Roadmap points the way to efficient homes in Michigan

‘Clean, Safe, and Affordable’ guide addresses health, cost savings, decarbonization

A new policy roadmap lays out plans to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from Michigan’s residential building sector by 2050 while creating jobs, improving safety, and lowering utility bills.

And the real payoff could come in lives saved and life-threatening illnesses avoided.

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) released “Clean, Safe, and Affordable: A Policy Roadmap for Efficient and All-Electric Homes in Michigan” to provide policy recommendations for energy efficiency and building electrification, charting a course to meet statewide building decarbonization goals.

It's predicted to avert more than 2,800 premature deaths and nearly 39,000 asthma attacks a year, according to the Energy Policy Simulator, a publicly available modeling tool developed by Rocky Mountain Institute and Energy Innovation.

The roadmap builds on the foundation established by Michigan’s Home Energy Rebates (MiHER) program, which is delivering federally funded energy efficiency and electrification upgrades to income-qualified households across the state. While MiHER accelerates improvements in eligible homes today, the policy roadmap outlines long-term strategies needed to extend similar benefits across Michigan’s entire housing stock — including market-rate homes, rental properties, and new construction.

The roadmap serves as a key implementation strategy for the state’s MI Healthy Climate Plan, which sets a goal of economy-wide carbon neutrality by 2050. Because residential buildings account for a significant share of Michigan’s greenhouse gas emissions, transforming how homes are heated, cooled, and powered is essential to meeting statewide climate targets. For example, the roadmap sets a goal of installing 2.8 million heat pumps for residential heating by 2040. Heat pumps offer high efficiency, lower operating costs, and environmental benefits.

The roadmap outlines policy recommendations including updated building codes, expanded financing tools, improved electric rate design, workforce development strategies, and coordinated utility programs to ensure a just and equitable transition for Michigan residents. Enacting its recommendations is predicted to create more than 160,000 direct and indirect jobs by 2050.

“Clean energy in our homes is about more than carbon reduction — it’s about protecting public health and lowering costs for Michigan families,” said EGLE Director Phil Roos. “This roadmap shows how we can eliminate emissions from the residential sector while creating jobs, saving lives, and making homes safer and more affordable for everyone.”

EGLE created the roadmap in partnership with the Institute for Energy Innovation, Michigan Energy Innovation Business Council (Michigan EIBC), and 5 Lakes Energy.

“Decarbonizing homes is a critical part of keeping families healthy and addressing the energy affordability crisis,” said Michigan EIBC Senior Director of Policy Grace Michienzi. “This roadmap will guide Michigan to an electrified future with lower monthly utility bills, safer homes, more jobs, and fewer emissions.”

“Michigan is already putting this vision into action through programs like MiHER,” said Julie Staveland, assistant director of EGLE’s Materials Management Division. “This roadmap ensures we don’t stop there. It provides a clear path to scale energy efficiency and electrification across all homes in Michigan — lowering costs for families while protecting public health and the climate.”