Amid scorching heat, Moore’s order lays foundation for efficient, clean cooling

A man cools off in a Manhattan fountain in June, as excessive heat has gripped the East Coast this summer. The weather is just another reason to applaud Maryland's zero-emission HVAC standards. Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images

The first day of summer in Maryland came with a warning : Code Red—Extreme Heat.

Across the state — from the panhandle to Montgomery County to the Eastern Shore – residents endured temperatures above 90°F. This heat wave caused more than 1,600 emergency room visits in one day throughout the mid-Atlantic. Since then, the Washington metro area has endured weeks more of temperatures above 90°F, peaking at 104 degrees in both D.C. and Baltimore.

The record-breaking heat shows that we must prepare now for the extreme conditions caused by climate change, especially as EPA analysis shows that heat waves are occurring longer and more frequently than before.

Fortunately, the first step toward universal clean cooling was taken when Gov. Wes Moore signed a visionary executive order ordering the Maryland Department of the Environment to develop zero-emission heating equipment standards (ZEHES) this year. The directive will ensure that all new HVAC systems in Maryland will soon be heat pumps, delivering highly efficient heating and cooling.

Heat pumps are an essential component of any strategy to make homes more resilient to extreme heat. Heat pumps use 18% less electricity compared to central air conditioning, providing lifesaving cooling amid peak summer heat at a lower cost. Upgrading to a heat pump could save families $705 per year on average on their utility bill, with a further $350 in savings when residents upgrade to a heat pump for water heating.

For low-income households who spend six times as much of their annual income on energy bills as Marylanders as a whole, these energy-saving heat pumps could offer financial relief.

The governor’s executive order does not impact existing heating equipment. Instead, after a date certain new systems would have to employ efficient heat pumps. This gives Maryland residents and businesses time to plan ahead toward their next HVAC system and the option to stack new rebates from EmPOWER Maryland along with federal rebates and incentives. It also sends a clear signal to contractors, installers, retailers and manufacturers to prepare today for higher demand for heat pumps.

These newly available rebates and incentives are important for underserved communities. The passage of HB 864 unlocks new state-level funding for heat pumps and helps low-income families, including those living in multifamily housing, to access whole-home retrofits and electrification.

Montgomery County has lead the way through its Healthy, Efficient, Electrified, Climate-Adapted Pilot (HEECAP), which funds competitively selected community partners to reduce emissions, provide gap funding for health and safety repairs and offer climate adaptations for low- and moderate-income homes, including the installation of heat pumps. The county’s Building Energy Performance Standards will encourage heat pump adoption in larger buildings. Maryland policymakers must work with counties and local stakeholders to ensure that these rebates and incentives are easy to navigate, saving people time and money.

The efficient heating equipment also addresses Maryland’s poor air quality. Fossil fuel heating equipment emits nitrogen oxides (NOx), a key ingredient of ozone pollution or smog. Replacing fossil fuel equipment in homes with cleaner electric technologies will bring urgent relief to Marylanders, particularly low-income and communities of color, who have had to shoulder many of the health and economic costs of this air pollution.

In 2017 alone, outdoor building pollution caused an estimated 163 premature deaths . Pollution from fossil fuel equipment in the Baltimore region is responsible for 3,500 cases of respiratory symptoms, 6,500 lost days at work and $1.3 billion in health impacts annually.

Despite the health impacts of fossil fuels, Maryland residents have subsidized for-profit methane gas companies for decades, artificially lowering the cost of fossil fuel heating equipment. This profitable status quo benefits shareholders while propping up an aging, sprawling gas pipeline that will soon become obsolete.

Gov. Moore’s executive order, however, charts a better path forward, one that is not beholden to the gas industry’s interests and recognizes the writing on the wall: a move to healthier, more efficient electric equipment. Highly efficient heat pumps are already proving to be a cost-effective and popular choice among Marylanders, with 54% of households on track to adopt the technology by 2030.

At a time when Maryland residents are enduring scorching heat, we can’t rely on inefficient AC systems and fossil fuels to bring relief. Instead, we must invest in cleaner, healthier homes with highly efficient heat pumps.

Gov. Moore’s executive order lays the foundation to do just that.

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