Building sector must do better on energy efficiency

The building sector is not investing enough in energy efficiency to reach emissions reductions targets, according to a scathing report published by World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) this week.

The report, Transforming the Market: Energy Efficiency in Buildings, concludes that “Under current financial and policy conditions, building decisionmakers will not spend sufficiently on energy efficiency, even on investments that pay off over a project lifetime.” Financial timescales are generally too short for owners of both residential and commercial buildings for energy efficiency measures to be attractive.

However, improvements are possible and the report outlines a roadmap of actions that could reduce the energy usage of buildings by 60% by 2050. In some countries such as the US this would require energy consumption to be reduced to 80% ‘business as usual’ levels.

“Unless there is immediate action, thousands of new buildings will be built without any concern for energy efficiency, and millions of existing, inefficient buildings using more energy than necessary will still be standing in 2050,” says Björn Stigson, president of the WBCSD.

Making changes on the necessary scale will not be driven by the market alone and require the right financial support mechanisms, as well as a step change in behaviour and attitude among building professionals and occupants.

Governments and policymakers also need to take action on codes for and labelling of energy-using products and services, provide incentives for energy efficiency investment and undertake large-scale education initiatives to change behaviour.

“Most building owners and occupants don’t know enough and don’t care enough about energy consumption, and inertia is reinforced by assumptions that costs are too high and savings too low. That’s why we are calling for a major, coordinated and global effort,” says Stigson.

The report came out of a $15 million, four-year research project that looked at the energy demand of buildings in the US, EU, Japan, China, India and Brazil.

The WBCSD calls for action are underpinned by another report out this week from Pike Research, which says that green renovations could represent a $400 billion market in coming years.

The Mayor of New York Michael R. Bloomberg is taking steps in the right direction with a new initiative that aims to reduce emissions in the city by around 5%.

“We’re introducing the greener, greater buildings plan, a far-reaching package of new local laws that will dramatically improve New York’s energy efficiency and reduce energy costs by some three-quarters of a billion dollars a year,” said Mayor Bloomberg at the initiative launch last week.

The six-point plan consists of four pieces of new legislation, including an Energy Code Bill to force building owners to meet energy efficiency standards whenever renovations are undertaken and a Benchmarking Bill to ensure all city buildings carry out annual benchmarking against a baseline level, and two PlaNYC programmes.

The other planned legislation would require commercial properties over 50,000 square feet to upgrade lighting systems to more energy efficient ones and conduct an energy audit once a decade. However, landlords would only be required to undertake retrofits that will pay for themselves within five years.

“[This] first-of-its-kind legislation will upgrade the city’s existing buildings with energy efficient technology,” said Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn.

Fuente: Energy Efficiency News