Solving the Large Building All-Electric Heating Problem

The push for building HVAC electrification1 (i.e., eliminating on-site fossil fuel consumption) poses new challenges for heating large buildings and campuses in a practical and efficient way. Common small- and medium-building all-electric solutions such as air-to-air heat pumps and variable refrigerant flow systems do not scale well for large building applications, and most existing large-building solutions require compromises. One novel solution, time-independent energy recovery (TIER), is an all-electric central plant design that combines thermal energy storage and energy recovery to improve on existing alternatives for large commercial and mixeduse buildings with respect to energy efficiency, cost-effectiveness, equipment spatial requirements and support of grid-interactive efficient building initiatives.