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.
Global climate change has taken center stage as an environmental concern. To address it, policymakers around the world are designing and implementing policies to reduce energy use and lower annual carbon dioxide emissions, capture and burn methane gas, and change refrigeration technologies. Buildings consume a significant amount of electricity, and in most parts of the world require air...
