Large Commercial Building Boiler Electrification Guide

Building decarbonization is an increasingly important topic for owners of large commercial and multifamily buildings due to the increased city, state, and federal government regulations surrounding building greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as well as GHG emissions reduction goals of the building tenants. Space heating, especially in large commercial buildings, is a key component to building decarbonization. Most large buildings and many multifamily residences use natural gas or steam boilers to produce hot water to meet space heating demand and tenant comfort requirements. This guidance document focuses mainly on electrification strategies for fossil fuel boilers for existing buildings, which have greater challenges than new-construction applications. Although the topic of commercial building electrification has seen increased interest in recent years, the majority of projects and case studies focus on new construction rather than retrofitting existing systems, which make up the vast majority of commercial buildings.