Electrify Buildings and Transportation
RAP exists to help the energy community see what’s possible — and the electrification of our buildings and transportation is a remarkable example of what we can do together. The technological advances in both areas, and the growing public support for them, give the world a bold path for reducing greenhouse gas emissions with scale and speed. RAP is helping by ensuring that electrification is not only equitable but that it makes good sense.
Why This Matters
Advances in clean-energy technology developed for daily life won’t work if the infrastructure isn’t in place.
There is no way to reach climate-change goals without targeting the energy efficiency of the places where we live, work and gather — and all the ways in which we travel to them. Buildings and transportation define our energy consumption, which in turn means they amount to sites and sources of tremendous change. Electrification gives us the ability to use clean electricity directly and efficiently. That reduces air pollution, saves money, manages demand on the power systems and improves the comfort and health of a building’s residents and employees. Years of success have proven that electrification works in how we move and live. RAP is ready to support next actions.
What needs to happen
Electrification of vehicles and buildings, when powered by a decarbonized grid, only works if the technology is accessible and readily integrated into the grid. That’s why RAP is working to reduce barriers in every form: regulatory, technological, financial and more.
How Rap is Energizing Change
We are working with
policymakers at the
local level.
RAP is accelerating the switch to cleaner heating and cooling and driving by empowering policymakers with the tools to make electrification happen at the speed and scale needed. We understand the obstacles to overcome: energy price volatility; policymaking complexity and silos; changes in political priorities; and the tricky balance of budgets, the environment and consumer wishes.
RAP provides step-by-step roadmaps to equip decision-makers with facts and choices to ensure new electrified buildings and vehicles are fully integrated into our energy systems.
For buildings, we provide clear and actionable ways to switch away from fossil fuels, using efficient equipment like heat pumps. There are proven policy options and success stories showing that weatherization, worker training, building and appliance codes, and smart buildings deliver flexible energy demand and relief from the high costs of heating and cooling.
In transportation, the market for electric vehicles is growing rapidly. RAP’s role is to accelerate and expand that trend by making it easy and affordable to own and charge an EV — from family cars to public transportation to heavy trucks. The growth of electric vehicles can mean cleaner air and higher quality of life for people living in urban centers and communities along major highways.
INSIGHTS FROM RAP EXPERTS
January 28, 2021
Renovating Regulation to Electrify Buildings: A Guide for the Handy Regulator
