The Economics of Electrifying Buildings: Residential New Construction

The analysis finds that all-electric single-family new construction is more economical to build and operate and produces lower lifetime emissions than mixed-fuel homes in all nine studied US cities. This is attributed to the efficiency of heat pump systems and the avoidance of gas connection costs.

• All-electric, single-family new construction is more cost-effective to build and operate and has lower lifetime emissions than homes with gas appliances across all nine studied cities. This is driven by the use of a single heat pump system for heating and cooling and a heat pump water heater, which avoids the costs associated with gas furnaces, water heaters, and new gas connections.
• All-electric homes result in lower annual utility costs due to the carbon and energy savings provided by heat pumps compared to gas appliances.
• Over a 15-year period, all-electric homes produce significantly lower CO2 emissions than mixed-fuel homes in all studied cities, regardless of whether gas remains a significant part of electricity generation.

APA

RMI (2022). The Economics of Electrifying Buildings: Residential New Construction. https://rmi.org/resources/the-economics-of-electrifying-buildings-residential-new-construction/

Chicago

RMI. The Economics of Electrifying Buildings: Residential New Construction. 2022. https://rmi.org/resources/the-economics-of-electrifying-buildings-residential-new-construction/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=The Economics of Electrifying Buildings: Residential New Construction |date=8 December 2022 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/the-economics-of-electrifying-buildings-residential-new-construction/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2022economics, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{The Economics of Electrifying Buildings: Residential New Construction}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2022}, month = dec, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/the-economics-of-electrifying-buildings-residential-new-construction/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }