Switching from gas is more complicated for apartments than for free-standing homes, but could apartments lead the way, asks DR WENDY RUSSELL, who is leading research into co-ordinated approaches to apartment decarbonisation.

The path to net zero requires various changes from all of us. Emissions need to be cut at every level, from the power sources that fuel our electricity grid to the decisions we make in our homes. 

Home electrification is a good example. Moving away from gas will reduce our pollution and may save us money. It’s also something we soon won’t have much choice about. 

The ACT government has signalled in its Integrated Energy Plan that the gas system in the ACT will be decommissioned over coming years, and well before 2045. So, electrification is something we all have to get on board with. But it’s easier for some homes than others.

Switching from gas is more complicated for apartments than for free-standing homes. Reasons for this include that apartment complexes have a single connection to the electricity grid, which is expensive to upgrade. And changes to the energy system may face various other infrastructure requirements and challenges.

Apartment electrification is also more complex, because it requires decisions to be made collectively about the whole complex, including decisions about investment costs. But could this “hard case” actually teach us something about how to transition?

In early stages of transition, electrification is generally consumer-led – people make the switch when they’re ready, including having the resources and capability.

This is fine, but it can reinforce inequities, as early adopters save money from electrification, and late adopters are potentially left holding the baby – the gas network, whose fixed costs will fall on fewer customers.

Not knowing how many people will make the shift and when can create uncertainties for a distributed energy system that needs to match supply and demand. New technologies such as electric vehicles add to these uncertainties. 

Apartment buildings may need to take a more co-ordinated approach. This means planning ahead and staging electrification changes so that supply and demand are co-ordinated within each apartment complex.

This co-ordination may require the addition of electricity generation such as solar panels, local energy storage solutions such as batteries or hot water, and collective solutions such as “district” hot water and heating or virtual power plants.

Investment in energy efficiency and low emissions appliances, and changes in routines and practices, are also likely to be important, both for individual households and at a building level.

These planned and staged changes will generally need to involve all apartments in a complex, including rentals as well as owner-occupied apartments. Thus, apartments could help us to explore co-ordination, collective solutions, new paths and new ways of working together. 

At the Australian National University’s Centre for Energy Systems, we are researching co-ordinated approaches to apartment decarbonisation.

We use this term to include electrification, energy efficiency, energy demand management and reducing energy use, because all of these are important. Our project looks at technical, social and policy aspects, and the challenges and opportunities that apartments bring up. 

The research team will use energy modelling to explore options for apartments and how they stack up in terms of emissions reductions, costs and savings.

It will integrate these models with insights from social research into the needs, aspirations and challenges of apartment residents and owners, and the challenges and opportunities of the strata system.

We think the main insight will be that there’s more than one way to electrify a building. In demonstrating options and new approaches, we hope the research will help apartment owners’ corporations, government and industry to make more informed decisions about electrification of these complex buildings. 

And we hope that this will contribute to more co-ordinated and equitable approaches to electrification of precincts, neighbourhoods, towns and cities.

More about the project at energysystems.anu.edu.au/research/projects/act-apartment-decarbonisation or email project lead Wendy.Russell@anu.edu.au or Michael.Thomas@anu.edu.au