E-Buildings

The E-Buildings PI helps Sustainability and Facilities Managers plan and execute electrification projects in municipal buildings. Read our case studies below for examples of successful electrification projects.

  • Case Study: City of Burlingame

    The Empower Procurement Program contacted the City of Burlingame about potential building electrification projects. The City agreed to start by replacing two gas water heaters with heat pump units, a turn-key project with incentives covering 66% of the total cost. To meet the City’s greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction goals, it is critical to electrify existing buildings, which are by far the largest category of reduction potential. The City plans to continue using GK12 to replace the water heaters in five additional buildings. These projects alone would create almost 50% of the typical annual greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions the City achieved between 2005-15.

  • Case Study: Contra Costa Community College

    In 2015, the Contra Costa Community College District began planning several new buildings and upgrades at the Pleasant Hill campus of Diablo Valley College. From the beginning, the District Facilities Planning Team committed to making them ZNE-ready, which included building an all-electric central utility plant. This project had all the common barriers faced by low-carbon procurement and provides a valuable example of low-carbon procurement for large local government projects.

  • Case Study: County of Alameda

    The County of Alameda replaced eight gas water heaters with heat pump water heaters at no cost through PG&E's Government and K12 (GK12) Program, designed and implemented by Willdan. This case study documents the County's process and the environmental benefits achieved. It also reviews the barriers encountered and how the County overcame them and presents key learnings for other public agencies seeking to electrify their existing buildings.

  • Case Study: Piedmont

    The City of Piedmont was able to replace all its remaining gas water heaters with heat pump water heaters at no cost. This was made possible by combined funding from the PG&E Government and K-12 (GK12) Program and East Bay Community Energy’s Municipal Electrification Assistance grant. Piedmont may well be one of the first cities in California to eliminate all the small gas water heaters from its municipal buildings. This illustrates the City’s commitment to its Climate Action Plan and makes Piedmont a prime example of how smaller governments with simpler procurement processes can help lead market transformation.

Condenser equipment on the rooftop of a large building
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