Global GHG Emissions Residential & Commerical Buildings Sector
Globally the residential and commercial buildings sector created an estimated 8.6 Giga tonnes of CO2 in 2004, according to Working Group 3 of the 4th IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) Assessment.
There are substantial cost-effective savings to be had in the buildings sector. The IPCC authors estimate the global potential for cost effectively reducing the carbon emissions of the buildings sector is in the order of 29% below the baseline (calculated from a composite of 80 studies in the sector) by 2020. The projected emission savings are the highest among all the sectors studied by the IPCC in the 4th Assessment.
The three main areas to target for reducing the carbon emissions of buildings are:
1) Reducing energy and embodied energy (the materials to construct buildings)
2) Switching to low-carbon fuels and renewable energy
3) Controlling the emissions of non-CO2 GHG gases (e.g. those used in refrigerants and air-conditioners)
The IPCC authors have calculated 3 projects for emissions reductions depending on the cost of carbon:
(i) 3.2 Gt CO2 if carbon costs $0 / t CO2
(ii) 3.6 Gt CO2 if carbon costs $20 / t CO2
(iii) 4.0 Gt CO2 if carbon costs $100 / t CO2
The largest emission savings in energy use (75% or higher) occur for new buildings through designed and operating buildings as complete systems. However, over the whole building stock the largest proportion of carbon savings by 2030 is in retrofitting existing buildings and replacing energy-using equipment.
The barriers to achieving emissions reductions in the building sector include:
- The high costs of gathering reliable information on energy efficiency measures
- Lack of proper incentives
- Limitations in access to financing
- Subsidies on energy prices
- Fragmentation of the building industry and the design process into many professions, trades, work stages and industries.
Successful government policies for encouraging energy-related emissions reductions include:
- Updated appliance standards
- Building energy codes and labelling
- Energy pricing measures and financial incentives
- Utility demand-side management programmes
- Public sector energy leadership programmes
- Promotion of energy service companies.
The IPCC authors by concluding by saying that significant efforts well beyond what is happening today are need to enhance the programmes and policies for energy efficiency in buildings and low-carbon energy sources so that the substantial emission reductions of the sector can be achieved.
To read the full details of this work go to Chapter 6 "Residential and Commercial Buildings" of the 4th IPCC Assessment - Working Group 3 (2004).
Coordinating Lead Authors: Mark Levine (USA), Diana Ãœrge-Vorsatz (Hungary)
Lead Authors: Kornelis Blok (The Netherlands), Luis Geng (Peru), Danny Harvey (Canada), Siwei Lang (China), Geoffrey Levermore (UK), Anthony Mongameli Mehlwana (South Africa), Sevastian Mirasgedis (Greece), Aleksandra Novikova (Russia), Jacques Rilling (France), Hiroshi Yoshino (Japan)