Fossil Heating Phase-Out in Existing Buildings

Most urban emissions come from heating buildings with fossil fuels. Replacing millions of gas and oil systems with heat pumps, district heating, or other clean alternatives is technically possible but blocked by building age, split landlord-tenant incentives, skilled workforce shortages, and the sheer scale of infrastructure replacement needed within a single generation.

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#00049Mandatory District Heating Connection Zones

Designate zones where buildings must connect to district heating networks when available, coordinated with gas network decommissioning schedules. This prevents stranded infrastructure investment and ensures district heating reaches the density needed for economic viability. Danish cities pioneered this approach and achieve over 60% district heating penetration nationally. Basel's IWB is already implementing a version of this — publishing an interactive map showing every address's planned connection date and shutting off gas supply area by area.

Basel-Stadt, Switzerlandcity

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Amara Okafor

#00050Retrofit Accelerator with On-Bill Financing

Create a one-stop-shop retrofit service that bundles energy audits, contractor matching, and financing into a single program. The key innovation is on-bill financing: retrofit costs are repaid through the energy bill, so landlords face no upfront cost and the charge transfers with the property, not the owner. This solves the split incentive problem that blocks most building upgrades. Energiesprong in the Netherlands has demonstrated net-zero retrofits completed in under two weeks per dwelling using this model.

Basel-Stadt, Switzerlandcity

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James Whitfield