Investor demands, state mandates, and organizational sustainability goals are still driving building owners and managers to explore electrification for new and existing buildings, despite a change in federal priorities. But what does electrification mean in practice and how can building decision-makers manage the real-world considerations involved?
Josh Toothman, Managing Director, leading engineering and operations for JLL Property Management in the United States, will moderate a Monday panel at the 2026 BOMA International Conference & Expo that also features:
- Jason Bonomo, director, real estate – equity asset management for MetLife Investment Management
- Sara Hickman, senior vice president for Leading Edge Consulting Services
- Dave Intner, senior advisor – building decarbonization and energy codes and standards, Southern California Edison
- Daniel Murtagh, VP of engineering for BXP, Inc.
“It’s code in some areas that you shall not have natural gas installations for new buildings,” Toothman noted. “A lot of companies also have commitments to go to net zero carbon by 2030 or 2040. It’s all connected. We typically will get a fund, an owner, or some authority having jurisdiction that will say, ‘You shall reduce gas or go to net zero,’ and it’s not as easy as pushing a button. It requires a lot of capital investment in buildings.”
Top Considerations for Electrifying Buildings
The electrification landscape is highly complex, and the decision to electrify takes a lot of long-term thinking and capital planning. Toothman shared a metaphor from panelist Daniel Murtagh to explain the complexity: “If you went to your home and said, ‘I want to go net zero and have no gas in my home,’ your hot water heater is running on natural gas and maybe your kitchen stove does too—the cost to change that out, put in an electric water heater and electric stove, is in the thousands of dollars. In an office building, it’s in the millions. It’s not just push a button and make the change, it’s a significant change of purpose for the building.”
On top of the cost, there’s also the simple fact that moving to all-electric operation in a building that wasn’t originally designed for that will result in additional demand for the local utility.
“On occasion, the utility provider can’t support that large of a change for an existing building,” Toothman said. “When you design a building, the feed to the building from the utility only serves a certain amount of energy. We have actually seen a building that could not physically make the change because of the utility in place.”
Electric equipment also tends to weigh more than its gas-powered counterparts, so there may also be structural considerations involved, Toothman added.
How Are Electrification, Decarbonization, and Building Performance Standards Related?
The panel will also include an explanation of how electrification and decarbonization are two sides of the same coin in some ways. “At its core, decarbonization is about eliminating greenhouse gas emissions, and electrification is one pathway to get there by moving away from fossil fuels,” explained Hickman. “However, electrification is only truly decarbonizing when powered by renewable energy.”
Panelists from entry-level property managers to advanced professionals can expect to gain valuable knowledge from the panel, Toothman said. “We want people to walk away going, ‘That was fun, and I learned a few things,’” Toothman added. “A lot of us on this panel have been through these things before. Some people may not agree with full electrification, but you may still be forced to do it by the authority having jurisdiction, your owner, the fund that owns your building, or just an initiative. You still need to find a creative way to get it done, and there are options out there.”
Check out this panel—along with other learning opportunities—at the 2026 BOMA International Conference & Expo in Long Beach, California. Haven’t registered yet? Sign up today!
