Boston University Center for Computing and Data Science

Switching from fossil fuel sources to electric heating systems in commercial buildings will remain rare in Massachusetts without more financial incentives and government mandates such as building code and zoning requirements, a Boston-based business group says.

A report released this morning by A Better City Inc. recommends a pending update to the Massachusetts stretch energy code include a zero-net energy or zero net carbon requirement, and amending zoning codes for new construction.

“It is unlikely that thermal electrification will see widespread deployment in the absence of increased incentives and the implementation of mandates that necessitate electrification,” the report stated.

The report also mentions the option of minimum renting standards, an efficiency standard being applied to properties in England and Wales, which requires energy performance ratings for private rented properties and prohibits poorly-rated buildings from marketing space to new tenants until they retrofit the building.

The Boston Green Ribbon Commission estimates that a switch to electric heating would reduce the city’s greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent. While the city and state of Massachusetts have set goals for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, property owners are unlikely to make the switch without more financial incentives and government mandates, the report concludes.

The report says air source heat pumps, which have the lowest costs, as best suited for low- and mid-rise multifamily buildings. Ground source heat pumps systems have higher costs, but are suitable for commercial and multifamily projects with large sites. The technology is being used at Boston University’s $290 million Center for Computing and Data Sciences under construction at 665 Commonwealth Ave., which uses 31 wells drilled to a depth of 1,500 feet to supply all of the 350,000-square-foot building’s heating and cooling.

Commercial and large residential buildings account for more than half of the city of Boston’s greenhouse gas emissions, according to a 2017 study, and 10 percent of emissions statewide.

But only a handful of projects have been built or retrofitted with such systems, which carry higher up-front and operating costs. Air- and ground-source heat pumps and variable refrigerant flow systems cost more to install than conventional fossil fuel-driven equipment, and carry higher heating costs because of the current low cost of fossil fuels and high electricity prices, the report said. The disincentives to switch to electric are particularly strong among landlords with a short investment horizon.