The Right Nudge: Targeted Interventions to Accelerate the Technology Shift in Buildings

The briefing proposes a phased framework for building decarbonization—moving from efficiency to electrification, renewable energy, and finally the removal of embodied carbon—to reach absolute zero. It argues that because the necessary technologies already exist, the primary barrier is cost and adoption speed. By performing segmentation analysis on real estate subsegments, such as large commercial office buildings, financial actors can provide targeted interventions that drive demand, push technologies up their learning curves, and lower prices for the broader market.

• The document proposes a five-stage framework for building decarbonization to align with a 1.5°C trajectory and reach net zero by 2050: starting with carbon neutrality, then moving to 'Net-Zero Carbon (NZC) Efficient' (removing inefficiencies), 'Net-Zero Carbon (NZC) Ready' (full electrification), 'Net-Zero Carbon (NZC)' (using renewable electricity), and finally 'Absolute Zero' (removing embodied carbon).
• Technological breakthroughs are not the primary requirement for decarbonizing the 13 percent of US emissions from building operations; instead, the goal is to use financial levers to make existing green technologies cheaper so they become the default choice.
• Large commercial office buildings are identified as a key subsegment for acceleration because they already have low energy use intensity and the lowest percentage of fossil fuel use, meaning they are closer to being NZC efficient and NZC ready.
• Increased demand for heat pumps, supported by the Inflation Reduction Act, is expected to drive down prices and lead to heat pumps supplanting gas furnaces as the industry standard.
• Continuing to install fossil fuel technology creates future financial liabilities in the form of retrofit costs and locks in volatile fuel choices that act as an economic drag.

APA

RMI (2022). The Right Nudge: Targeted Interventions to Accelerate the Technology Shift in Buildings. https://rmi.org/resources/targeted-interventions-to-accelerate-the-technology-shift-in-buildings/

Chicago

RMI. The Right Nudge: Targeted Interventions to Accelerate the Technology Shift in Buildings. 2022. https://rmi.org/resources/targeted-interventions-to-accelerate-the-technology-shift-in-buildings/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=The Right Nudge: Targeted Interventions to Accelerate the Technology Shift in Buildings |date=23 November 2022 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/targeted-interventions-to-accelerate-the-technology-shift-in-buildings/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2022right, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{The Right Nudge: Targeted Interventions to Accelerate the Technology Shift in Buildings}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2022}, month = nov, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/targeted-interventions-to-accelerate-the-technology-shift-in-buildings/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }