Decarbonizing buildings through electrification is critical for governments and industry stakeholders worldwide to reach their net-zero targets. Over the past decades, a number of cost-effective technologies for electrifying office buildings have come online. However, the adoption of such technologies is hampered by behavioral barriers and market failures. In this project, we propose the development of a comprehensive analytical framework that describes the economics of electrification in commercial real estate. Our framework will provide streamlined decision-making tools and behavioral intervention strategies for industrial stakeholders and policymakers to accelerate commercial building electrification adoption.

In collaboration with Randolph Kirchain (co-director of the MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub), SUL has received the MIT Climate and Sustainability Consortium Seed Awards. The project “The Costs and Benefits of Circularity in Building Construction”, led by Siqi Zheng, Faculty Director of MIT Center for Real Estate, aims to identify barriers and incentives for the adoption of circular building practices that might be targeted for further adoption, and to develop interventions to address misperceptions amongst builders.