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Large commercial and residential buildings must overcome various hurdles before implementing deep retrofits or capital projects that help achieve building decarbonization. In this section, we address technical barriers and questions often faced by building owners and retrofit project developers.

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TenantEquipment

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title	Decentralized Systems and Tenant Equipment

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title	Decentralized Systems and

Tenant Equipment

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Access to Occupied Spaces.

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Lease Concerns.

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Regulatory Limitations - Rent Stabilized Apartments

The building owner is required to provide free heat and hot water.
No mechanism to recover investment in new systems is necessary to achieve decarbonization.
Buildings are capital constrained

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Split Incentives (tenants pays pay for energy).

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title	Infrastructure

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title	Infrastructure

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title

High temperature renewable resources are limited and face hurdles:

Barriers to Electrification:

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Deep Bore Geothermal

2

Renewable Hydrogen

3

Carbon Capture and Sequestration

4

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Biomethane

5

Electric Boilers

6

High-temperature thermal storage

7

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Hight-temperature industrial heat pumps

8

Waste Heat Capture and Reuse

9

Fission

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title

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Utility Capacity Limitations:

1

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title	Building Electric Capacity Upgrades

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Electric

Riser Capacity

riser capacity
Switchgear

Expansion

expansion
New

Service

service/

Vault Expansion

vault expansion/

Point

point-of-

Entry Space Constraints

entry space constraints

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- Space

Heat

- heat and

Cooling

- cooling
- DHW
- Cooking
- Pumps and

Motors

- motors

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Capacity competition with other electrification needs:

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title

2

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title	Local Network Electric Capacity Upgrades

Excess Distribution Facility Charges (EDF)
Contributions in Aid of Construction (CIAC)

3 SystemPeak

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title	Gas Utility Earnings Adjustment Mechanisms (EAM) focused on

System Peak Demand Reductions

Partial Electrification concepts achieve deep decarbonization but do

notnecessarily

not necessarily achieve peak gas demand reductions (

debateable

debatable)

4learn more

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title	Total Connected Loads and Peak Demand drive need for capacity upgrades

Demand

capacityupgrades; demand

reduction strategies do not obviate capacity

limitationsunless

limitations unless the utility accepts the solution as a permanent demand/

loadreduction

load reduction strategy.

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Battery Storage:

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- Fire danger

title	learn more

- Space constraints
- Electricity distribution limitations
- Structural loads

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Fire Danger

Space Constraints

Electri Distribution Limitations

Structural Loads

Building Automation/BMS/Demand Response:

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title

- Cost
- Integration

Limitations

- limitations;

blackbox

- Blackbox software
- Microgrid

Development

- development
  1. Cost
  2. Lack of

Expertise

- 1. expertise

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On-site Generation:

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title

- Space

Constraints

- constraints
- Gas

Use

- use;

zero

- Zero carbon fuels availability is non-existent
- Structural

Loads

- loads
- Pipe

Infrastructure

- infrastructure

5

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title	Thermal Storage

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Space constrains

Space Constrains

Structural

Loads

loads
Technology

Limitations

limitations:

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title

- Vacuum insulated storage tanks
- Phase change material (DHW, space heating)

6hightemperature andheating Outdoor Space Constraints for Geothermal Wells

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title	Geothermal (ambient temperature), Deep Bore Geothermal (

high temperature) or Shared Loop District Energy Systems provide cooling

and heating with lower peak demand than standard electric equipment

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Building pipe riser limitations; need additional riser capacity:

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title

- Building water loops are typically “top down” - cooling capacity

istypically

- is typically located at rooftop mechanical penthouses; cooling

towersat

- towers at roof.
  1. Some exceptions to this rule
- Space Constraints

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Drilling Difficulty:

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title	learn more

- Outdoor space constraints for geothermal wells
- Difficult permitting
- Mud and cuttings disposal
  1. Contaminated soil disposal
- Overhead

Clearance Constraints

- clearance constraints for

Drilling

- drilling in

Basements/Garages

- basements/garages

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Shared Loop/Thermal Utility Limitations:

Expandtitlelearn more

- Requires entity that may operate in public ROWs and

acrossproperty

- across property lines
- Utilities are limited by regulations for gas, steam or electric

deliveryvs.

- delivery versus shared loop media (ambient temperature water).
  1. Only utility entities can provide very long amortization periods
  2. Utilities are best suited to work amid crowded

undergroundmunicipal

- 1. underground municipal ROWs.

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Deep Bore Geothermal Limitations:

- Requires test drilling and geological assessment
- Seismic

Risk

- risk
- Drilling equipment is very large - more akin to oil and

gasdevelopment

- gas development equipment
- Subsurface land rights and DEC restrictions

7attractiveeconomics

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title	Other Energy Efficiency/Conservation Measures with proven/

attractive economics (these measures are limited by lack of capital or knowledge)

Lighting with

Lighting Controls

lighting controls
High-efficiency electrically commutated motors (ECM)
Variable Frequency Drives (VFD) on pumps and motors

Retrocommissioning Tasks and Maintenance

8

Retro-commissioning tasks and maintenance

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- Water
- Electric
  1. Onerous regulatory compliance
- Heat and Cooling
  1. Rent stabilized

builidings

- 1. buildings prohibit

biling

- 1. billing for heat

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title	Behavioral Modification

Staggered

Work Scheduling

work scheduling
Telework
Submetering and

Billing

billing: potentially creates split incentive

betweenlandlord

between landlord and tenant:

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title

Aura - Tab

title	Decentralized Systems Facade and TenantEquipmentWindows

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title	Decentralized Systems Facade and TenantEquipmentWindows

UI Steps

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Work must be completed at the end of facade/window useful life; very long useful life

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Building code

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Glazing reduction at odds with aesthetic/marketability concerns

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Difficult installing with occupied spaces

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Reduce Local Law 11 recurring cost via overcladding

Aesthetic concerns
At odds with historic preservation
Capital intensive
Lot line limitations

UI Step

Technology Limitations

Need higher R-value/inch for thinner wall assembly:
- Vacuum insulated panels
- Aerogel panels/batts
- Zero-GWP blowing agents for closed cell spray foam (nitrogen blowing agent needs to be more widely adopted)

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title	Ventilation

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title	Ventilation

UI Steps

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Energy Recovery Ventilation (ERV)

Space constraints
System tie-in point accessibility/feasibility

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Rooftop Supply Air (Reznor) Unit Alternatives

Heat pump alternatives to eliminate resistance heat
Combine with ERV

UI Step

HVAC Load Reduction (HLR) Technology

Vent or capture exhaust gases
Space constraints
System tie-in point accessibility/feasibility

UI Step
Central vs. Decentralized Ventilation Systems

UI Step

Direct Outside Air System (DOAS)

Modular perimeter ducted air heat pumps:
- Competition for leasable space
- Space constraints

UI Step

Ventilation Points-of-Entry

Aesthetic concerns
Lot line facades/building setbacks
Competition with leasable space
Space constraints

Aura - Tab

title	Heat Pump Limitations Systems and TenantEquipment

Panel

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title	Heat Pump Limitations

and TenantEquipment

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Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF)

Fire and life safety concerns about volume of refrigerant gas located within occupied spaces.

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Regulatory risk from new refrigerant policies

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PTAC and VTAC

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Ducted Supply/Exhaust Air Source Heat Pumps

UI Step

Domestic Hot Water

Central DHW Systems:
- Limited domestic production
- Performance not confirmed by independent third parties
- More demonstration projects needed
Decentralized DHW Systems

UI Step

More open-source interconnection between devices/interoperability is needed to achieve energy distribution flexibility and capacity expansion:

Air source that has a manifold connection to interconnect with water source or refrigerant gas distribution
Interconnectivity/simplified heat exchange between refrigerants/water/air, etc.
Other options and add-ons

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title	Crossover Device or “Magic Box” Technology

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title	Crossover Device or “Magic Box” Technology

Info
Multi-purpose technology for heating, cooling, heat exchange and ventilation, filtration, and/or domestic hot water

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Domestic production and supply chain is limited

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Small players operating in this space

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Technology is not tested over long operational periods

Daikin, Nilan, Zehnder, Drexel und Weiss, Minotair, Build Equinox, Clivet

Aura - Tab

title	Zero Carbon Fuels Limitations

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title	Zero Carbon Fuel Limitations

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Green Hydrogen

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Renewable Natural Gas

Aura - Tab

title	Decentralized Systems and TenantEquipmentLow-Carbon Fuels

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title	Decentralized Systems and TenantEquipmentLow-Carbon Fuels

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Biofuel

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Biomethane

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title	Renewable Energy Procurement Limitations

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title	Renewable Energy Procurement Limitations

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REC Purchasing

NYSERDA monopolizes REC purchasing from renewable energy projects

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title	Pending Carbon Trading Programs Limitations

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title	Pending Carbon Trading Programs Limitations

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Deployment timeline is highly uncertain

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Price per ton of carbon is highly uncertain and will likely be volatile/low based on previous emissions trading scheme outcomes

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Key

High temperature renewable resources are limited and face hurdles:

Utility Capacity Limitations: