EHDD reposted this
Last week, we explored how emissions reductions from going all-electric with PV vary from state to state. But what does it mean at the project level? We modeled the same multifamily building in four cities using EPIC, and here’s what we found: ⚡ Electrification is effective, but the impact differs by location. 🔥 In regions with dirtier grids like Miami, going all-electric reduces emissions by 4%, but adding PV cuts emissions by 40%. The combined strategy achieves a 44% reduction, making PV a worthwhile investment. 🌊 However, in areas with cleaner grids like Seattle, going all-electric reduces emissions by 25%. However, adding PV can actually increase whole-life carbon by 5%. Since the grid is already so clean thanks to hydroelectricity and wind power, the embodied carbon from solar panels outweighs the benefits, making it more sustainable to simply connect to the grid. How do electrification and PV impact your project? Is electrification and PV the way to go? Or does electrification by itself make more sense? #utilitygrid #carbon #emissions #allelectric #PV #wholelifecarbon #embodiedcarbon #operationalcarbon #AEC #earlyphasedesign #ai #ml #architecture #sustainability #LCA #Lifecycleassessment
In Seattle PV is a net add for Whole Life Carbon for an individual building but reduces emissions for the grid as a whole, makes sense. So it sounds like architects should still be advocating for adding PV to buildings in Seattle for the greater good of cleaning up the grid? Thanks for the insight team c.scale!
Scaling Building Decarbonization
2moOne layer of complexity to add here: this is undoubtedly true at the level of an individual building whole life carbon assessment. At the "system" scale however adding more renewables to a clean grid in theory trickles down since grids are interconnected. So excess clean energy in one area can flow across to an adjacent grid. Isn't this what we learned on the Sonoma Clean Power project Ted Tiffany?