This week in buildings, land and industry decarbonization news, our K Kaufmann has the details on the Department of Energy’s Residential Cold Climate Heat Pump Challenge, which seeks new designs that could warm homes when temperatures fall to 5 degrees Fahrenheit without major changes in their efficiency. Bosch, Daikan, Midea, and Johnson Controls all produced pumps that met DOE’s challenge. The next phase involves testing the pumps in cold weather climates over the coming year. 

In land use news, the Department of Interior is proposing to designate 22 million acres of public land in the West as suitable for solar development, and our John Cropley has the story. The designation is meant to minimize environmental impacts and conflicts with other uses and find sites close to existing transmission. About 700,000 acres are needed for solar development to reach the Biden administration’s goal of a 100% clean energy grid. 

In California, the PUC removed the last subsidy for buildings that use natural gas. New buildings that burn fossil fuels on site will become ineligible to receive subsidies for electric line extensions starting on July 1. The regulator removed incentives for new natural gas hook ups in 2022. 

Canary Media has a story on a new alliance of start-ups aimed at producing low-carbon cement and concrete. Ten firms formed the Decarbonized Cement and Concrete Alliance, which will advocate for policies that push the public sector to buy low-carbon cement. Governments at all levels purchase almost half of the concrete poured in the country, so the public sector can move the market with its demand. 

Read all those stories and more in this week’s Buildings, Industry and Land Intelligence Report.