Session W24: Equity Considerations in Energy System Decarbonization

Decarbonizing the Built Environment through Equitable Thermal and Building Science

There is no pathway to a clean energy future that does not prioritize a transformation in how we use, store, and generate energy in our buildings. Buildings in the U.S. are responsible for 74% of electricity consumption, 39% of U.S. energy usage, and 35% of U.S. carbon emissions. To meet our clean energy goals, practical and viable energy storage solutions are necessary to align energy efficient consumption with clean energy generation. Novel and innovative thermal energy storage solutions are needed to provide the most effective and viable pathways towards this end.

However, as we rapidly develop scientific and technical solutions that enable a clean energy future, we have to prioritize (1) the people living and working in these buildings, (2) how buildings impact communities, and (3) a just transition, in which benefits and costs are more equitably distributed. There is no one-size-fits all solution for clean energy technologies in buildings, and if we do not intentionally identify and address unique challenges, solutions and plans will not scale and achieve national impact.

The talk will conclude by challenging the scientific community to examine the connection between equitable and scientifically credible R&D.   

Phasing Out Natural Gas in the Residential Sector: Climate and Equity Considerations

Building decarbonization is a core building block to achieve climate targets, and relies in part on phasing out gas in the residential sector. This transition away from gas is even more important when considering the lifecycle climate impacts of methane leakage throughout the entire gas system. However, climate change is not the only important consideration in this transition: our energy system holds implications for public health, energy affordability, safety, reliability and resilience. Depending on the pathway followed, the residential energy transition has the ability to either mitigate or exacerbate these impacts — and the distribution of these impacts, of particular concern for low-income households, communities of color, and other historically underserved communities who frequently face disproportionate impacts from our fossil-based energy system today.

In this presentation, we will first outline the non-energy implications of gas use in the residential sector, including for climate, affordability, indoor and outdoor air quality, reliability, and other dimensions. We will then look at transition scenarios that pose a risk of prolonging or even increasing the public health and equity impacts of building energy use, including the energy affordability risk for those who face economic and other barriers to electrification and are left behind using — and paying for — an aging gas distribution system. We will next use case studies in Colorado and Maryland to demonstrate an alternative pathway wherein systemic investments in building decarbonization can be used to alleviate energy cost burdens while reducing climate and air pollutant emissions, with a focus on reducing burdens on low-income and health-vulnerable populations. Finally, we will present a framework for considering the managed decline of gas infrastructure alongside the managed adoption of clean energy technologies to realize the greatest public health, equity, resilience, climate, and other co-benefits when integrated over time.   

Developing Metrics to Assess Justice and Equity Impacts of Early-Stage Research

Physics is a central component of early-stage research and development of virtually all technologies. But as much as scientific breakthroughs often hold the key to high efficiencies, long lifetimes, and high stability in devices for countless applications, early-stage choices research choices, such as those around materials or processing, can also serve to lock in long-term social and equity impacts of deployed technologies. This talk will explore how scientists can start to consider these impacts, with a focus on the energy sector and achieving a just and sustainable energy transition. We discuss development of the Justice Underpinning Science and Technology Research (JUST-R) metrics framework—a suite of metrics targeted at early-stage researchers to assess justice considerations in their work. The framework is evaluated for its appeal to researchers and effectiveness at promoting integration of justice considerations into research through case studies, which reveal its ability to broaden researcher perspectives and key avenues for future improvement.