VIEWPOINT: Sealing the Deal: The Hidden Driver of All-Electric Building Performance
The following is a Viewpoint written by Amit Gupta, chief executive at Aeroseal.
As New York prepares to implement its 2026 All-Electric Buildings Act, the transition to clean, efficient electric technologies marks a bold step toward a low-carbon future. Heat pumps and other innovations will redefine how buildings are powered and heated—helping to cut emissions and reduce reliance on fossil fuels. Yet, to fully realize the promise of electrification, attention must also be given to something far less visible: air tightness.
Even the most advanced electric heating and cooling systems can only perform at their peak when the building envelope and ductwork are properly sealed. Air leaks dilute efficiency gains, drive up energy costs, and make it harder to deliver the comfort and performance these systems are designed to achieve.
In July, the New York State Fire Prevention and Building Code Council approved the new all-electric standards. When they take effect in 2026, they’ll apply to most new residential buildings seven stories and below and commercial buildings over 100,000 sq ft, expanding in 2029 to include taller residential and smaller commercial buildings.
While the change has been long anticipated—and many in the industry are ready to lead the charge—it brings both opportunities and learning curves. The goal isn’t just compliance; it’s ensuring these buildings are healthy, affordable, and as efficient as possible. Achieving that means pairing electrification with strong air sealing practices so that conditioned air stays where it should, systems run efficiently, and residents enjoy greater comfort.
Professionals across the architect, engineer, and contractor (AEC) community have seen how uncontrolled air leakage can undermine performance—allowing air to move between units or to the outdoors, raising energy use, and forcing oversized mechanical systems. By contrast, sealing those leaks can reduce energy use by more than 30%, enabling smaller, more cost-effective systems that deliver sustained savings and superior comfort.
Electrification is the future of buildings. Air sealing is what ensures that future performs as promised, and the evidence is clear. In a UC Davis-led field demonstration and modeled study of 18 new multifamily homes in Minnesota, aerosol-based envelope sealing resulted in leakage reductions of 67% to 94% and a reduction in heating costs by as much as 25%. Envelope air tightness ranged between 0.2 to 1.4 ACH50, with half of the units exceeding code requirements by more than 80%.
Of course, not all air sealing methods deliver the same results. Traditional hand-applied sealants can be effective, but their reach is limited. Reaching the micro-leaks hidden behind sheathing, framing, or junction boxes is nearly impossible by hand, and once ductwork is behind walls and ceilings, it is completely unattainable without demolition.
Advanced aerosolized sealing technologies can find and seal those leaks automatically, taking the elements of human error and inaccessibility out of the equation. For example, in a U.S. Department of Energy study of 40 residential units in North Carolina, the ductwork in 20 homes was sealed manually and achieved a 59% leakage reduction. The other 20 homes were sealed using Aeroseal’s aerosolized process and achieved a 90% reduction, cutting leakage to roughly 1.5 CFM / 100 ft²—over four-and-a-half times tighter than the manual sealing results of 7.0 CFM/100 ft2. This difference translates directly into smaller, efficient HVAC systems, operating cost savings, and verified performance.
The same dynamic is playing out in projects across the country. On New York’s Upper West Side, progress on the 32-unit 153rd Street Apartments was stalled because the team couldn’t meet Passive House Standard air-tightness requirements—a rigorous, above-code benchmark for building energy efficiency and comfort. Previous manual sealing attempts had been expensive and ineffective. But with advanced envelope air sealing technology, the site sealed all 32 units to the standard in just eight days, enabling the project to move forward.
On a much larger scale, managers of the 600-unit, all-electric Soleil Lofts in Herriman, Utah, wanted to cut energy consumption in half to meet Net Zero performance standards. Units were sealed to 1 ACH50, enabling the use of smaller 1.5-ton VRF heat pumps instead of 3.5-ton gas furnaces. HVAC costs dropped by 50%. And the energy savings made the deployment of rooftop solar economically viable.
Both projects–and hundreds more like them–illustrate a broader truth: air tightness should be treated as a central design and performance factor, not an afterthought. When buildings leak, every other system must work harder. Costs go up. Performance goes down. When buildings are sealed, HVAC loads shrink, renewables become more viable, and residents enjoy lower bills and healthier indoor environments.
As the building industry moves toward all-electric new construction, air tightness should be treated as a core design priority. It has a direct influence on construction cost, system sizing, occupant comfort, and building performance and resilience. For developers, that means recognizing it as an investment that could drive down overall project and long-term operating costs. For the AEC community, it means planning construction timelines and coordination so sealing happens at the right time, leveraging the right technologies to exceed stringent local building standards, emerging code, rigorous certification requirements, and broader performance goals.
For a rapidly evolving industry, the message is clear: the clean-energy transition depends on getting this invisible layer right. By prioritizing advanced sealing techniques, developers and contractors can not only meet New York’s new mandate but also gain an edge in a market that increasingly rewards projects that perform as promised.
Amit Gupta is a mechanical engineer with experience at Tata Motors, Carrier, and 75F, as well as being CEO of Aeroseal since its founding in 2010.