Giving Compass' Take:

• GreenBiz reports how states across America are changing the way they think about the built environment and the importance of renewable electricity and zero carbon emissions. 

• How can funders invest in projects like these and built environment? 

• Here's how Washington D.C. plans to run on 100% renewable electricity by 2032. 

Hundreds of cities and corporations are on the path to zero carbon emissions. For most, to achieve this ambition, the best path is to generate all energy with renewable electricity, then electrify all buildings and transportation.

At present, only one out of every four U.S. homes is all-electric. Most use natural gas for heating water, heating the air and cooking. Some also use gas for washing and drying clothes and dishes. Natural gas is typically 85 percent methane, a super pollutant that traps 100 times the heat of CO2 over its 16-year life in the atmosphere. Much new natural gas used in buildings comes from fracking, increasingly associated with polluting local watersheds.

Unless all homes and buildings are heated with renewable electricity, instead of natural gas, we will fail to fully decarbonize. The good news is there is an increase in all-electric building at the same time as there is a price decrease for renewables, heat pumps and energy efficient technology and materials. The following three complexes demonstrate that multiple dwelling homes can be designed for zero energy.

Read the full article about all-electric and ultra-efficient communities by John Addison at GreenBiz.