Design guidance: residential electrification
Resources for residential building owners, designers, contractors, and electrification program developers
Buildings are a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. Fully electrifying them using clean electricity helps us fight climate change. How can you minimize construction costs and infrastructure upgrades while maximizing energy cost savings and providing high-quality building environments, appliance features and performance? Here are some helpful technical resources and case studies to assist you in the development of electrification plans while maintaining safety and resiliency.
How to decarbonize within existing site electrical capacity
Heat pump water heating
Design recommendations for single-family and multifamily heat pump water heating.
- Heat Pump Water Heaters contractor training video (about 80 mins.)
- Highlight: Tank Life, Ventilation, and Recirculation Systems (about 7 mins)
- Highlight: Condensation and Seismic Strapping (about 1 min 30s)
- Heat Pump Water Heater Sizing Installation Guide (City of Palo Alto)
- Central Heat Pump Water Heater Prescriptive Pathway (California Energy Commission)
- Ecosizer Tool for Sizing Central Heat Pump Water Heater Systems
- Low-Rise Residential HVAC – Domestic Hot Water (90-minute technical roundtable)
- High-Rise Multifamily – Domestic Hot Water (90-minute technical roundtable)
Heat pump heating and cooling
- Low-Rise Residential HVAC – Domestic Hot Water (90-minute technical roundtable)
- High-Rise Multifamily – Domestic Hot Water (90-minute technical roundtable)
Heat pump pool heating
Manufacturer options, design considerations, energy cost savings, and equipment prices for heating pools with heat pumps.
- Pool Heater Heat Pump Guide
- Heat Pump Swimming Pool Heaters (Department of Energy)
Avoiding electric infrastructure upgrades
Strategies for residential electrification that enable full electrification without requiring an expensive and prolonged service upgrade process.
- Electrifying within 100 amps
- Smart grid technologies (Rewiring America)
- Load sharing & related devices (Canary Media)
- PG&E class on how to electrify without upgrading your panel
Whole building electrification
Recommended all-electric system types and guidelines for residential and commercial buildings.
- Building System Options for All-Electric New Construction
- Zero Emissions All-Electric Single-Family Construction Guide (Menlo Spark and Redwood Energy)
- ASHRAE Multifamily Advanced Energy Design Guide for Zero Energy Buildings
- Accelerating Electrification of California’s Multifamily Buildings (StopWaste and Association for Energy Affordability)
- Joint Analysis Shows On-Bill Savings By Switching From Gas To Electric Appliances
Pilot Project Results
Results from Peninsula Clean Energy pilot projects.
Final reports from 4 homes receiving combined space and water heating systems from Harvest (2023):
Questions?
Please contact us at programs@pencleanenergy.com