Energy Efficiency in Buildings

LEEDing thoughts from the USA

Mark Twain created some wonderful sayings – some of them very relevant to this project, such as: “Architects cannot teach nature anything”, and perhaps most pertinent of all: “Nothing so needs reforming as other people's habits.”

The reason I mention Twain is that the EEB project recently spent a valuable afternoon in the new (LEED certified) Mark Twain House & Museum in Hartford, Connecticut. Hartford is also the home of United Technologies, an EEB co-chair. The company hosted a meeting of the EEB group. An afternoon session in the museum brought together 17 “thought leaders” representing key stakeholders from the U.S. building sector. They included developers, architects, policy-makers, academics and NGOs.

We had an intensive debate on where the US is going and what needs to be done, beginning with behavior change. Energy efficiency is crucial but people will not change their behavior if they don't perceive a threat. And today most American people still feel very comfortable. They are concerned about the price of gasoline at the pump, but they do not know their energy use and they do not perceive climate change as a sufficient threat to provoke action.

Building boom in Brazil needs a Green Plan

Sao Paulo is one of the mega-cities which are becoming the world’s dominant economic force. The São Paulo Metropolitan Region actually consists of 39 cities, with São Paulo (and about 11 million people) at its heart. Greater Sao Paulo has experienced intense growth in the last few decades. The building industry is trying to catch up with a doubling of the population between 1967 and 2002.

This growth implies more and more energy. Brazil got an energy “wake-up call“back in 2001 when a black-out paralyzed the southern part of the country. They quickly cut energy demand by about a quarter but the drive to save energy is fading. If steps are not taken they might face a second “wake-up call” in a few years time. The Brazilian footprint is increasing rapidly. Brazil will need more energy but without an elaborated policy of “controlled energy growth" , there is a risk that Brazil moves away from its sustainable hydro electricity production towards considering fossil (carbon) derived energy sources to support their rapid expansion - they might go from good to worse!

The EEB project went to Brazil for our fourth Outreach event, in Rio de Janeiro on April 3. This follows events in Beijing, Brussels and New Delhi, where we have shared our findings, enjoyed a dialogue with stakeholders and learned more about the building market in each country.

EEB in San Francisco

As guest blogger for this entry, I'm pleased to share thoughts on the EEB's recent workshop at Lawrence Berkeley Labs (LBL) in Berkeley, California. But first, a bit of background.

Berkeley is not just a beautiful place (east of San Francisco on the outskirts of Oakland) – the brain power of Lawrence Berkeley Labs has helped California's policy-makers develop some of the most aggressive and leading-edge energy policies in the US, if not in the world.

Our direct contact there, Steve Selkowitz, heads up the Building Technologies Group at the Labs and has been quite involved with EEB since its inception. Christian and I met Steve at the 2006 ACEEE Summer Session in Monterey, and knew we had found an exceptional resource. On the subject of buildings and energy efficiency, Steve is probably one of the most knowledgeable people around. If he doesn't have direct knowledge, I will guarantee he knows someone who does. Steve and his team at LBL are leading experts on the subjects of building energy use, modeling, human behavior, policy options, systems and controls, and much more.

EPBD – The EU’s buildings platform; Stakeholders want to move on quicker despite the slow start in many Member States

Last week I was in Brussels for the European Union's Sustainable Energy Week 2008. It is the central event for the EU's sustainable energy campaign in Europe , offering stakeholders a forum on sustainable energy. My focus was on the session evaluating the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) which came into force in Jan 2003.

We start from the fact that buildings consume 40% of total energy in the EU. By cutting the energy use in buildings by about 30 %, Europe's energy consumption would fall by 11%, more than half of the 20-20-20 target (20% less carbon dioxide by 2020, with 20% renewables in the energy mix). What's more, it saves money. No wonder that the EPBD is the centerpiece of the EU's energy strategy, with these five themes:

1. Certification of buildings' energy performance
2. Regular inspection of boilers and air conditioning
3. Training of experts and inspectors
4. Calculation procedures
5. Minimum Energy Performance in Buildings

It wont be easy, though. The building stock in the EU amounts to 21 billion m2. The annual production of new buildings is 1%, demolition rate about 0.5% and retrofit about 1.8 %. At that rate it will take a very long time to improve energy efficiency. A comprehensive and aggressive approach will be needed to reach the 30% target.

From Bali to Paris …building sustainability

Dear readers. Apologies for the extended absence during which I have not been able to keep you posted on developments with the EEB project.

I was in Bali at the COP 13 meeting. As you probably know, “the Bali Roadmap” was finally agreed despite the strong positions taken by the US and India in particular not wanting targets on emission reductions. My take is that:

- Climate change is now a real global issue. All countries, developed as well as developing countries, form a global community, that know they have to confront the issue.

- Climate change and development are fully linked to each other.

- Business inputs are needed all along the “Bali Roadmap”. Business can advise policy makers on what will make economic as well as commercial sense.

- Industry sectoral approaches will have to be part of policy solutions and the issue of buildings will be central.

The most memorable statement was made by Mr. Tanaka, head of the International Energy Agency (IEA). He showed great courage. At the WBCSD business day, he presented the dark facts of where we were heading, along the business-as-usual curve with fast increasing emissions levels. Then Mr. Tanaka added his alternative scenario curve to the graph, which bent downwards nicely over time and gave us all hope. Then he said:”If you believe in the alternative scenario then you have to believe in science fiction”. His words swept over the audience like a very cold wind.

Back to Paris and the EEB project….

The time is right for action

I said in my previous blog that India 's building sector is growing fast – 20 million dwellings, 19 million sq m of commercial space, 13 million sq m of retail space, 50,000 hotel rooms over the next five years.

Business-as-usual would mean a rapid increase in the sector's energy consumption, absorbing a growing proportion of India's incremental energy production in the years to come along with a necessary expansion of its energy infrastructure. On the other hand an energy-efficient development path would reduce overall energy use, pollution and CO 2 emissions. India's energy security would also improve. It's a win-win-win scenario.

The time is right to make it happen. At the EEB Outreach event last month, high government officials expressed their political will and declared it a priority. Businesses said they see it as an opportunity. Civil society naturally welcomed and supported a new direction.

Words are easy, of course. But how to make it happen? There are many barriers in India , just as there are elsewhere. In fact we found they are very similar to barriers we encountered in our Outreach events in China and Europe. (They are well documented in the report we published recently).

But while the barriers may be similar, it is not appropriate to “copy and paste” western solutions to India.

Transforming the building industry in India--- quite a challenge!!!

Flying to India from Europe or Asia usually means that you arrive in the middle of night, and departure times are as bad. Indeed, at Delhi airport the passengers looked very tired.

But the tiredness was worth it because I was there for the EEB project's 3rd Outreach event, organized together with TERI-BCSD. TERI is the widely respected Energy Research Institute and it acts as the local organization of the WBCSD. I was particularly proud to have a Nobel Peace Prize winner to open the day, Dr Pachauri, who heads TERI and has been chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) since 2002.

The conference was exciting. I'll come back to the main outcomes in a few days but I must mention now the Indian architect Karan Grover, who gave a very impressive key note address.

He expanded the concept of green building and positioned it in the Indian context by including culture, heritage and restorations as key parameters. His project in Hyderabad is the first LEED platinum certified building in India. He was excellent and we need to import his ideas. We will put his presentation on our website shortly.

Green Week Asia – not so green

Last week took me to Asia – to Singapore, to a conference and exhibition on the "green" theme organized by TERRAPIN. It seemed like most participants came to find out more about biofuel and clean coal. I and some other speakers tried hard to get an audience for green buildings and SRI investment.

I presented the EEB Summary Report and linked our conclusions to the Asia context. I got a good response and we had a fruitful dialogue. There were interesting presentations from Pune in India by Aditya Javdekarand from Bovis Lend Lease, which is trying to bring down its footprint in the retail sector throughout Asia. Ben O’ Rourke presented how Bovis is buying or constructing sustainable commercial buildings and how they service them.

Green buildings have not taken off yet in Singapore. We discussed for a long time who/what could be future drivers for change or which would be the most important barriers.

I have seen the future!

Christian asked me to be his guest blogger this week, to give a  different perspective on recent project events. My name is Bill Sisson from  United Technologies, and I am Co-Chair of the WBCSD’s Energy Efficiency in  Buildings Project (EEB).

I'm more of a technical person  than a writer, but I’ll do my best to fill Christian’s shoes temporarily and  tell you how we are divining the future for building energy.

I began formulating the EEB Project with Christian in the fall of 2005,  in the shadow of the Swiss Alps in Montreux. Since then my eyes have been  opened not only to the issues of energy, sustainability and climate but also to  the tremendous challenge we face with the building sector's diversity and  complexity. It’s a long-term challenge.   My family, including four children ranging in age from seven to  seventeen, has realized that what I’m trying to do is more for them than for  me.  This is what inspires and motivates  me to tackle the seemingly daily challenges on this project.

Approaching a tipping point

The Economist magazine last week (September  15 issue) ran an article: "Green  as houses – Building green is getting cheaper and more popular".  It featured David Hovey Junior, an architect  in Scottsdale, Arizona. He had built a stunning home made entirely of glass  and recycled steel, using design features to reduce the amount of energy the  occupants will use and to achieve other “green” objectives such as saving a 150-year-old  ironwood tree.

Mr Hovey Junior thinks such houses will sell easily (even in the current  troubled times for the US housing market!). I agree. I think he’s on a winner.  In fact that’s what the EEB project is all about – showing that energy  efficient building can be commercially as well as environmentally viable, and  how to make it the norm rather than the exception.