benefits of your choices.
In today’s world, staying still means falling behind. Climate change is reason enough to act, but there are many other compelling business reasons why starting now and moving quickly on your electrification journey could be your most strategic investment.
About the authors
Steve Hennessy is WT’s Sustainability Lead. Leveraging decades of experience as a building services engineer with qualifications in carbon and management, Steve advises clients on sustainable building performance, commissioning, and reporting to leave a lighter footprint and achieve better building outcomes.
Firas Omair is WT’s Electrification and Sustainable Buildings Lead. He brings extensive engineering and quantity surveying experience from projects in the Middle East and Australia. Firas works across a broad range of sectors including buildings and energy, with a particular focus on innovation while advancing sustainability and environmental initiatives.
