Program: Detailed

3:15–4:30 PM • ET Summit Tours of UC Davis

Sign up for a tour of two UC Davis facilities. Space is limited.

5:00–6:30 PM • Opening Reception

Join us for hors d’oeuvres, drinks, and conversation in the patio outside of the conference center.

8:00 AM • Breakfast

9:00 AM • Welcome & Opening Panel

Welcome

TUESDAY 9:00 AM • ALL BALLROOMS

Welcome by Gary S. May, Chancellor, UC Davis.

Affordability in the Transition to California’s 2045 Energy Market

TUESDAY 9:10 AM • ALL BALLROOMS

California has ambitious energy transition goals to reach over the next two decades. Our distinguished speakers from California Air Resources Board, California Energy Commission, and Southern California Edison will open the ET Summit with a discussion on the roles their organizations are taking to help achieve that future. Speakers will also talk about the challenges of developing affordable solutions and the potential steps that markets might take to increase adoption rates.

Moderated by Will Vicent, Deputy Director, Building Standards, California Energy Commission

Opening Panel - with Framing Remarks provided by Commissioner J. Andrew McAllister, CEC

Panelists:

Deana Carrillo, Director, RREDI Division, California Energy Commission

Larry Chung, Vice President, Customer Solutions, Southern California Edison

J. Andrew McAllister, Commissioner, California Energy Commission

Annalisa Schilla, Chief, Sustainable Transportation & Communities Division, California Air Resources Board

10:15 AM • Break

10:45 AM • Breakout Sessions

Industrial Efficiency 2.0: Efficiency, Decarbonization, and Flexibility

TUESDAY 10:45 AM • BALLROOM A

Industrial energy efficiency is evolving beyond traditional energy savings to become a critical driver of decarbonization, innovation, and grid flexibility. This session explores California’s efforts to advance “Efficiency 2.0,” highlighting new research and data on industrial load flexibility, evolving approaches to energy-efficiency programs and incentives, and the role of industrial heat pumps and other emerging technologies in enabling a more efficient, flexible, and decarbonized industrial sector.

Moderated by Kelly Kissock, Faculty Director, UC Davis Energy and Efficiency Institute

Akruti Gupta, Research and Development Project Manager, California Energy Commission

“Advancing Industrial Load Flexibility through Innovation”: Industrial facilities are among the largest energy users in the state, which gives them significant potential to support electrification and deliver meaningful load flexibility impacts when equipped with innovative technologies and strategies. This presentation highlights the California Energy Commission’s research efforts in this space, with a focus on IAW FlexHub and related initiatives.

Leanne Hoadley, Head of Section, Energy Efficiency Planning and Forecasting, Energy Division, California Public Utilities Commission

“The Custom Project Process for Enabling Advanced Technologies for Efficiency, Flexibility, and Decarbonization”: The Custom Project Process (CPR) is a pathway for commercial customer projects seeking a financial incentive. Based on eligibility requirements, the CPR can enable new technology deployment. The process has gone through recent updates and increased transparency. We’ll review the documentation needed and the timelines that should be expected when using this pathway.

Ammi Amarnath, Principal Technical Executive, Electric Power Research Institute

“Advances in Industrial Heat Pumps: Opportunities in California and the U.S.”: More than 35% of thermal energy used in industrial facilities is discarded as waste heat. Such waste heat can be upgraded and reused in industrial processes through the application of industrial heat pumps (IHPs), thereby reducing the need for fossil-fuel-fired boilers. Facilities in Europe are rapidly decarbonizing with the installation of dozens of such large heat pumps. This presentation highlights new developments and applications of IHP technology around the world. The presentation will also cover opportunities to overcome barriers in implementation of IHPs in California and throughout the United States.

CalNEXT: Connecting Emerging Technologies to the EE Portfolio

TUESDAY 10:45 AM • BALLROOM B

The session highlights how CalNEXT research helps identify emerging opportunities to meet evolving energy efficiency portfolio needs. Projects from across the innovation pipeline will be featured, including a market study, field assessment, and end-of-pipeline initiatives working toward measure development. The speakers will explore how different project types contribute to evaluating emerging-technology opportunities and driving market and portfolio adoption.

Moderated by Abhijeet Pande, Vice President, Research and Consulting, TRC

Speakers:

Abby Wiseman, Senior Engineering Consultant, VEIC (CalNEXT)

“Packaged Propane Refrigeration Market Study Findings”: This presentation summarizes a California market study of packaged propane refrigeration systems, highlighting their energy, emissions, and operational benefits versus traditional HFC systems. Other topics include adoption barriers and recommendations for utility pilots and program integration to accelerate deployment.

Akane Karasawa, CEO and Principal Engineer, ASK Energy, Inc. (CalNEXT)

“Field Assessment of the Thermal Energy Storage System”: This project field-tested an in-duct thermal energy storage system (TESS) that uses phase change material as a medium. Installing TESS in the supply duct of four RTUs in San Diego reduced 46% of the energy used during a peak period between 4 and 8 p.m. by shifting the cooling load from the peak.

Amanda Shorin, Project Manager II, Energy Solutions (CalNEXT)

“High Efficiency Condenser and Evaporator Units Focused Pilot”: The pilot program worked with manufacturers, distributors, and operators to prepare a comprehensive market characterization study, test two potential midstream incentive program designs, and perform on-site equipment testing and energy analysis to present program implementation recommendations and compile all data points needed to develop a measure package.

Data-Driven Decarbonization

TUESDAY 10:45 AM • BALLROOM C

High-quality data is the foundation of effective decarbonization planning, enabling more accurate forecasting, better system design, and more informed investment decisions. This session explains how climate and building data are being leveraged to improve demand forecasting, advance the BIG Database, inform future HVAC design, and support equitable energy planning through the California Energy Commission’s Energy Equity Tool.

Moderated by Quentin Gee, Advanced Electrification Analysis Branch Manager, California Energy Commission

Speakers:

Lakemariam Worku, Climate Data Specialist, California Energy Commission

“The Use of Climate Change Data in Demand Forecasting”: This presentation examines how the California Energy Commission (CEC) incorporates climate change in its energy demand forecasts, moving beyond historical 30-year weather baselines and toward forward-looking climate model data. It covers the shift to using IPCC Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (specifically the SSP3-7.0 scenario) for downscaling global climate model outputs, the localization of this data using UCLA’s bias-corrected WRF simulations at 3-km and 9-km resolution, and how these datasets are converted into cooling/heating degree days for use in the CEC’s demand models.

Randall Higa, Consulting Engineer, Southern California Edison

“Climatic Data Update: Title 24, Part 6 Joint Appendix JA2.2”: This presentation examines the update to California’s climatic data used for HVAC equipment sizing under Title 24. It covers why the decades-old data need updating, the process underway to develop revised data, and the importance of accurate winter design conditions for properly sizing heat pumps and minimizing supplemental electric resistance heating.

Tony Lee, Adviser, Codes & Standards, Southern California Edison

“Building Electrification (BIG) Database Project”: The Building Inventory Geospatial (BIG) Database was developed by Southern California Edison’s Codes & Standards Planning & Coordination (P&C) team to support building electrification analysis and planning efforts. The database combines information from multiple sources to create building-level profiles that include characteristics such as energy use, building type and size, customer segment, income level, climate zone, and electric circuit data. By bringing previously separate datasets into a single platform, the BIG Database provides a more consistent and efficient way to evaluate electrification opportunities, understand potential grid impacts, and support planning and policy discussions.

11:45 AM • Lunch

12:45 PM • Breakout Sessions

Building Affordable, Low-Carbon Communities: Addressing Operational and Embodied Carbon

TUESDAY 12:45 PM • BALLROOM A

Moving forward on California’s path to affordable, carbon-neutral buildings requires addressing both operational and embodied carbon through coordinated policy, standardized measurement, and practical market solutions. This session explores emerging policies, RESNET methodologies for quantifying embodied carbon, and strategies to accelerate adoption of low-carbon building materials, demonstrating how better metrics and cross-sector collaboration can reduce emissions while supporting housing affordability.

Moderated by Derek Okada, Senior Fellow, Energy Solutions (CalNEXT)

Speakers:

Charles Kim, Senior Engineer, Southern California Edison

“Investing Pathways for Embodied Carbon Reduction”: Meeting California’s affordable housing demand and 2045 decarbonization targets requires transforming how buildings are designed, constructed, and evaluated holistically. This presentation demonstrates why embodied carbon matters, outlines policy drivers and methods for quantification, and identifies implementation pathways for market actors—ranging from manufacturers, designers, and builders to local jurisdictions—to drive lower-carbon development.

Shelby Gatlin, Executive Director, RESNET

“From Energy Performance to Carbon: Building on What Already Works”: RESNET’s work on operational and embodied carbon builds on established approaches to measuring and verifying home energy performance. This presentation introduces the HERS Carbon Index and RESNET Standard 1550 and explores how existing energy-efficiency methodologies and infrastructure can support emerging needs for measuring, verifying, and reporting operational and embodied carbon.

Brandon Wray, Senior Director, Building Innovations, National Ready Mixed Concrete Association

“Future of Concrete: Performance Optimization and Carbon Reduction”: The building industry is under constant pressure to provide low-carbon solutions with recent public policies elevating the drive to low-carbon building materials. Tackling the problem of embodied carbon, the emissions associated with building materials and construction, is crucial to meeting near-term climate goals. As it pertains to concrete materials, they are unique in that design professionals and contractors have a greater influence on product formulation, which can drastically affect carbon footprint. This session will examine sources of carbon within concrete and the corresponding strategies for leveraging modern materials and design methodologies that allow for the successful procurement of low-carbon concrete.

Shifting Load Made Easy: Just Add Water

TUESDAY 12:45 PM • BALLROOM B

Thermal systems are creating new opportunities to shift electrical load while improving building performance and supporting California’s decarbonization goals. The speakers will showcase how Code Readiness research, field demonstrations, and real-world building data are accelerating the deployment of advanced air-to-water heat pump technologies, validating their performance, and generating the evidence needed to inform future energy codes and compliance pathways.

Moderated by Kristen Driskell, Director, Energy & Utilities, West Monroe

Speakers:

Kyle Garske, Senior Consultant, West Monroe

“From Measure Development to Field Evidence: Connecting Code Readiness with California’s Statewide New Construction Program”: California Energy Design Assistance (CEDA), California’s Statewide New Construction Program, partners with Code Readiness by connecting the team with program implementers, building owners, and design teams across the development, deployment, and verification of high-performance measures in real buildings. Using three anonymized case studies and results from a non-residential air-to-water heat pump study, this presentation shows how the building metadata and time-series data collected through this partnership can support research on system performance, controls, energy use, and peak demand as well as inform future code proposals and compliance tools.

James Linwood Haile, P.E., Senior Engineer, Frontier Energy Inc.

“Three-Function Air-to-Water Heat Pumps: Performance, Problems, and Potential”: Do you ever wonder why some people care so much about air-to-water heat pumps (AWHPs)? Are they on the take, just foolish, or is there something to it? Come join us for a quick overview of the technology and a partial explanation for the hype, review recent evaluations at the Central Valley Research Homes (unoccupied laboratory houses which simulate occupancy to California Title 24 compliance model assumptions), and discuss some of the performance and market barriers AWHPs need to overcome.

Emma Conroy, Senior Consultant, West Monroe

“Multifunction Heat Pumps in All-Electric Homes: Early Performance and Efficiency Findings”: This presentation explores early findings from a field study conducted in collaboration with California’s Energy-Smart Homes Program to evaluate multifunction heat pumps that provide domestic hot water and hydronic space heating in all-electric single-family homes. Drawing on monitoring data, Emma Conroy will share insights on system energy use, performance, peak demand, and efficiency under actual household conditions.

Next-Gen Infrastructure: Navigating the AI Boom in Buildings and Data Centers

TUESDAY 12:45 PM • BALLROOM C

The use of artificial intelligence to design, operate, and optimize buildings, industry, and data centers has created opportunities to improve efficiency while meeting growing energy demands. This session provides an overview of emerging applications of AI and machine learning—from evaluating energy impacts and improving data center performance to delivering data-driven pathways for residential energy upgrades—highlighting both the promise and practical considerations of deploying these technologies at scale.

Moderated by Bach Tsan, Senior Engineer II, Southern California Edison

Speakers:

Mudit Saxena, CEO & Founder, XeroHome

“From One Home to One Million: How AI Makes Physics-Based Energy Modeling Scalable”: How can AI take building energy modeling from one home to one million? Using XeroHome’s experience modeling more than one million homes as a case study, this presentation shows how machine learning accelerates the analysis of home energy upgrades while keeping physics-based simulations at the core. It will explore how AI works alongside automated data collection and cloud computing to overcome the bottlenecks of modeling at scale, with lessons energy practitioners can apply to their own work.

Amy Droitcour, Senior Manager, West Monroe

“Data Center Energy Efficiency: Codes, Standards, and Utility Programs in the Age of AI”: Rapidly advancing liquid-cooling and AI infrastructure technologies are changing what an efficient data center looks like and outpacing advances in energy codes and standards. However, the largest policy opportunity in California is not limited to futuristic AI campuses. Codes and standards (C&S) must address both high-density, liquid-cooled facilities being built for AI and the much larger and more varied population of existing, partially loaded, air-cooled data centers. This presentation sets up the case for moving beyond one-size-fits-all requirements and focuses on three areas where future C&S can have the greatest impact: liquid cooling, part-load performance, and power distribution and electrical efficiency. It also explores the complementary role of utility programs in addressing low-hanging efficiency opportunities in existing facilities and helps establish performance expectations that can remain effective as technologies, loads, and facility types continue to change.

Ammi Amarnath, Principal Technical Executive, Electric Power Research Institute

“Advances in Artificial Intelligence in the Energy & Industrial Sectors and Energy Use in Advanced Data Centers”: The energy sector is being transformed by the use of artificial intelligence. Conversely, for the development of AI, data centers require large amounts of energy. This presentation will focus on new agentic AI technology that has large potential in the energy and industrial sectors. The presentation will also focus on the source and use of energy that is required to power data centers—especially new micro and nano data centers that can be built within the existing electric infrastructure. The presentation will also cover opportunities to overcome barriers in implementation of such data centers in California and throughout the United States.

1:45 PM • Break

2:00 PM • Breakout Sessions

The Future of Heat Pumps: Multifunction and Ultra-Low-GWP Refrigerants

TUESDAY 2:00 PM • BALLROOM A

Heat pump technologies are rapidly evolving to deliver multiple building services while using refrigerants with dramatically lower GWP. This session explores the progression from early field demonstrations of CO₂ heat pump systems to the next generation of multifunction heat pumps using ultra-low-GWP refrigerants. Speakers will share lessons from real-world deployments, technology validation efforts, and emerging research that is helping accelerate commercialization and inform the future of high-performance, climate-friendly heat pump solutions for multifamily and commercial buildings.

Moderated by Cheryl Winfield, Air Resources Engineer, California Air Resources Board

Speakers:

Scott Adler, Senior Project Associate, Association for Energy Affordability

“Reduce, Reuse, Recirculation: R-744 (CO2) Multifamily Central Heat Pump Water Heating Recirculation Optimization Field Study​”: California multifamily central heat pump water heating field demonstration results show advanced hot water distribution systems, criteria for efficient CO₂ return to primary designs, and dynamic return valve optimization opportunities.

Adam Jue, Project Manager, ProspectSV

“CO₂ Heat Pumps: From Demonstration to Market”: Adam Jue will share results from ProspectSV’s advanced CO₂ heat pump demonstration for large commercial buildings, along with industry resources from the project that aid building professionals in assessing the technology in their own projects. He’ll also preview a current project deploying a smaller-scale CO₂ heat pump at a multifamily housing site in Oakland, California, generating insights to help inform how the technology could work in other multifamily buildings across California.

Meghan Duff, Senior Manager, R&D Projects, Association for Energy Affordability

“Going Au Naturel with a Modular, Multifunction R290 Air-to-Water Heat Pump System”: This presentation showcases new EPIC-funded research that will support the study, design, lab testing, and field evaluation of a modular, multiplex, multifunction R290 air-to-water heat pump system. The researchers seek to understand if this system is a suitable scalable mechanical retrofit solution for multifamily buildings while evaluating safe, efficient, and scalable applications of multifunction air-to-water heat pumps using a natural A3 refrigerant.

CalMTA: Market Transformation: Innovation and Leverage to Achieve California’s Decarbonization Goals

TUESDAY 2:00 PM • BALLROOM B

Join our speakers as they explore Market Transformation activities in three regions that will impact California’s decarbonization efforts, starting with an overview of CalMTA’s recent application to CPUC for three initiatives: Commercial Window Retrofits, Commercial Rooftop Units, and Residential Heat Pump Water Heaters. Then the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance will describe its Whole Building efficiency program and the use of Luminaire Level Lighting Controls as HVAC occupancy sensors, followed by Minnesota’s Efficient Technology Accelerator, who will share its work on Heat Pump RTUs and Residential High Performance Windows.

Moderated by Rick Dunn, Senior Manager, Emerging Technology, Resource Innovations (CalMTA)

Speakers:

Jeff Mitchell, Principal, Market Transformation, Resource Innovations (CalMTA)

“Unlocking $1.9B in Benefits: CalMTA’s Proposed Market Transformation Initiatives Explained”: CalMTA recently filed its application with the CPUC seeking approval of a second tranche of market transformation initiatives (MTIs): Commercial Replacement and Attachment Window Solutions, Commercial Rooftop Units, and Residential Heat Pump Water Heaters. CalMTA forecasts that the three proposed MTIs will collectively deliver an estimated $1.9 billion in energy and grid benefits over the next 20 years. This presentation introduces these initiatives, dives deeper into the commercial window opportunity, and describes how CalMTA is leveraging significant external activity to expand market reach, reduce implementation cost, and increase the durability of market change.

Mike Smith, Senior Manager, Emerging Technology, Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance

“Beyond Individual Technologies: Emerging Solutions for Smarter, More Efficient Buildings”: The Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance’s Emerging Technology program evaluates a broad range of promising technologies, with some of the greatest opportunities coming from helping individual building systems work together. Mike Smith will share a snapshot of the program’s technology pipeline before focusing on LLLC+HVAC, a new approach that connects lighting-based occupancy sensors with HVAC thermostats to reduce heating and cooling energy use. This presentation also explores NEEA’s Whole Building Special Project, which identifies, evaluates, and prioritizes emerging technologies that can accelerate whole-building upgrades and improve performance in small and medium commercial buildings.

Isaac Smith, Director of Market Transformation Technologies, Center for Energy and Environment

“Minnesota’s Efficient Technology Accelerator: Field Data, Manufacturer Incentives, and What’s Next”: Isaac Smith will share an overview of Minnesota’s Efficient Technology Accelerator (ETA), a statewide market transformation (MT) program launched in 2023. The presentation highlights two MT initiatives: heat pump rooftop units (RTUs), including in-field performance research and energy and emissions savings data, and residential high-performance windows, including a manufacturer incentive to produce more affordable, builder-grade triple-pane windows and a newly launched sales incentive program.

Advancing Equitable Building Electrification in California Homes and Buildings

TUESDAY 2:00 PM • BALLROOM C

Equitable building electrification requires more than new technologies. It requires programs and solutions that address affordability, technical barriers, and community needs. This session presents research, tools, and innovative program designs that are helping expand access to electrification for low-income households and multifamily buildings, featuring strategies to reduce upgrade costs, simplify participation, and support an inclusive transition to clean energy.

Moderated by Aanchal Kohli, Air Resources Supervisor, California Air Resources Board

Speakers:

Eric D. Fournier, Research Director, California Center for Sustainable Communities

“Electrification as Systemic Transformation”: The California Center for Sustainable Communities (CCSC) at UCLA recently completed a series of focus group meetings with electrification trade practitioners (planners, engineers, equipment installers, and facility managers) throughout the state. These discussions focused on understanding the barriers, technical and otherwise, to the electrification of different end-use energy equipment within existing buildings. As part of this effort, we sought to understand the decision-making dynamics which govern the pursuit of electrification projects and the systems of constraints which the projects must navigate. These include the need to address energy affordability as well as the identification of common project triggers and planning/execution pitfalls. Among our main conclusions from this exercise is that electrification projects should not be considered (or marketed) as transparent equipment replacement efforts but moreso as opportunities for the transformation and modernization of building energy systems and the activities which they enable.

Yu Hou, Manager, California Energy Commission

“EBD Program Overview: Advancing Equity and Decarbonization”: The Equitable Building Decarbonization (EBD) Program delivers no-cost, direct-install energy upgrades to low-income households statewide, helping Californians adopt efficient electric technologies and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It advances energy equity and climate resilience by serving single-family, multifamily, and manufactured homes across selected communities while coordinating multiple funding sources and partners to expand reach and impact.

Jenny Low, Director, Build It Green/POWER Group

“Approachable Tool and Technologies to Make Electrification Easier”: In this presentation, Jenny Low will share the design and research for a user-friendly tool that makes it practical and easy to leverage a home’s existing electrical capacity for small and large electrification projects. A mini spotlight will be shared on installing solar on existing panels, from small plug-ins to large solar arrays.

3:00 PM • Break

3:30 PM • Breakout Sessions

How Low Can You Go? Refrigerant Limbo!

TUESDAY 3:30 PM • BALLROOM A

Low-GWP refrigerants are reshaping the future of HVAC and refrigeration, but navigating the evolving technologies, regulations, and market adoption can be challenging. This session reviews the latest research, decision-support tools, policy developments, and real-world deployment of low- and ultra-low-GWP refrigerants, including natural refrigerants, while examining the opportunities and barriers driving the transition to more sustainable systems.

Moderated by Ram Narayanamurthy, Program Manager, Existing Buildings, California Energy Commission

Speakers:

Chris Martinez, Staff Air Pollution Specialist, California Air Resources Board

“Accelerating Refrigerant Transition and the Future of Cooling in California”: Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) are synthetic refrigerants with a significant climate impact, prompting California to take strong action under SB 1383 and SB 1206 to phase down use of new high-GWP HFCs and promote reclaimed refrigerants. California’s efforts align with federal and international policies, supporting a transition toward ultra-low-GWP or no-GWP technologies.

Paul Raftery, Professional Researcher, Center for the Built Environment, University of California Berkeley

“Considering Refrigerant Impact as Part of a Building Decarbonization Strategy”: This presentation shares a new public webtool that can be used to estimate the impact of refrigerant leakage and associated uncertainty when evaluating different equipment options to decarbonize building heating and cooling loads.

Danielle Wright, Executive Director, North American Sustainable Refrigeration Council

“Practical Pathways to Natural Refrigerants”: As the refrigeration sector shifts toward natural refrigerants, California’s policies, the technology, and market forces are all influencing the pace of change. This presentation highlights the main drivers, barriers, and early Fluorinated-gas Reduction Incentive Program (FRIP) insights, with an emphasis on practical implications for system design, energy use, and implementation.

Reginald Wilkins, Ph.D., Advisor, Measurement and Evaluation, Southern California Edison

“Market Study of Low-GWP Refrigerants in C&I Applications”: This study explores the market barriers and opportunities for low and ultra-low global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants to better understand the implications for Southern California Edison’s program offerings. The study identified changes to deemed measure assumptions and provided a deeper understanding of customer drivers and barriers.

From Transformer to Toaster: Demand Flex Research Updates from the DRET Collaborative

TUESDAY 3:30 PM • BALLROOM B

Demand flexibility depends on connecting grid needs with responsive technologies in homes and businesses. This session explores that connection from end to end, from using AMI, DERMS, and transformer-level intelligence to identify local constraints and generate flexibility signals, to using smart panels and Matter-enabled devices to translate those signals into automated load management. Through utility demos and residential field studies, DRET utility partners will share how these technologies can work together to create a scalable, device-agnostic model for coordinating customer loads and distributed energy resources with real-time grid needs.

Moderated by Ivy So, Program Manager, Aptim

Speakers:

Denver Hinds, R&D Load Flexibility Supervisor, SMUD

“The Intelligence Edge: Grid Visibility and Coordinated Customer Resources”: The Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) is advancing the visibility and adaptability of its distribution grid by leveraging the sophisticated measurement and computational power of AMI 2.0 sensors with Grid Edge Intelligence. These solutions supply granular grid-edge data and insights to an ADMS, which incorporates integrated DERMS functionalities for visibility and optimization. This suite of applications is paving the way for customers to actively engage their energy resources, providing grid services that respond swiftly to emerging needs and opportunities.

Albert Chiu, Product Manager, Load Management Strategy and Policy, PG&E

“Enabling Smart Home Automation in Response to Prices and DR Signals”: In 2026, the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), in partnership with Olivine and Universal Devices Inc., explored an innovative approach to load flexibility by combining the emerging Matter automation standard with real-time OpenADR price and demand response signals in a field setting. The study tested how consumer-adopted IoT devices can respond dynamically and autonomously to grid conditions. The result is a scalable, cost-effective framework for demand flexibility that reduces integration barriers and expands participation, offering a transformative new paradigm for how utilities and customers can interact.

Jeffrey Schwartz, Head of Expansion and Program Management, Haven Energy Services, Inc.

“Give the Grid a Breaker: SCE’s Smart Panel Field Study”: Southern California Edison and EPRI will present a residential field study evaluating smart electrical panels as a flexible, grid-edge alternative to conventional service upgrades. By combining automated circuit-level load management with one-minute SPAN data and two years of AMI data, the study is evaluating whether smart panels can keep household demand within existing service limits, defer costly upgrades, and support future demand response and dynamic pricing applications. Early deployments have demonstrated the technology’s potential while identifying practical needs around site-specific design, permitting, commissioning, and installer training, helping to create a field-informed framework to lower electrification barriers and coordinate residential loads and DERs with grid needs.

Understanding Customer Decisions: Barriers and Motivations for Heat Pump Adoption

TUESDAY 3:30 PM • BALLROOM C

Why do customers choose or reject heat pumps, and what interventions can help accelerate adoption? Drawing on consumer surveys, field studies, and industrial case studies, the speakers will explore customer decision-making across residential, multifamily, and industrial markets, sharing the motivations, business cases, and market barriers that shape technology adoption and identifying opportunities to support broader deployment.

Moderated by Bryce Dias, Principal Program Manager, Building Electrification & Efficiency Strategy, Pacific Gas and Electric Company

Speakers:

Eli Alston-Stepnitz, Ph.D., Researcher, Market Transformation Research Program, Western Cooling Efficiency Center, University of California, Davis

“One Technology, Three Functions, Two Perspectives: What Industry and Homeowners Tell Us about Multifunction Heat Pumps”: This mixed-methods study examines the gap between the technical promise of multifunction heat pumps (MFHPs) and their limited consumer uptake in California. We combine in-depth interviews with 49 stakeholders across 41 organizations and an interactive, branching survey of 961 homeowners to compare supply-side and consumer-side explanations for adoption. The findings suggest that accelerating equitable electrification will require more than consumer education; it will require targeted market segmentation, standardized performance metrics, incentives that recognize lower-amperage alternatives, and credible service and workforce infrastructure.

Emma Conroy, Senior Consultant, West Monroe

“The Single-Family Electrification Retrofit Experience: Learning from Successes”: This presentation draws on a study of single-family electrification retrofits conducted in collaboration with the Energy-Smart Homes Program to explore the homeowner electrification experience. It examines how homeowners make equipment decisions, the barriers and challenges they encounter throughout the retrofit process, and where the process was most successful. Findings weave in energy bill impact findings and highlight opportunities to improve the customer journey as home electrification scales.

Jeff Staller, Principal, West Monroe

“Industrial Heat Pumps: Barriers and Motivations”: This presentation shares findings from a recent PG&E Code Readiness project focused on industrial heat pump (IHP) applications mapping to better understand the potential of the technology adoption in California and two recent IHP case studies at food production facilities located in North America. Jeff Staller will touch on real-world economics, what motivated the case study project owners to implement IHPs, and policy considerations to facilitate technology adoption and carbon emission reductions at industrial facilities.

8:00 AM • Breakfast

9:00 AM • Welcome & Opening Panel

Welcome

WEDNESDAY 9:00 AM • ALL BALLROOMS

Welcome by UC Davis Energy and Efficiency Institute.

Advancing the Energy Transition through Innovation and Strategic Partnerships

WEDNESDAY 9:10 AM • ALL BALLROOMS

California’s universities and research organizations are driving the next generation of energy innovation, advancing technologies, and strategies that will shape the state’s grid and energy systems of tomorrow. This panel session brings attention to research and explores how strategic partnerships among academia, utilities, and the California Energy Commission can accelerate market transformation, address emerging challenges, and guide long-term investment in buildings, industry, and other sectors.

Moderated by Jonah Steinbuck, Director, R&D Division, California Energy Commission

Panelists:

Benjamin Finkelor, Executive Director, UC Davis Energy & Efficiency Institute

G.P. Li, Director, CalPlug, UC Irvine

Cindy Regnier, P.E., Whole Building Systems Department Head, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab

Andy Satchwell, Director, Policy Strategy, Pacific Gas & Electric Company 

10:15 AM • Break

10:45 AM • Breakout Sessions

Bridging the DHW Gap with Water Heating Technologies

WEDNESDAY 10:45 AM • BALLROOM A

This session showcases opportunities to improve domestic hot water system design and operation through field data and emerging technologies. Presenters will compare conventional hot water sizing methods with measured building performance data and share findings from a field study evaluating smart domestic hot water pumps and a behavioral study assessing smart shower duration indicators that provide real-time user feedback to reduce hot water use. Together, these presentations provide practical insights into reducing energy use, improving system efficiency, and better aligning hot water systems with actual building needs.

Moderated by Steven Long, P.E., Director of Engineering, ICF (GET)

Speakers:

Yasemin Agi, Energy Engineer, Lincus, Inc. (GET)

“From Design Assumptions to Actual Demand: Evaluating DHW Sizing Methods”: Are commonly used domestic hot water (DHW) sizing methods accurately predicting the demand in buildings? This presentation uses gas bill data from eight multifamily homes in Southern California to evaluate the accuracy of the site’s existing model, ASHRAE sizing procedures, and manufacturer sizing tools. The findings reveal where sizing approaches align with or diverge from actual usage and provide insights for improving future DHW system design.

Chris Salerno, Senior Energy Engineer, Lincus, Inc. (GET)

“Smart Pumps for Domestic Hot Water: Reducing Recirculation Losses”: Central DHW systems often keep recirculation pumps running continuously to maintain fixture temperature and tenant comfort, which increases distribution and standby losses. This presentation reviews smart pump control strategies—including demand-controlled and variable-speed recirculation—that can reduce those losses without sacrificing hot-water delivery for tenants. The study found measurable gas and pump electric savings, but performance and tenant satisfaction depended strongly on control mode, pump sizing, and return-temperature limits. Findings include implications for SWWH015/SWWH022 measure packages, manufacturer guidance, and field commissioning.

Anoushka Grossheim, Energy Engineer, ICF (GET)

“Smart Shower Timer Behavioral Study”: This study evaluates a smart shower feedback device designed to help households conserve water and reduce energy consumption through real-time behavioral prompts. Installed in approximately fifty single-family and multifamily homes, the technology provides automated shower-duration notifications and app-based insights into water, energy, and cost savings. The presentation shares findings on user behavior changes over time, survey results, measured savings potential, and key lessons learned for scaling behavioral efficiency solutions.

From Enabling Customer Electrification to Cost-Effective Demand Management

WEDNESDAY 10:45 AM • BALLROOM B

As electric vehicles, heat pumps, and other behind-the-meter technologies rapidly expand, California must find ways to manage their growing loads while delivering value to customers and the grid. This session explores how utilities and technology innovators are moving from individual demand-response and electrification pilots toward scalable, coordinated load management by using flexible technologies, rates, customer data, advanced metering, and innovative solutions that can enable electrification while avoiding costly system upgrades.

Moderated by Nick Fiore, Clean Transportation Innovation Manager, San Diego Gas & Electric

Speakers:

Charles Kim, Senior Engineer, Southern California Edison

“Flexible Demand in Reality”: Flexible demand is a critical component of California’s pathway to achieving carbon neutrality by 2045, with the potential to improve grid resiliency and infrastructure costs. Drawing on real experiences, this presentation explores how coincident operation probability, regional flexible demand needs, and customer energy-use patterns can shift demand and why a holistic approach is essential for developing effective flexible demand strategies and programs.

Amruta Khanolkar, Founder and Principal, EnergiX Innovations

“Integrated Load Management for California’s Electrified Future”: California’s load curve is transforming fast, driven by heat pumps, EVs, and an electrified future that’s arriving sooner than expected. The stakes are high: Reliability, affordability, and grid resilience depend on smarter ways to manage load growth. This presentation dives into innovative, scalable technologies and approaches that blend efficiency, demand response, and electrification into a unified strategy. Join us as we explore what it will take to build the next generation of flexible, future-proof load management programs.

Srushti Koli, Project Engineer, TRC

Patrick Varuzza, Product Manager, Grid Research Innovation & Development, Pacific Gas & Electric Company

“Socket of the Future: Eliminating Barriers to Customer Electrification with AMI 2.0”: In this presentation, we’ll explore how Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) is leveraging next-generation AMI 2.0 smart meters, grid-edge intelligence, and advanced load management software to make electric vehicle (EV) adoption and home electrification easier and more affordable for its customers. Through the launch of the ChargeBoost and PanelBoost products, PG&E is demonstrating how these technology solutions enable customers to connect EV chargers and other appliances without triggering panel and service upgrades, while delivering operational savings for PG&E and contributing to downward pressure on rates.

Advancing California’s Energy Transition through Coordinated Action and Building Data

WEDNESDAY 10:45 AM • BALLROOM C

California’s building-electrification transition requires policymakers, utilities, implementers, and researchers to coordinate their efforts to improve the affordability and cost-effectiveness of decarbonization. New data sources and analysis methods will allow us to develop a shared picture of where cost reduction opportunities lie and how to drive adoption. This session explores how interval meter data, building permit data, program data, and customer-choice modeling can be combined to identify cost reduction opportunities and implementation pathways.

Moderated by Chris Malotte, Senior Manager of Codes and Standards, Southern California Edison

Speaker:

Owen Howlett, Supervisor, California Energy Commission

“Coordination and Shared Analysis Needs Identified by the 2025 Building Energy Action Plan”: The 2025 BEAP made 13 recommendations for how California can make major progress toward building decarbonization. Those recommendations require new levels of coordination between policymakers, implementers, researchers, and industry partners, along with enhanced analysis. This presentation describes the pathway toward some of those recommendations.

Samuel Bobick, PhD Student, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University

“ElectriPedia: Mapping Electrification at Scale via LLM-Enabled Building Permit Mining”: In this talk, Samuel Bobick will introduce ElectriPedia, a nationwide address-level electrification dataset derived from unstructured building permit descriptions. His research team at Stanford developed a scalable pipeline with small, open-weight large language models (LLMs) and retrieval-based in-context learning for technology identification and structured extraction of 86 attributes across seven electrification technologies. In California, ElectriPedia identifies 9.2 million technology instances across 3.9 million addresses, covering residential, commercial, and industrial buildings. By providing spatially and temporally detailed visibility into electrification adoption, ElectriPedia can enable applications that are difficult or impossible with less granular datasets, including more targeted infrastructure planning, improved grid operations, equitable policy design, and electrification progress tracking.

11:45 AM • Lunch

12:45 PM • Breakout Sessions

Heat Pump Performance in California: A Comparison Study for Fuel-Fired Water Heating Applications

WEDNESDAY 12:45 PM • BALLROOM A

Join our panelists for an evaluation of four Statewide Gas Emerging Technologies studies on advanced fuel-fired heat pump water heating (HPWH) technologies for California buildings. Topics include commercial gas absorption heat pump (GAHP) performance mapping, hydrogen blending impacts on GAHP operation, an emerging adsorption gas HPWH, and a dual-fuel hybrid HPWH as well as laboratory testing and operational considerations. Join us to gain a comparative understanding of the opportunities and challenges associated with these technologies and their potential role in California’s evolving energy landscape.

Moderated by Jordan Litwin, Program Manager, Emerging Technology, SoCalGas

Speakers:

Madeline Talebi, Energy Engineer, ICF (GET)

“Gas Adsorption Heat Pump Water Heaters: Prototype Evaluation for Residential Applications”: In a comparison study, a prototype gas adsorption heat pump water heater (AHPWH) was evaluated to characterize its operational performance and emissions under representative residential water heating conditions. This study provides insights into technology development needs and future design considerations for advancing gas-fired heat pump water heating as a low-carbon solution.

“Beyond Natural Gas: Fuel-Fired Heat Pump Performance with Hydrogen Blends”: The purpose of the gas absorption heat pump (GAHP) laboratory testing was to develop steady-state and dynamic performance curves for both natural gas and hydrogen-and-natural-gas blends (up to 30%) across two manufacturers’ GAHP models. Understanding both the steady-state and transient part load is useful for sizing the GAHP unit(s) relative to the load and determining the need for any required backup heat supplies and/or storage. This study also aims to gauge each GAHP model’s hydrogen readiness based on emissions and performance.

Hardik Shah, Senior Program Manager, GTI Energy

“Dual-Fuel 120V Heat Pump Water Heaters as a Swiss Army Knife”: 120V heat pump water heaters simplify retrofits by avoiding electric panel upgrades, but lower power can leave hot water demand unmet in some homes and installation locations. This presentation explores pairing a 120V heat pump with condensing gas backup as an alternative to 240V electric resistance and shares GTI Energy lab results validated against CSA certification testing, operating-mode performance, and preliminary annual energy and cost modeling across six North American cities.

Heat Pump HVAC Systems as Flexible Grid Resources

WEDNESDAY 12:45 PM • BALLROOM B

Heat pumps can become flexible grid resources when thermal storage, smart controls, and advanced communications allow energy use to shift without compromising comfort or hot water service. This session shares field results from California and national projects, examining thermal storage for heat pump water and space heating, variable-capacity heat pump response to flexible-demand signals, customer impacts, measurement and verification challenges, and the evolving role of standards such as AHRI 1380 in enabling scalable demand flexibility.

Moderated by Caton Mande, Western Cooling Efficiency Center, UC Davis

Speakers:

Chris Stratton, Senior Research Associate II, Association for Energy Affordability

“Affordable Space Conditioning and Domestic Hot Water Systems with Low Emissions and High Performance”

Scott Higa, Senior Project Manager, Codes and Standards, Southern California Edison

“SCE Codes & Standards VCHP AHRI Standard 1380 Field Study”: This presentation shares field-study results on using variable-capacity heat pumps for demand flexibility under AHRI 1380. Results demonstrate meaningful summer peak demand reductions while maintaining occupant comfort, with winter impacts dependent on climate and system operation.

Edwin Hornquist, Senior Principal Team Leader, EPRI

“Evaluating Grid Flexibility in Variable-Capacity Heat Pumps: Field Testing, Demand Response, and AHRI 1380 Readiness”

Boost Your Building’s Value: Pathway to Efficiency and Performance in Commercial Buildings

WEDNESDAY 12:45 PM • BALLROOM C

Improving energy efficiency and performance in commercial buildings reduces operating costs, increases asset value, and helps with long-term investment decisions. This session explores proven strategies, practical tools, and emerging market insights, along with the building performance metrics and strategy framework shaping the industry. Join us to learn how to identify cost-effective efficiency improvements, build a compelling business case for action, and position your portfolios for high-performing commercial buildings with the future in mind.

Moderated by Siva Sankaranarayanan, Principal Technical Leader, Electric Power Research Institute

Speakers:

Srinivas Katipamula, Laboratory Fellow, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

“Challenges and Opportunities in Improving Small Commercial Building Efficiency and Grid Integration”: More than 85% of commercial buildings are small or medium-sized (SMBs), yet many operate inefficiently and lack grid interactivity. This presentation examines how a low-cost, interoperable, user-focused controller can optimize energy use and enable demand flexibility. Cost-benefit analyses indicate economic viability at $0.50–$0.75 per square foot, with a payback period of less than 3 years.

Nick Fiore, Program Manager, California Market Transformation Administrator (CalMTA)

“From Barriers to Action: Using Benchmarking and Market Research to Drive Commercial Building Efficiency”: Commercial building decarbonization requires more than identifying opportunities; it requires understanding what drives adoption. This presentation explores how market research, benchmarking, and building segmentation can reveal market barriers and inform targeted interventions that accelerate efficiency improvements at scale.

JoAnna Saunders, Building Performance Specialist, California Energy Commission

“A Building Performance Strategy for California”: This presentation provides an overview of the California Energy Commission’s proposed strategy for improving the performance of large existing buildings. JoAnna Saunders will review the proposed performance metrics and strategy framework as well as highlight case studies of large buildings in California and their path to cost-effective decarbonization.

1:45 PM • Break

2:00 PM • Breakout Sessions

Dual Fuels in CA? Electric and Gas Can Co-Exist!

WEDNESDAY 2:00 PM • BALLROOM A

As California moves to decarbonize, dual-fuel heat pump systems could provide a cost-effective pathway that combines electric heat pumps with existing or supplemental gas heating. This session examines the current state of dual-fuel technologies, emerging control and optimization strategies, and real-world system configurations, highlighting what is available today, what is coming next, and the data, controls, and contractor capabilities needed to deploy these systems effectively in California.

Moderated by Eric Kirchhoff, Manager, Clean EE Strategies, SoCalGas

Speakers:

Ram Narayanamurthy, Program Manager, Existing Buildings, CEC

“Charting a More Affordable Pathway to Building Decarbonization through Dual-Fuel Heat Pumps”: The upfront cost of heat pump adoption can be a significant barrier to building decarbonization, particularly when existing heating and cooling systems require modification or replacement. This presentation examines the cost implications of adding heat pumps through different system configurations, including impacts on existing equipment, airflow, and ducting, and explores pathways that can reduce first-cost barriers to adoption.

Kyle Gluesenkamp, Distinguished R&D Scientist, ORNL

“Minimizing Energy Costs: Control Strategies and Simultaneous Dual-Fuel Operation”: How much can dual-fuel systems reduce energy costs? This presentation describes six categories of simultaneous dual-fuel equipment, then explores energy cost minimization by simulating multiple categories and control strategies. As simultaneous functionality is added, and as a simulated controller gets access to additional information, the incremental benefit of each addition is quantified.

Ryan Kerr, Director, Emerging Technologies, GTI Energy

“Dual-Fuel Heat Pumps: Technology, Controls, and Field Performance”: What can dual-fuel heat pump systems deliver today, and what is coming next? This presentation surveys the state of the art in dual-fuel technologies, explores system configurations and advanced controls for optimizing cost and carbon emissions—including simultaneous operation—and shares field-validation results from emerging best-in-class systems.

ESWHs: Opportunities and Challenges

WEDNESDAY 2:00 PM • BALLROOM B

As electric storage water heaters (ESWHs) become an increasingly important flexible grid resource, new research is informing how these technologies can reduce peak demand, lower costs, and support grid decarbonization. This session highlights the latest work on code development, demand flexibility, optimization algorithms, customer behavior, and emerging heat pump water heater (HPWH) technologies that are shaping the next generation of intelligent water heating.

Moderated by Rajiv Dabir, Branch Manager, Load Flexibility, California Energy Commission

Speakers:

Iain Walker, Scientist, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

“Home Peak Power and Hot Water”: Recent studies examining peak power in homes have provided insights on the magnitude of peak power and the contributions of individual end-uses, including water heating. Building on these studies, this presentation will introduce the concept of “power efficiency,” use measured data from thousands of homes to illustrate the contribution of water heating to peak power in homes, and discuss power-efficient alternatives and how they might change our ideas about controlling hot water demand.

Andres Fergadiotti, Senior Advisor, Southern California Edison

“Residential Water Heating Load Shifting: Impacts, Challenges, and Lessons Learned”: This presentation highlights the design, operation, and evaluation of Southern California Edison’s SmartShift Rewards Program, which leverages connected heat pump water heaters (HPWHs) and electric resistance water heaters (ERHs) to shift residential electricity consumption away from peak grid hours. Andres Fergadiotti will summarize the results of two controlled field experiments that evaluated peak demand reduction, energy impacts, customer benefits, and influence from California’s JA-13 demand flexibility controls. He will also share key implementation lessons, with a particular focus on communication and connectivity challenges, including Wi-Fi and controller performance, data availability, and the implications of communication failures for scaling demand flexibility programs.

Peter Grant, Energy/Environmental Technology Researcher, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

“Flexible Flexibility: Customizing Load Shifting to Occupant and Grid Needs”: Recent advances show that reducing utility bills and supporting grid stability is possible by shifting HPWH electricity consumption in response to highly dynamic prices. These controls can be further customized in response to user preferences, such as the presence of low-cost on-site generation or externality costs, and utility needs for smooth demand increase/decrease rates. This presentation will provide updates to prior price-responsive algorithms to enable this customization, and concepts that can be applied to other technologies.

Aaron Tam, Research Engineer, Electric Power Research Institute

“Efficient and Flexible Natural-Refrigerant-Based HPWH with Immersed Condenser”: This presentation covers a recently awarded CEC project led by EPRI on the development and evaluation of a natural-refrigerant-based heat pump water heater with an immersed condenser (IC-HPWH). The prototype design considerations include the use of R-290, operation on 120V circuit, advanced heat exchangers, variable compressors, and demand flexibility capabilities via a communication standard such as ANSI CTA-2045 B.

California’s AB 130: Impacts on the Next Generation of Energy Codes

WEDNESDAY 2:00 PM • BALLROOM C

California’s AB 130 changes how building energy codes are developed, implemented, and supported. This panel session discusses how AB 130 is shaping the 2028 Energy Code and highlights utility and industry responses, including implications for compliance, energy modeling, and building construction.

Moderated by Payam Bozorgchami, P.E., Senior Civil Engineer, Building Standards Branch, Efficiency Division, California Energy Commission

Panelists:

Christopher Malotte, Senior Manager of Codes and Standards, Southern California Edison

Kelly Cunningham, Program Manager, Codes & Standards, Pacific Gas and Electric Company

Gina Griffiths Rodda, Principal, Gabel Energy

3:00 PM • Break

3:30 PM • Breakout Sessions

Deploying GAHPs in Utility Programs: Opportunities, Challenges, and Lessons Learned

WEDNESDAY 3:30 PM • BALLROOM A

This session focuses on the role of gas absorption heat pumps (GAHPs) within utility programs and greenhouse applications. Speakers will discuss implementation experiences, customer considerations, cost and incentive structures, and key barriers to adoption as well as reveal lessons from recent projects and explore opportunities to scale GAHP deployment.

Moderated by Anoushka Grossheim, Energy Engineer, ICF (GET)

Speaker:

Chris Salerno, Senior Energy Engineer, Lincus, Inc. (GET)

“Field Performance of Gas-Fired Heat Pump Water Heaters: Integration Lessons for Utility Programs”: Gas absorption heat pumps (GAHPs) can deliver domestic hot water at a higher efficiency than conventional boilers, but field performance depends on system design, controls, and integration of the unit with existing plant equipment. This presentation shares results and lessons from four gas-fired heat pump water heater (HPWH) field studies in commercial and multifamily buildings, including measured performance, common integration challenges, and implications for utility program design, measurement, and verification.

Distributed Energy Storage

WEDNESDAY 3:30 PM • BALLROOM B

Our speaker, Mohammad Hoda, will discuss the research he plans to conduct under a recent EPIC award. He will present case studies on applications for distributed energy storage systems and discuss potential opportunities and challenges in the California market.

Moderated by Rafael Friedmann, Facilitator, ETCC

Speaker: Mohammad (Moe) Hoda, Director, Engineering and Strategic Growth, Viridi

Non-Residential HVAC Heat Pumps: Collaboration to Solve Rooftop HVAC Challenges

WEDNESDAY 3:30 PM • BALLROOM C

Decarbonizing non-residential HVAC will require more than better heat pump technology; it will require coordinated action among manufacturers, building owners, policymakers, utilities, and other market leaders. This session will examine how collaborative initiatives are advancing next-generation rooftop heat pumps, overcoming technical and market barriers to adoption, and aligning technology development, building codes, controls, and large-scale market demand to accelerate cost-effective decarbonization.

Moderated by Jerine Ahmed, Senior Engineer, Southern California Edison

Speakers:

Michael Deru, Manager, Advanced Building Equipment, National Laboratory of the Rockies

“Driving HVAC Innovation through the DOE Commercial Building HVAC Accelerator”: The Department of Energy and the national labs initiated the Commercial Building HVAC Accelerator to bridge the gap between market-available rooftop units (RTUs) and leading-edge technology. The success of the program is built upon strong partnerships and coordination with leading building owners, utilities, and HVAC manufacturers to push the technology boundaries to create efficient, flexible, and affordable RTUs.

Andrew J. Rhodes, Principal Sustainability Engineer, Worldwide Sustainability, Amazon

“Electrification Inception: How Owners, Manufacturers, and Industry Bodies Are Working Together to Innovate Rooftop Unit Design”: Join us to learn how building owners, manufacturers, and conveners are working together to design, test, and manufacture advanced rooftop units for YOUR upcoming projects. We will trace the Advanced RTU program from concept, to written performance specification, to cofounding the DOE Better Buildings Commercial Heat Pump Accelerator, to live pilots across North America. You’ll also learn how you can help expand the projects’ impact and support the next phases.

Habtom Tewelde, Senior Mechanical Engineer, California Energy Commission

“Existing Building Alterations: Large Single-Zone Heat Pumps and Existing Building Commissioning”: This presentation highlights the proposed 2028 Energy Code measure for replacing large single-zone rooftop air conditioners with heat pumps in existing non-residential buildings. It also explores how existing building commissioning, as part of the existing building performance measure, may support heat pump replacement by identifying operational improvements and guiding system design and equipment sizing.