Cool Davis Home Energy Task Force Visits Potential Cool Home Tours Sites Featuring Electrification

by Brandon Rueda November 15, 2024

Community, Cool Solutions, Energy, Inspiration

Transforming Homes into Cool Homes through Electrification

At Cool Davis, we believe that every home has the potential to be a catalyst for positive environmental change. As we launch our next round of Make A Plan Home Energy Workshops, we’re identifying innovative residences on their path to becoming Cool Homes—homes that produce zero greenhouse gas emissions. Our Make a Plan Program empowers homeowners to take proactive steps toward home electrification, making this transition smoother and more effective.

The Cool Davis Home Energy Task Force spent some time in August visiting a few sites with this transformation underway. The Task Force meets once a month to review & plan program activities and check-in with partners, local industry leaders and contractors about trends, resources and overcoming barriers to household action. In attendance were Kristin Heinemeier and Bill Dakin (two local energy experts), Davis City Council member Gloria Partida, Climate Action Commission member Jim Cramer, Bill Heinicke (former Cool Davis Board President & Home Energy volunteer) and his partner Margie Mansell, Alex Sloan (Electrify My Home VP), and Pierre Delforge (Harvest Thermal Head of Product & Operations), Cool Davis Staff Chris Granger and Brandon Rueda.

The Importance of Planning for Home Electrification

Next year the Make A Plan program will be offering workshops in neighborhoods where homes like these will be featured as examples. Electrifying your home may feel overwhelming, especially when HVAC systems fail unexpectedly. However, by planning ahead, homeowners can make informed decisions, sidestepping the rush and challenges of retrofitting in a crisis. The benefits of this proactive approach are clear: reduced energy bills, enhanced home comfort, and significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

Each home and homeowner may have a different set of challenges and steps to take toward there goal so telling those stories can be an important pathway to help others think about and overcome their challenges. The Home Energy Task Force previewed these two sites to both evaluate the sites for future tour and to tell the stories of their progress.

Arlington Apartments—A Model of Small Multifamily Electrification

The Arlington Apartment complex is 10-unit building which is part of the original Village Homes development. Michael Corbett, a former Mayor of Davis, has been leading the journey toward total electrification that has been ongoing for over a decade. It is currently undergoing an ambitious retrofit that includes:

Heat Pumps and Water Heating: Units 1 and 2 are fully electrified with heat pump systems for heating and cooling, and two new 80-gallon heat pump water heaters are set to replace the old gas boiler.
Solar Power and Battery Storage: A photovoltaic (PV) system, with plans for expansion, will provide renewable energy for the apartments and power three electric vehicle (EV) chargers.
Window Upgrades: Ongoing replacements of windows with dual-pane alternatives enhance the building’s energy efficiency.

Corbett’s biggest challenge as a small organization has been finding the financing for these upgrades, however, support from Umpqua Bank is facilitating the next steps in electrification that is set to begin by year end. He prides himself on keeping the cost of rent down and he intentionally rents to lower-income and student households. So his hope with completing the electrification and renewable production, is that the residents will share in the lower cost as well greenhouse gas reduction in their homes.

Marina Circle: A Single-Family Home Electrification Success

UC Davis Professor Mark Huising, is on a mission to remove every bit of fossil fuels that he can from his life especially transportation and in the energy use in his home. This is a single-story ranch-style home built in 1972, accommodating five residents across 2,136 square feet. So far, he’s taken these thorough extensive electrification & sustainability measures:

Photovoltaic Arrays: Huising’s home features two PV arrays—4.48 kW and 3.2 kW—under the NEM 2.0 policy, strategically installed in anticipation of complete electrification.
Advanced Heating Systems: The old gas furnace and single-stage air conditioner were replaced with a Harvest Thermal system, incorporating a SANCO2 heat pump water heater and an Ecoer variable-stage heat pump for space heating.
New Ductwork and Insulation: Acknowledging that the previous ducts were 35% inefficient, new ductwork was installed, complemented by Aero-barrier technology for enhanced insulation—a cutting-edge solution from the UC Davis Western Cooling Efficiency Center. The UC Davis Western Cooling Efficiency Center paid for the insulation removal in the attic so that they could test their experimental sealing method.

Full Electrification: In January 2024, Huising achieved full electrification after the homeowner requested PG&E to remove the gas meter.
Low GWP (Global Warming Potential) refrigerants were selected. Direct GWP measures a substance’s heat-trapping capability relative to CO₂. California is leading the charge in banning high-GWP refrigerants. Indirect GWP accounts for greenhouse gas emissions resulting from energy consumption, such as burning fossil fuels for electricity. Low-GWP refrigerants enhance energy efficiency, particularly for residential air conditioning and heat pumps, where indirect emissions often outweigh direct refrigerant leaks.

Marina Circle First-Year Performance and Future Expectations: Huising has observed that the heat pumps, with a Coefficient of Performance (COP) just over 3.0, have been performing well in their first year. However, it’s important to note that this performance was achieved prior to adding insulation in the attic. Increased electricity use during this period should be viewed in light of the fact that the attic insulation was only installed a week prior. Without adequate insulation, the home’s heating and cooling systems had to work harder, leading to higher energy consumption.

Going forward, with the added layer of insulation, the Mark expects the system’s efficiency to improve significantly. The insulation will help retain heat in the winter and cool air in the summer, easing the load on the heat pumps. As a result, electricity use is expected to taper down, and the overall system performance should increase, making the electrification investment even more effective over time.

Marina Circle Financial Overview of Home Electrification: The total installation cost for the Harvest Thermal system, including new ducts and attic insulation, amounted to $55,000. After $3,000 in financing costs, the homeowner utilized various incentives to significantly reduce expenses:

- Inflation Reduction Act Rebate (30%): $16,500
- TECH Clean California Incentives: $6,300
- California Energy Smart Homes Rebates: $7,650

This brings the total net cost for the home’s electrification down to $27,550.

Community Impact and Next Steps

Both Michael Corbett’s Arlington Apartments and Mark Huising’s home exemplify the potential for reducing emissions and boosting energy efficiency within our community. The visiting Task Force members and Councilmember Partida had many questions for the property owners and the experts on site. These kinds of questions help the Cool Davis team think out the process and key features to show in these locations. Both owners have unique knowledge but more importantly are driven by their commitment to sustainability to make these changes. The Task Force members offered expert insights but also practical ideas about next steps as they continued their discussion with some of the contractor and technical experts after the tour at the local neighborhood brewery, Super Owl.

The Task Force will continue to discuss the range of home sites that best exemplify pathways forward, as we prepare for the Make a Plan Home Energy Workshops in 2025. We invite community members to suggest their homes as tour sites and to participate in our workshops & tours to gain valuable insights into the electrification process. Take our Home Energy pre-survey here and sign up to participate in 2025

Join the Movement Toward Sustainable Living

The path toward home electrification may seem challenging, but the rewards are substantial. By making a plan, you can be ready to make the switch to a carbon neutral household. We look forward to sharing more about our Make a Plan Program and Cool Homes during our upcoming workshops. If interested in showcasing your Cool Home, send an email to coolsolutions@cooldavis.org or check out our Make a Plan page.