Our team recently completed LEED for Homes Platinum certification for The Grinnell, a 63-unit affordable housing project in Berkeley, California developed by Sa
Thanks to a recent presentation by Pierre Delforge from the Natural Resources Defense Council (select sides below), the case for deploying heat pump water heaters to replace both electric and natural gas models is becoming more clear for many.
Pierre began by showing that as our electricity gets cleaner, the natural gas we burn is making up a larger portion of greenhouse gas emissions. Two thirds of Bay area household CO2 emissions now come from burning natural gas.
And as the Pierre's chart below shows, heat pump water heaters are now and will continue to be the most effective way to reduce water heater CO2 emissions.
He used a helpful visual to show how heat pumps leverage the electricity they consume using the vapor-compression refrigeration cycle which results in 2-4 times more heat per kWh compared to heat generated directly from resistance.
In addition to the increased energy efficiency, heat pump water heaters hold the promise of helping to shift the load on the grid from peak to off peak when replacing existing electric water heaters. Pierre's chart below shows how urgent this need has grown.
Finally, his slide below shows some of the readily available heat pump water heaters. The time is now to completely embrace heat pump technology for our domestic hot water needs.
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