European buildings represent 40% of final energy consumption and 36% of GHG emissions related to energy, making them a priority axis for decarbonisation. For the EU, it is urgent to reduce buildings’ energy consumption, especially since 75% of existing buildings are reportedly energy inefficient (i.e. EPC band C or lower according to the SFDR) and require energy renovation work. To act on these issues, one of the main regulatory levers available to the EU is the Energy Performance Building Directive (EPBD). This directive requires EU countries to ensure that by the end of 2020, all newbuilds are nearly zero energy buildings (NZEB). This EU standard relies on two main pillars: a strong energy performance and the local production of renewable energy.

Read the study here

About 90% of homes in the Netherlands depending on natural gas for heating, the Netherlands has made a commitment to phase out natural gas by 2050. To achieve the goal, the Netherlands has rolled out a natural gas-free pilot programme in 66 neighbourhoods. These neighbourhood pilot projects enabled municipalities to learn what it takes to start energy transition.

Based on a city survey carried out across 26 local governments, key findings from this report call on national and local governments joining up their efforts to take place-based measures.

This paper is the first case study applying the policy framework presented in the OECD report Decarbonising Buildings in Cities and Regions published in March 2022. The present case study provides a deep dive into the Netherlands’ experience to demonstrate the potential of cities and regions to advance the decarbonisation of buildings.

Read the paper here.

This report aims to promote a sustainable development approach to meet the immense needs in terms of construction in Africa, based on a rational and sustainable use of local materials. To this end, it presents the advantages, challenges and conditions of use of these materials. It presents examples of technical solutions illustrated by a panorama of the potential resources of the territories (bio and geo-sourced). It provides elements of analysis of the impact of local "short circuit" channels and elements of methodology. It also highlights the need to match architectural design with the specific characteristics of locally available materials, which can be summed up as: "the right material in the right place".

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Cet ouvrage vise à promouvoir une approche Développement Durable pour répondre aux immenses besoins en matière de construction en Afrique, en se basant sur une utilisation rationnelle et durable des matériaux locaux. Pour cela, il présente les avantages, les enjeux et les conditions d'utilisation de ces matériaux. Il présente des exemples de solutions techniques illustrés par un panorama des ressources potentielles des territoires (bio et géosourcés). Il fournit des éléments d’analyse de l’impact des filières locales en « circuit court » et des éléments de méthodologie. Il met aussi en valeur la nécessaire adéquation entre conception architecturale et caractéristiques spécifiques des matériaux disponibles localement, ce qui se résume bien par : « le bon matériau au bon endroit »

Le Guide des actions adaptatives au changement climatique permet de présenter aux acteurs désireux d’améliorer leur résilience un panel d'actions adaptatives et de cibler rapidement les plus appropriées compte tenu des caractéristiques de leurs bâtiments et de leurs besoins. A destination des acteurs de l’immobilier, du bâtiment et du territoire, il aborde les informations clés sur 41 actions adaptatives : Partie(s) du bâtiment ; Etapes du cycle de vie ; Estimation de coût ; Niveau de compétence requis ; Conseils de mise en œuvre ; Freins et leviers. Sur certaines fiches, retrouvez le retour d’expérience d’acteurs qui ont déjà expérimenté ces actions !

Pour aider les acteurs du territoire et de l’immobilier à mettre en place une stratégie cohérente, l’OID y ajoute en 2024 :  

• des repères de suivi composés notamment d’indicateurs pour mettre en place un suivi et des ajustements,  
• des alertes sur les potentielles maladaptations de chaque solution envisagée,  
• des fiches « conditions sine qua non » détaillant les conditions essentielles à respecter pour une mise en œuvre réussie des actions adaptatives, et  
• des solutions adaptatives fondées sur la nature (SAFN) à prioriser.

Green buildings vs. the crisis

Stimulus programmes for green buildings – best practice examples

Green building stimulus programmes can boost a Green Recovery after Covid-19.

Please find the recording of our webinar here.

The construction sector is essential for an economic recovery after the COVID-19 crisis. It can rapidly create large amounts of jobs and involves far-reaching value chains of small and large businesses. At the same time, the building sector presents a massive – and largely unused – opportunity to respond to the climate crisis. The building sector holds the potential for a double win: For small extra investments, green buildings can achieve massive long-term savings of cost and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Governments successfully used green building programmes to help recover from the 2008 financial crisis.

In 2020, governments are looking for ways to respond to the economic crisis that followed the Covid-19 pandemic, with economic stimulus packages worth trillions of dollars. To “build back better”, we need green recovery programmes. Stimulus programmes for the building sector can boost a Green Recovery, with massive benefits for jobs, the economy, and the climate.

The GlobalABC’s Work Area on Finance group has collected examples of green building programmes that can serve as an inspiration for stimulus programmes for the building sector. These case studies show key features of programmes and their benefits. These examples are aimed at governments and investors, including development banks, other public and private banks, and real-estate financing.

The response to the crisis as an investment in the future

Green building programmes are excellent value-for-money. For some of the programmes collected, extensive evaluations have been conducted and published, and benefits are provided with the example. Benefits include:

• High energy and CO2 savings
• Job creation
• High private sector leverage
• Health benefits through better homes
• Socio-economic benefits through savings on energy bills
• Macro-economic benefits through savings on energy subsidies

Many programmes help to introduce more ambitious standards for national building codes, by demonstrating the technical and financial feasibility of green buildings.

Successful Blueprints for Green Building Programmes Exist

Green building programmes stimulate investments into green buildings, through financial incentives that compensate for the extra cost involved in reaching higher standards, either through renovation or for new construction. The programmes collected all use financial incentives to stimulate investments, that is loans or grants. They use financial incentives to make up for the slightly higher investment cost of green housing equal that leads to cost savings at a later stage. Programmes that provide non-monetary incentives, for example height bonuses or property tax incentives, have not been included.

Successful green building programmes are tailored to the local context. The programmes use various instruments, or a mix of them, targeting different groups, for example: 

• green mortgages to households
• bridging loans to developers
• grants to homeowners or housing associations
• concessional loans to developers or housing associations

Some of these programmes were supported by development finance institutions. Technical support was sometimes included to support private sector and public institutions in the introduction of higher technical standard

Green buildings programmes

• Colombia
• Estonia
• France
• Germany
• Kenya
• Mexico
• Peru
• Ukraine

A GlobalABC webinar on 23 September 2020 discussed how to use successful green building programmes as a blueprint for green recovery programmes, as well as possibilities for financing them.       

Presentations (click on name to download): 

• Rusmir Music, International Finance Corporation (IFC)
• Vyacheslav Koval, Energy Efficiency Fund, Ukraine 
• José Lopez, Agence Francaise de Développement (AFD)
• Michael Oppermann, International Energy Agency (IEA)

This study commissioned by the PAF, the IFC Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiency (EDGE) and the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) and produced by Carbon Trust, aims to understand how a climate auction model based on the Pilot Auction Facility (PAF) could be used to catalyse energy, and resource efficiency in the residential building sector, focusing on new build developments. A qualitative review of six countries was carried out to inform the basic conditions that would need to be met for the climate auction mechanism to be successfully rolled out to the residential building sector. India was then selected as a case study to carry out a quantitative assessment of the potential impact of the mechanism.

The World Green Building Council's report Doing Right by Planet and People: The Business Case for Health and Wellbeing in Green Building urges companies to make green improvements by highlighting the tangible economic benefits of green building and showcasing improved occupant satisfaction when companies implement new health, wellbeing and productivity features in existing green structures.

The report examines case studies of 11 facilities around the globe that have one or more green certifications including LEED, Green Star and BREEAM. The report evaluates health and wellbeing features that were integrated into the facilities, such as: enhanced fresh air ventilation, acoustic privacy, increase of daylight penetration and use of biophilic design elements such as green walls and extensive indoor plants