BETA: Commercial Buildings Pilot

The Challenge: Electrify and Decarbonize Commercial Buildings

To accelerate the electrification and decarbonization of all building end uses in the commercial buildings sector, we need examples of successful approaches for a range of building and ownership typologies, knowledge sharing, and an integration of emissions reduction strategies with capital planning.

MassCEC’s BETA: Commercial Buildings Pilot program works with participants to explore and disseminate approaches to commercial building electrification and decarbonization, helping to prepare our commercial building stock for net zero emissions by 2050.

About the Building Electrification and Transformation Accelerator (BETA): Commercial Buildings Pilot

The Building Electrification and Transformation Accelerator (BETA): Commercial Buildings Pilot is a MassCEC initiative that seeks to surface and prove out the technical, implementation, and financial models to serve as the basis for electrification and decarbonization of the commercial buildings sector. The Program will develop and pilot a decarbonization assessment process for commercial buildings approximately 20,000 square feet in size and larger and multifamily residential buildings with 15 or more units. The Program will provide free in-depth building audits to support commercial building owners in planning electrification and decarbonization retrofits. These custom plans will be utilized to create a robust set of market resources that support pathways towards full commercial building electrification.

Status

Open

Award Potential

Each participating building will receive an electrification and decarbonization plan, including direction to financing options and a recommended implementation timeline.

Application Deadline

Rolling, until 15 selected

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Program Goals

The end goal of each decarbonization plan developed under this pilot is to lay out the steps to eliminate the use of fossil fuels from the building, meeting interim targets and making the building “2050-Ready.” Plans will demonstrate replicable, cost-effective approaches to electrifying commercial buildings, including both “all at once” retrofits and “over time” approaches that leverage natural equipment replacement cycles. Through this program, MassCEC aims to create and test an assessment framework that is comprehensive yet also flexible enough to address the wide variety in the commercial building stock.

Project Team

MassCEC is pleased to have Slipstream Group, Inc. (Slipstream) under contract as the Lead Technical Consultant. Slipstream brings a group of experienced sub-contractors to the project, including the RISE Engineering, Symmes Maini & Mckee Associates, Inc., Rocky Mountain Institute, and TSK Energy Solutions, LLC.

Who's Eligible to Participate?

Project Sites must be one of the following building types to be eligible to participate in the Pilot:

Big box retail
Commercial office
Community buildings (non-profits, assembly, public service)
Food service
Healthcare facilities (e.g., outpatient, inpatient, community health centers)
Higher education
Hospitality and public amenity spaces
Hotel or dormitory
Laboratory
Mixed-use retail, strip malls, and large retailers
Multi-family
Religious worship
Retail, service centers, malls
Schools (Kindergarten through high school)
Supermarkets
Warehouses and distribution centers

Project sites must also meet the following criteria:

Commercial buildings (not including large multi-family buildings) must be over 20,000 square feet.
Multi-family buildings must have 15 or more units.
Project Sites must be located in a utility territory that contributes to the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust. This includes the Massachusetts service territory of National Grid, Eversource, Until, and municipal light plants that have elected to pay into the Renewable Energy Trust (please see masscec.com/municipal-lighting-plant-communities for more information).

MassCEC may, on a case-by-case basis, determine whether a project site that does not meet the above criteria is eligible, depending on other building characteristics.

Additional project eligibility requirements are detailed in the Program Manual.

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Application Process

Review eligibility requirements in the Program Manual
Preview the online application form and collect required information
Complete and submit an application

Apply

Application Materials

BETA Commercial Pilot - Program Manual

BETA Commercial Pilot - Participant Agreement

BETA Commercial Pilot - Utility Release Form

For Reference Only - Application Form

BETA Commercial Pilot: Overview & How to Apply

Learn more about the pilot, including

background and goals
applicant eligibility
the application process
the decarbonization planning process

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Which Program is Right for Us?

MassCEC's Building Electrification and Transformation Accelerator (BETA) has two pilot programs underway:

BETA: Commercial
BETA: Non-Profit

Both programs help decarbonize a wide range of buildings across the Commonwealth, but differ in eligibility criteria and services provided. The following table can help you decide which program better fits your needs.