Brazil’s Minha Casa, Minha Vida aims to benefit low-income families, while taking care of the environment and reducing costs. Photo by Agência de Notícias do Acre/Flickr
About 3 billion people, or 40 percent of the world’s population, will need new housing by 2030.
Chinese cities, including Shanghai, are pursuing low- and zero-carbon buildings, experimenting with renewable power resources like sun and wind. Photo by Talia Rubnitz/WRI
“Back in the good old days, the construction industry had to worry about a few keys things: Will it stand up, is it functional and does it look nice? Not so anymore.
Photo by Jiri Rezac/Climate Change Group/Flickr
Persuading people to use energy more efficiently has long been heralded as a simple, effective way to help tackle climate change. The problem lies in the persuasion.
New construction in Tianjin, China. Businesses design, build, finance, own, operate, renovate and occupy most buildings in cities.
An apprentice trains for a job in energy efficiency. Photo by EE Image Database/Flickr
Energy efficiency’s image is due for a makeover. Long seen as one of the simplest ways to reduce consumer costs, energy efficiency also offers multiple benefits that improve people’s lives while cutting air pollution and curbing climate-warming emissions.
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.
To decrease buildings-related emissions, national and local governments must collaborate to create implementable policies that work for everyone.
The Financing Sustainable Cities Initiative connects stakeholders to improve municipal building energy efficiency. Photo by Alejandro/ Flickr
The majority of the energy used by buildings is wasted, resulting in increased energy costs and air pollution. Among C40 cities, this translates to between 50 percent and 75 percent of citywide carbon emissions.
Dehli skyline. India’s building sector accounted for nearly a third of its energy consumption in 2016. Photo by Francisco Anzola/ Flickr
India’s buildings are silent power guzzlers.
A pilot project will benchmark energy use in 100 buildings across Dubai. Photo by Achim Fischer/Flickr
Dubai is blazing a new path for cities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by calling attention to energy consumption in buildings and highlighting the lack of data available to benchmark usage rates and measure progress.