Spring has sprung around the country; blooms abound, it’s hot, it’s cold, it’s unpredictable - what a theme! I would be remiss not to mention tariffs, which have taken center stage this week as we try to navigate the effects they’ll have on our manufacturing partners and their supply chains. I found this article from Homepros to be extremely helpful in understanding the (evolving) landscape.
In other news, I’m thrilled to share some amazing new resources from our team with you this month. We launched the first of our new quarterly research blog series tracking momentum across the decarbonization movement, which you can read here.
Additionally, we published the Thermal Energy Network (TENs) Legislative Guidebook, an incredible labor of love designed to help state policymakers, advocates, regulators, and energy enthusiasts shape the legal landscape for thermal energy networks. It’s a truly remarkable tool, and wow, TENs are popping up everywhere, just like flowers! That continues to be a source of hope for me, and just one of many indications that our movement remains strong.
Yours in Decarbonizing, Panama
Events
BDC National Policy Call: Connecticut
When: May 13, 2025, 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT
Join us in May for a Connecticut-focused BDC National Policy Call. Hosted by BDC’s Director of State Mobilization, Matt Casale, this call will feature Connecticut State Rep. Steven Winter, Shannon Laun from the Conservation Law Foundation, and Tom Wiehl, Legal & Regulatory Director at the Connecticut Office of Consumer Counsel. They will examine the past, present, and future of the state’s building decarbonization policy, providing attendees with insights that will help them advance building decarbonization initiatives in their states.
We invite you to join us for our monthly California building decarbonization policy discussion! Learn about legislation, regulation, and what’s on the climate policy horizon as our coalition works to advance neighborhood-scale decarbonization, statewide healthy air standards, and energy affordability.
Rachelle Boucher, BDC’s Senior Culinary Events & Experiences Lead, will join New York Times food writer Melissa Clark, composer-instigator Jad Abumrad, virtuoso trio Ji Hye Jung, and Sō Percussion’s Eric Cha-Beach and Jason Treuting in this playful evening highlighting maximum efficiency with minimal waste. Jad will unveil new percussion works, while Rachelle will host a live induction cooking experience with Melissa Clark and discuss how BDC is using policy, research, market development, and public engagement to equitably decarbonize America’s buildings.
When: April 23, 2025, 9:40 a.m. CT Where: Austin, Texas BDC’s Ashley Besic, Senior Associate, Thermal Energy Networks, will be joining Retrofit USA’s panel on "The Financial Equation: Making Sense and Making Hay—Out of Myriad Incentives, Grants, Rebates, and Loans." The panel will explore how building owners and facility managers can leverage incentives, navigate complex grant applications, and get the details on financial tools to make retrofits feasible. Use code SPKR15 for 15% off the registration cost.
Rebates and Incentives - Lowering the costs of electrification
When: April 23, 2025, 3 p.m. ET / 12 noon PT Join BDC’s Director of Digital Products, André Meurer, and other experts as they explore what types of government electrification incentives are currently available to homeowners and how homeowners can identify which incentives they qualify for. The event will discuss federal tax credits, federal Home Electrification and Appliances Rebates (HEAR), federal Home Energy Efficiency Rebates, state energy efficiency programs, and utility-based incentives, as well as what resources are available to homeowners to learn more about and apply for these incentives.
Transforming Maryland’s Buildings Can Create a Thriving Clean Energy Economy Baltimore Sun Brian Jenkins, BDC’s Mid-Atlantic Senior Regional Manager, makes the case in the Baltimore Sun for the ambitious agenda Maryland Governor Wes Moore has laid out to reduce emissions from Maryland’s buildings while also reining in consumers’ energy costs.
SUNY Can Be the Climate Champion New York Needs Empire Report Investing in shovel-ready thermal energy network projects at State University of New York (SUNY) campuses will lower the state’s climate emissions, create union career paths for family-sustaining clean energy jobs, and catalyze the growth of the thermal energy sector of New York’s emissions-free economy, write BDC’s New York Senior Campaigns & Communications Manager Allison Considine and NYS Pipe Trades Association President Greg Lancette.
Switching From Gas to Electric? Here are 3 Appliances That Are Easy to Install NPR The introduction of new battery-equipped induction stoves, window heat pumps, and plug-in heat pump water heaters that can use standard electric outlets demonstrates “the desire of consumers to start to move to all-electric appliances,” says BDC’s executive director, Panama Bartholomy.
Lennar Will Build 1,500 New Colorado Homes With Geothermal Heat Pumps Canary Media BDC’s Ania Camargo explains that geothermal heat pumps and thermal energy networks provide utilities and developers, like Lennar, with a cost-effective way to deliver clean, affordable heating and cooling, at scale, while minimizing strain on the electric grid.
From Our Blog & Newsroom
Momentum Q1 | 2025 Momentum, our new quarterly research blog, offers a holistic, state-based view of BDC’s four key indicators of building decarbonization momentum: market trends, neighborhood-scale projects, future of gas planning, and future of heat solutions.
Thermal Energy Networks (TENs) Legislative Guidebook The Building Decarbonization Coalition partnered with the Vermont Law and Graduate School’s Institute for Energy and the Environment to create this first-of-a-kind resource for TENs legislation. The guidebook analyzes laws from eight states with TENs-enabling legislation. It includes key recommendations and shares examples of different ownership models, financing mechanisms, labor standards, equity and affordability policies, and more—all supplemented by an appendix that compiles real statutory language. The guidebook also supports ideas for future TENs legislation to make progress toward a resilient, system-wide clean energy transition.
The California Heat Pump Partnership Launches Comprehensive Blueprint to Accelerate Heat Pump Adoption in California Regarding this announcement, BDC’s Terra Weeks, Director of the California Heat Pump Partnership, said, “This blueprint provides the first clear, coordinated plan between state leaders and major market actors to achieve California’s progressive heat pump target. Complete with actionable strategies to address a number of current barriers, it is a testament to the partnership’s commitment to rapidly scale the heat pump market across the state.”
From the Campus to the State: SUNY Leads by Example Leaders from the University at Albany, the Building Decarbonization Coalition, UpgradeNY, and the New York State Senate and Assembly gathered on March 10th for the groundbreaking of a thermal energy network (TEN) at the university that will make summers on its campus healthier, cooler, and more comfortable.
Heat Pumps Take Center Stage at the 2025 AHR Expo BDC’s Senior Workforce Development Manager, Shomari Davis, shares his perspective on this year’s Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration (AHR) Expo. His key takeaway? The show’s presentations and booths offered example after example of how the Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) industry is decisively moving away from pollution-emitting technologies that use natural gas and other fossil fuels and toward zero-emission heat pump technologies that use electricity.
Report Roundup
Furthering our commitment to knowledge sharing, we are excited to continue our ‘Report Roundup’ segment, which highlights insightful reports from other organizations in the building decarbonization movement.
Tenants at the Center: An Equitable Path to Building Decarbonization Stewards of Affordable Housing for the Future (SAHF), March 2025 The report reviews the tenant-landlord landscape in Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York. It highlights the difficulties tenants face within those housing markets and how decarbonization policies may exacerbate these problems if they are designed without tenant protections. The authors analyze existing legal frameworks, highlight the need for tailored approaches to tenant engagement and protection, and propose targeted legislative reforms.
Legal Levers to Promote Building Electrification Public Health Law Center, February 2025 This brief provides an overview of building decarbonization policies available at the state and local level, with a particular focus on understanding federal preemption considerations under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) following the California Restaurant Association v. City of Berkeley decision.
Targeted Electrification in New York State Switchbox, March 2025 This report evaluates targeted building electrification as an alternative to leak-prone pipe replacement in New York, finding that it could save an estimated $4.7 billion while electrifying over three hundred thousand households. To fully implement targeted building electrification, the report stresses the need to pass the NY HEAT Act, which would reform the state’s “obligation to serve” law.
Groundwork Data’s Senior Research Scientist, Dorie Seavey, has published two articles that examine what is (and what isn’t) really driving the rise of methane gas bills in Massachusetts:
Stakeholders and other members of the public can download the plan here, and provide input on specific sections of the plan through this form. The deadline for providing input on the draft plan is Friday, April 18, 2025.
