Overview
Held on May 15th, 2025 at JLL in Washington DC, fifty public and private industry leaders convened for the AEG DMV Stakeholder Challenge: Building Conversion & Electrification. The purpose of this challenge was to: 1.) Agree on a critical obstacle preventing achievement of the DMV’s climate, health and energy goals; 2.) Align on a 90-day sprint and 12-month objective to best address this obstacle; and 3.) Enable stakeholders to create a volunteer Task Force accountable for delivering the agreed solution.
Josephine Tucker, Head of Energy Advisory and Sustainability, JLL Americas, and Brian Hanlon, Director, DC Department of Buildings, provided opening remarks to frame the discussion surrounding building conversion and electrification for the DMV.
Opening Remarks were followed by the Speaker Challenge, where each speaker provided an 8 minute and 5 slide presentation that concluded with this completed statement: "Regarding Building Conversion and Electrification, to achieve DMV's climate, health & energy goals, a critical obstacle to collectively overcome in 12 months is …”
Ben Burdick of DCSEU emphasized the need to fund feasibility and load studies to quickly identify viable building candidates for electrification and avoid wasted resources. Trisha Miller of DC Green Bank highlighted the importance of durable, lifecycle-aligned financing to catalyze retrofits and support affordable housing and downtown revitalization. Paulina Torres of JLL underscored the urgency of reframing electrification as a strategic investment to reduce asset obsolescence and unlock value in DC’s aging building stock.
Inspired by the statement provided by Paulina Torres (JLL), participants agreed to prioritize the following obstacle:
"Regarding Building Conversion and Electrification, to achieve DMV's climate, health & energy goals, a critical obstacle to collectively overcome in 12 months is the need to shift owner perception from viewing building electrification as a cost to understanding it as a strategic investment that mitigates obsolescence risks and unlocks new opportunities.”
Participants designed, presented, and selected a 90-day sprint and 12-month objective to overcome the above critical obstacle. 17 leaders came together to form a Task Force to complete the above 90-day sprint and 12-month objective.
Task Force Volunteers: Max Bremner (Baumann Consulting), Amah Binde (CSA Group), Janani Shankaran (DOEE), Connor Rattey (DOEE), Whitney Douglas (DC Public Service Commission), Olivia Jovine (DMPED), Laila Salimi (Ecosystem), Smita Thomas (Energy Shrink, LLC), Bill Eger (ETHOS Sustainability), Theresa Backhus (Institute for Market Transformation), Dennis Hidalgo (JLL), Paulina Torres (JLL), Jetta Wong (JLW Advising), Mansi Talwar (The George Washington University), Sophie Jones (The George Washington University), Luke Lanciano (The Tower Companies), Amy Boyce (WSP), Kwabena Owusu-Boateng (The Carbon League)
5 Key Themes
1. Reframing Building Electrification as a Value-Driven Investment
Building owners often perceive electrification as a costly obligation rather than an opportunity. Overcoming this mindset is essential to demonstrate how electrification reduces obsolescence risk, enhances property competitiveness, and aligns with the expectations of future tenants and investors.
"The need to shift owner perception from viewing building electrification as a cost to understanding it as a strategic investment that mitigates obsolescence risks and unlocks new opportunities.” — Paulina Torres, JLL
2. Establishing Durable, Lifecycle-Aligned Financing
Reliable and well-timed capital deployment is necessary to catalyze electrification across a building’s lifecycle. Strategic funding solutions—especially those that align with policy goals like affordable housing and downtown revitalization—are essential to scale projects across the region.
“The absence of durable funding for financial interventions that can catalyze building electrification at key stages in the building life cycle.” — Trisha Miller, DC Green Bank
3. Funding Feasibility and Load Studies to Prioritize Action
Owners need technical and financial clarity to determine which buildings are viable for conversion. Publicly supported feasibility and load studies can help “fail fast,” enabling efficient resource allocation and accelerating progress on decarbonization goals.
“Helping building owners pay for feasibility and load studies to understand which properties are good candidates for conversion and/or electrification. Fail fast.” — Ben Burdick, DCSEU
4. Creating Replicable Toolkits and Case Studies
Toolkits that clearly communicate the business case, financing options, and step-by-step processes for electrification can build momentum. When paired with real-world case studies, these resources demystify the conversion process and promote repeatable success.
“Meet with local officials, banks and building experts to develop a retrofitting toolkit that outlines the business case for electrification, the financing mechanisms available, and how to overcome common obstacles throughout the process.” — Paulina Torres, JLL
5. Fostering Cross-Sector Collaboration and Ecosystem Alignment
Achieving building electrification at scale requires coordination across utilities, regulators, capital providers, developers, and tenants. Structured collaboration and facilitated stakeholder dialogues help uncover systemic barriers and build the consensus needed to act.
“The process of getting thoughts of critical stakeholders that lead towards consensus is powerful. I highly recommend applying this process to your complex problems.” — Whitney Douglas, DC Public Service Commission
Conclusion
The AEG DMV 25Q2 Stakeholder Challenge on Building Conversion & Electrification convened regional finance leaders, energy efficiency experts, building strategists, and public sector stakeholders to address critical barriers to decarbonizing the built environment in the District-Maryland-Virginia region. The challenge emphasized the need to reframe building electrification as a strategic investment, establish durable funding mechanisms aligned with the building lifecycle, and support feasibility studies to identify viable properties for retrofit. Key themes included developing replicable toolkits and case studies to build confidence, aligning stakeholders across the ecosystem to streamline implementation, and advancing equitable financing models that support policy goals such as affordable housing and downtown revitalization. As volunteer leaders embark on a 90-day sprint and a 12-month objective, their collaborative actions will be essential in accelerating building conversion and electrification as a pathway to a cleaner, healthier, and more resilient DMV region.
For the list of participating stakeholders who aligned on this critical obstacle and developed this 12 month goal and 90 day sprint, please visit here.
Other proposed 90-Day Sprints and 12-Month Obstacles and Objectives included:
