Passive Cooling Action Group

About the GlobalABC Passive Cooling Action Group

The usage of air conditioners and electric fans constitutes approximately 20% of total electricity consumption in buildings worldwide, equivalent to 10% of global electricity usage (IEA, 2018). Without intervention, emissions from cooling are anticipated to rise to 6.1 billion tons of CO2e by 2050, exceeding 10% of global emissions that year (UNEP, Global Cooling Watch 2023). Despite this, 1.2 billion people in the global south still lack access to comfortably cooled environments (SEforALL, 2023).

Passive cooling methods offer a solution, potentially reducing the growth in cooling demand by 24% in 2050. This could lead to capital cost savings of up to US$1.5 to US$3 trillion by avoiding the need for new cooling equipment and decreasing emissions by 1.3 billion tons of CO2e (UNEP, Global Cooling Watch 2023). Notably, 68 countries have pledged to implement national model building energy codes by 2030, incorporating measures such as passive cooling and energy efficiency strategies (UNEP Global Cooling Pledge, 2023).

The GlobalABC Passive Cooling Action Group leads and supports diverse actors interested in the thermal comfort of the buildings in knowledge generation, dissemination, and implementation to apply passive-first design strategies to reduce the dependence on active cooling. The Action Group aims to support the just transition to healthy, energy-efficient, net zero buildings towards the carbon neutrality target in 2050, and support governments and industry to take comprehensive action on cooling, delivering on the Paris Agreement, Kigali Amendment and the SDGs.

Passive Cooling Action Group co-leads and members

Co-leads

Activities

  • One Vision: Shape a common vision and approach for the transformation towards passive-first building design with minimum use of active solutions, contributing to low-energy and thermally comfortable healthy buildings and addressing growing demand for cooling comprehensively.
  • Collaboration: Facilitate the engagement of countries and other stakeholders in the building sector to accelerate passive cooling strategies and expedite their collaboration to drive a joint action.
  • Solutions and Tools: Promote and develop guidelines/tools to support the integration of passive cooling strategies into building energy codes and their implementation, enabling diverse actors to overcome barriers in policy, finance and technology. 
  • Advocacy and Communication: Advocate for action to accelerate the decarbonisation of building operational carbon through passive cooling strategies and communicate international best practices and innovative ideas at a global scale.

2024-2025 Priorities 

The Action Group will boost engagement with our partners by facilitating knowledge exchange, peer review, seminars, etc. We will also aim to develop knowledge products on passive cooling.

Contact & how to join

If you are interested in joining the Passive Cooling Action Group, please reach out to the co-lead Gennai Kamata [email protected].