Case studies focus on electrification of large existing commercial buildings.
Status: Current
Funding Sources: California Energy Commission CBE Industry Partners
Project Objective
The goals of this project are to: 1) develop an interactive map for tracking electrification projects throughout the United States and Canada; 2) identify common attributes of retrofit projects; 3) identify best practices and the most salient challenges associated with electrification retrofits; and 4) facilitate industry outreach and information sharing among design and construction professionals pursuing electrification projects.
Significance to Industry
Building electrification has become the topic of much heated discussion among HVAC designers, building owners, and energy policymakers throughout the country as calls to address greenhouse gas emissions in the built environment have become increasingly urgent. Successful precedents for electrification projects on large commercial buildings (especially those in cold weather climates) are rare. The lack of successful examples of these types of projects poses a challenge as there are no agreed-upon “best practices” that designers, builders, and owners can use to ensure success in the projects’ financial and energy performance. The map developed by this project will provide much-needed information sharing in the industry, serving to streamline future projects as more best practices are identified.
Research Approach
The map was created in 2022, with around 45 projects. The research team established communications with various industry representatives who have been willing to share data on electrification projects they have been involved in. In 2025, the research team sought to update the map with projects that have begun since then, both re-engaging with previous contributors, and seeking projects from entirely new sources. This effort has expanded the map to include over 130 projects from 39 states and territories. Companies and organizations that have shared resources with us include Rewiring America, Taylor Engineers, AEI, and Western Allied Mechanical. We have also created a Google form to allow people to submit additional projects and grow the number of case studies in future updates to the map.
We have used the data we’ve gathered to create an interactive map on the Google “My Maps” platform. This map is functional, and publicly accessible here. We also created a version of the map in Awesome Table, accessible here, which has additional filtering features not available in Google Maps. We will conduct ongoing outreach to identify projects to add to this resource.