The US was the second market for new construction mainly because of the cyclic rebound of the US economy. In both China and the US, construction of new buildings is an important driver of the growth experienced in these economies. The other side of the coin is the increased energy consumption of the built environment. Globally, in 2010 it reached 2,794 million tonnes of oil equivalent (Mtoe) (double what was consumed by the sector in 1971, according to the International Energy Agency, making buildings the largest consumer of energy.
In the coming decades, the buildings sector is expected to continue to be a driver of the global economic growth, mainly because of the construction needs in emerging markets. In fact, industry forecasts for next decade show an increase in the demand for new buildings in emerging markets, especially in Asia, Middle East and North Africa offsetting a decline in most developed countries. As a consequence, global energy demand from buildings is projected to grow by an additional 838 Mtoe by 2035 compared to 2010. This is equivalent to the current energy demand of the buildings sector in the US and China combined.
The legitimate gains in access to modern living conditions worldwide will increase energy imports, with their concomitant impact on trade balances as well as raising households energy expenditures towards those already observed in developed countries (over 2% of GDP). As a result, tackling the growing energy consumption of the built environment is a global priority.
Historically, oil crises have been the trigger for regulating buildings’ energy demand in developed countries. This has been done through building energy codes which have reduced buildings’ energy consumption in those countries where they have been implemented on a mandatory basis, regularly updated and well enforced. Based on the analysis of the impact of building energy codes in developed countries, since 2008, the IEA recommends in its 25 Energy Efficiency Policy Recommendations that governments “require all new buildings, as well as buildings undergoing renovation, to be covered by energy codes and meet minimum energy performance standards (MEPs) that aim to minimise life-cycle costs. Energy codes and MEPs should be enforced, regularly strengthened and take a holistic approach that includes the building envelope and equipment”
In emerging economies and developing countries progress has been made in recent years. However, despite the widespread implementation of building energy codes, still about three-fourths of countries around the world representing 70 % of global GDP in 2012 have voluntary code (including some developed countries) or no building energy code at all. In order to achieve the fullest potential of energy savings in the buildings sector worldwide, it is imperative to close this gap – and indeed, to envision an ideal in which all countries worldwide will have mandatory building energy codes. These should be fully enforced and regularly updated, ultimately, on the way to net-zero energy consumption as recommended by the IEA’s second recommendation for buildings.
“Governments should support and encourage the construction of buildings with net-zero energy consumption and take initiatives to make such buildings commonly available in the market, when economically viable based on a life-cycle cost analysis. Policies should include: i) Targets for market share of net-zero energy consumption buildings in all new construction by 2020. ii) The use of net-zero energy consumption buildings as a reference for mandatory MEPS in future updates of building codes.
The global economy can’t afford to be unambitious with the built environment due to the long lifespan of buildings. Getting it right from the start and getting it right now are particularly important in the buildings sector, given the fact that more than half of the buildings that will exist in 2050 have yet to be built in developing countries while in developed ones, three-quarters of the existing buildings will be still standing by the same year.More ambitious goals and approaches reflective of world best practice such as making building energy codes mandatory, overall performance, well-enforce them and regularly update them to accelerate the deployment of efficient technologies will make the built environment a trump card for all economies.
The newly published IEA-UNDP report on “Modernising Building Energy Codes to Secure our Global Energy Future” provides insights for government and industry on the path to follow to achieve a building stock that is low-energy use and low carbon emissions by 2050. Click here to read the full report: http://www.iea.org/publications/freepublications/publication/name,42535,....
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited (EIU) or any other member of The Economist Group. The Economist Group (including the EIU) cannot accept any responsibility or liability for reliance by any person on this article or any of the information, opinions or conclusions set out in the article.
