Smart, green, productive and efficient buildings contribute to urban efficiency and high-performance cities. Buildings don’t turn green with a fresh coat of paint, and building green is not an afterthought. Green, net zero building principles encompass the entire life cycle of a building—from the design and construction phases to the operation and maintenance of the building. Green buildings efficiently select and use resources and engage occupants to live and work in the buildings in a sustainable manner. Those that match their energy demand with on-site energy production can achieve “net-zero” status. Increasingly, green and net zero buildings are demonstrating real market traction - and the benefits are becoming clear. Photo credit: Brad Kahn/Flickr
India taps into zero-carbon buildings’ climatic, economic and social benefits, decreasing energy demand and increasing efficiency and access. Photo by Adam Cohn/Flickr
In 2013, the world’s cities accounted for 64 percent of primary energy use and 70 percent of CO2 emissions.
This synthesis report in French summarizes the key points of the Building Efficiency Initiative's 2016 report, Accelerating Building Efficiency: 8 Actions for Urban Leaders.
Paseo de la Reforma in Mexico City. Photo by Dan/Flickr.
Globally, buildings account for 40 percent of total energy consumption and 33 percent of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Mexico City Skyline. Photo Credit: Alex Steffler/Flickr
PARIS (December 7, 2015)—At Energy Day, COP21, several cities and subnational jurisdictions, businesses, and organizations joined the Building Efficiency Accelerator (BEA).
Buildings, such as the Bullitt Center, not only utilize renewable energy, but are designed to consume less energy overall. (Photo: Brad Kahn/ Flickr)
Google recently released Project Sunroof—an interactive online tool that allows building owners to estimate how much money they can save by installing solar panels on their roofs.
It can often be difficult for residents–like those of Wuxi, China–to know how their homes perform compared to similar homes. Benchmarking fills this knowledge gap, helping the city improve building performance. Photo by Mr Thinktank / Flickr.
Investments in energy efficiency can significantly help energy utilities as they face a future of stagnating sales, aging infrastructure, growth in distributed generation and stricter environmental regulations, says a new report from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. While utilities are unlikely to face a “death spiral” as some have predicted, they need new...
As consumers exercise choice, and technologies become better and cheaper, distributed energy resources (DER) are proliferating on power grids. However, grids and distribution systems were not designed to accommodate multiple DERs while sustaining reliability and quality. Some DERs are more variable and intermittent than the central generating plants on which the power system is based, according to...