如何处理天然气将是面临最大和最艰难的挑战之一，即面临新的国家任命委员会在海湾州脱碳的委员会。
A 22-member panel appointed by the administration of Gov. Charlie Baker (R) will be tackling that and other thorny issues during the next 10 months, with buildings and homes accounting for roughly a third of all greenhouse-gas emissions in the state. The Baker administration has tasked the commission to come up with recommendations on how the state will meet its obligations under theGlobal Warming Solutions Actpassed last March. The legislation calls for Massachusetts to slash emissions below 1990 levels by 2030, ratcheting that up to 75% by 2040, then to zero net emissions by 2050.
为了到达那里，委员会（委员会（委员会）与房地产开发和公用事业高管和劳工领导人以及国家机构的人员和环境拥护者有关，将研究将房屋和建筑物转换为电力电力的方法，这将在接下来的二十年中是越来越多地由离岸风，太阳能和其他可再生能源提供。
“The crux of the issue, in my mind, is what we are going to do with natural gas and oil and the infrastructure that supports it,” says Elizabeth Turnbull Henry, president of the Environmental League of Massachusetts. “Are we going to continue to use these pipelines 30 years from now?”
最棘手的挑战之一是如何处理旧的办公室和商业建筑，这些办公室和商业建筑目前依靠天然气或石油供应。
Many of those buildings in Boston and beyond have struggled since the pandemic erupted in the U.S. two years ago. Companies are still sorting out what their remote-work/in-office balance will be when the latest surge finally recedes.
In addition, some corporate tenants are taking advantage of a glut of empty office space on the market to move up to better digs in newer office towers.
That has left owners of many buildings with declining revenues at the same time that state and city officials eye new and stricter emissions requirements.
“People are still trying to figure out, as we keep getting variant after variant, what the new world is going to look like after the return to work,” says Greg Vasil, head of the Greater Boston Real Estate Board. “We are already seeing people take less space.”
STANTEC Architectution的可持续性设计负责人兼高级助理Blake Jackson说，放松过渡的一种方法是，进行重大升级，而不是一次性项目，将其从天然气转变为旧建筑物的电力。在美国东北部
反过来，这些升级的重点将是能源效率。
Electricity is not as efficient for heating as natural gas. And if no other building improvements are made, such as pumping in insulation and installing energy-efficient windows, that will push up the cost for building owners and tenants, Blake says.
在没有明显的能源效率改造的情况下，大量的建筑物从气体转变为电气也会给电网带来很大的压力，即使它从对化石燃料的依赖转变为清洁但更间歇性，可再生能源的来源。
杰克逊说：“您确实需要减少建筑物来源的能源消耗量，这将使其实用，负担得起和理想。”
也有需要新塔的担忧and other buildings to go electric as well.
In particular, that could drive up the cost of housing, especially on the rental side, leaving tenants to grapple with higher utility bills.
“这里住房的成本已经很昂贵，”格布雷布的瓦西尔说。“当您开始进入零净值时，这对住房成本产生了什么影响，人们真的可以负担得起吗？”
该委员会将由能源与环境事务执行官副部长朱迪·昌（Judy Chang）主持，将于3月举行首次公开听证会。
The commission “will bring together stakeholders to take on our most pressing emissions reduction challenges in the building sector through a collaborative, inclusive approach,” said Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Kathleen Theoharides, in a press statement.
