Energy use by buildings offers a tremendous opportunity for governments seeking to foster clean energy technologies. Sustainability-minded policymakers should focus on three interlinked policy approaches related to better buildings: 1) energy policy that favors energy efficiency and distributed renewable energy sources, 2) climate policy that recognizes and internalizes the cost of carbon pollution; and 3) standards and performance criteria for the building envelope and the building components.
Amid debate about European Union climate and energy targets to 2030, an Institute for Building Efficiency Roundtable explored how investments in building energy efficiency could support a sustainable economic recovery. Attendees agreed that energy renovations would be a core driver of energy security. They cited research showing that doubling the rate of building renovations could create some 2...
A study completed by the Central European University and commissioned by the Global Buildings Performance Network (GBPN) demonstrates how transformative change in the building sector can contribute to emissions reductions. To achieve the full potential of emissions reductions in the building sector, today’s best-practice, state-of-the-art buildings must become the standard in less than 10...
U.S. Policy Opportunities for Improving Building Performance The United States has made substantial progress in energy efficiency – energy use today is about half what it would have been without improvements made over the past 40 years. Still, there are opportunities to do a great deal more – cost-effectively – by adopting available and emerging energy technologies, according to...
The state of U.S. energy and the role of new technologies Building energy efficiency is making its mark in the current energy economy, according to a new report from...
Richard Graves Executive Director International Living Future Institute (ILFI),
Doubling the rate of energy efficiency improvement economywide has become an important global policy goal. For some, it is critical to improve economic productivity, for others, it slows the rate of carbon emissions, and for countries without enough power to meet growing populations, it frees resources to help ensure access to energy. Sustainable Energy for All,1 an initiative launched by the...