The City of Ann Arbor is committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2030 through its A2ZERO Climate Action Plan. Reducing emissions from buildings—responsible for 17% of Michigan's total emissions—is a critical part of this effort. In 2023, the City Council tasked the City with exploring incentives for residents and businesses to further cut emissions by transitioning to sustainable heating and electrification. However, there is currently no data on pathways for decarbonizing residential and office buildings within the city.

This research fills that gap by offering evidence-based pathways to incentivize building electrification in the absence of legislation mandating decarbonization. CLC Fellow Nyasha Milanzi utilized Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Cost (LCC) methods across 10-, 15-, and 20-year scenarios to identify the most cost-effective active and passive heating and cooling systems that minimize carbon dioxide equivalent emissions. The PDF details the LCA and LCC methods and presents preliminary results from a case study of a single-family home.

• Location: Ann Arbor, MI
• Project Team: Nyasha Milanzi (Fellow, Michigan Technological University), Will Garcia (Mentor, City of Ann Arbor), Lars Junghans (Technical Advisor, University of Michigan)
• Project Presentation (PDF)
• Project Deliverable: Sustainable Upgrades of New Buildings in Ann Arbor (PDF)