In a game-changing win for decarbonization, the Washington State Building Code Council (SBCC) voted on November 4, 2022, to require heat pumps for all space heating/cooling and water heating in new residential home construction. The new residential codes also include an update to improve ventilation requirements for new homes with gas cooking ranges.

These monumental updates, which will come into effect in July 2023,come on the heels of another SBCC decision earlier this year affecting commercial and large multifamily buildings. In April, Washington became the first state in the country to mandate all-electric space heating and hot water systems in newly constructed buildings, when the SBCC adopted a revised energy code requiring most new commercial and large multifamily buildings to install electric heat pumps. .

As Rachel Koller, managing director of zero carbon building alliance Shift Zero, explained in a statement why the SBCC’s decision is smart: “From an economic, equity, and sustainability perspective, it makes sense to build efficient, electric homes right from the start.” (See Why Heat Pumps are Key to Building Decarbonization).

National Context

Over 90 cities and counties in the U.S. have adopted similar policies to require or encourage building electrification. The Building Decarbonization Coalition tracks all local building electrification policies, with notable examples that include:

• Berkeley, CA: In July 2019, Berkeley City Council passed the nation’s first mandate for all-electric new buildings (i.e., no gas hook-ups in new construction).
• Denver, CO: In November 2021, Denver City Council updated building performance standards for large commercial and multifamily buildings to require the use of heat pumps as replacements for space and water heating at the end of lifetime for current appliances.
• New York City, NY: In December 2021, New York City Council passed Local Law 154,which requires all-electric for new buildings (phasing out fossil fuels first from low-rise buildings in 2024 and then taller buildings in 2027).

At the state level, building electrification policies include a Maine law committing to installing 100,000 high-performance heat pumps and California’s statewide building code that encourages electric heat pumps in new builds and requires all new buildings to be “electric-ready.” There have also been failed efforts, such as New York state’s proposed ban on fossil fuel heating in new buildings earlier this year.

In addition to policies aimed at decarbonizing the building sector, state and quasi-state agencies like the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and Efficiency Maine help residents increase energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by providing research and analytics, educational materials, technical expertise, and incentive programs.

Easier Said than Done

While heat pumps offer significant benefits such as energy efficiency, carbon dioxide emissions reductions, and cost savings (despite the significant upfront investment), adoption is still lagging behind what is required to achieve greenhouse gas reduction goals.

Significant barriers to adoption remain, as Catalyst podcast host Shayle Kann alludes to in his provocative opening sentence of a recent episode: “At long last, the era of heat pumps has arrived…is a sentence that I would like to be able to say with more conviction than I can right now.”

Shayle and his colleague, Andy Lubershane of Energy Impact Partners, discuss several intertwined barriers to adoption. One major challenge is the high cost of installation, which is partially because the workforce and supply chain are not yet developed at scale.

Costs can vary significantly based on the size of the home, efficiency rating of the heat pump (higher-efficiency units cost more), and whether the installation requires other retrofits, such as updates to the circuit breaker or duct installation. The customer experience can also be unsatisfactory if working with contractors unfamiliar with the technology.

There is also still room for technology improvements, primarily for cold-weather heat pumps. The U.S. Department of Energy is trying to address this through its Residential Cold Climate Heat Pump Technology Challenge, but for now it is true that heat pumps are generally less efficient in extremely cold weather (though often still more efficient than fossil-fuel powered heating systems).

Lastly, Shayle and Andy note that we must consider the impact on the grid when heat pumps cause dramatic increases in electrical load, especially in extremely cold climates when their coefficient of performance (i.e., energy efficiency measure) decreases. Their conversation illuminates the nuances of building electrification and how it fits into a larger decarbonization strategy.

Federal Funding helps with Heat Pump Adoption

Despite these challenges, heat pumps are a key part of any building decarbonization strategy, and Washington, with its relatively clean grid and mild temperatures, is well-positioned to take advantage of their energy efficiency benefits and cost savings. In colder parts of the state like eastern Washington, the recent building code updates allow new home builders to install backup systems that run on natural gas to provide heating in the absolute coldest temperatures when a heat pump is no longer as efficient.

While the energy code updates address new construction, replacing heating systems in existing buildings represent another huge opportunity for emissions reductions in the building sector.

Households can take advantage of incentives from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), such as direct rebates in HEEHRA, which are available to low- and moderate-income households, and the 25C tax credit for heat pumps and heat pump water heaters. Contractors can also benefit from the IRA’s electrification and energy efficiency contractor training grants and incentives available to contractors for qualifying electrification and energy efficiency projects.