The report addresses recent energy efficiency policy developments (buildings, page 18), challenges and areas for improvement in energy efficiency policy (buildings, page 38), and then provides energy efficiency progress reports by countries (from page 45). Several recommendations are made for the building sector: There is a need to support the implementation of building codes, the construction of passive‐energy houses (PEH) and zero‐energy buildings (ZEB), as well as to improve energy management in buildings. Specific policies for existing buildings must be implemented and at the same time specific policies targeting new buildings being integrated in a more global policy have to be developed.

The study concentrates on financial barriers responsible for the persistent energy efficiency gap (IEA, 2007) (not on market barriers). Its goal is to provide an overview of the policy and the institutional framework that has helped overcome those barriers to increased energy efficiency in existing residential buildings, and provides also an assessment of the related policy measures. It provides a set of energy policy measures that can be implemented in the building sector - regulatory and awareness campaigns, direct-funding, support for demand-side management programmes, private-public partnerships and policy package design - as well as several country case studies.

The report addresses the question of green building rating tools. Such instruments can help overcome the barriers and can be an effective means of promoting energy efficiency and reducing emissions in the building sector. Standardization or convergence of those tools is required to achieve the low-carbon and energy transition of the building sector. Over the next few years, a new generation of rating tools is expected to be developed and will be crucial to achieve green buildings. The example of Australia is given : two rating tools are in common use, the design rating tool "Green Star" and the performance rating tool "National Australian Built Environment Rating System" (NABERS). PDF

This study delivers three recommendations: - Sharing among the entire society the importance of the concept that net energy consumption in buildings should be zero; - Involvement of stakeholders in government, municipalities, and the private sector at an early stage (taking into account building lifetimes and diversity of the parties concerned); and - Sharing of international technologies and policies for their diffusion based on the roadmap. This study proposes a roadmap for each climate zone where not only temperature but also humidity was added as an important factor. Fields of technologies, are devided for classification, into four groups of technologies: Active (equipment to be installed), Passive (building structures), Renewable Integration (integration of renewable energy to the building), and Energy Management, and then indicated the estimated time for realization of each technology group elements.

Published every year, the Barometer displays the main environmental indicators for office buildings, retail and logistics centres. It includes an analysis of factors impacting energy consumption, among which location and energy labels. This edition focuses on the possibilities opened by the digital revolution for energy monitoring and presents good practices in reporting.

Energy consumption in buildings and constructions represents 32% of the global energy consumption ahead of transport (27%) and industry (29%). Moreover, the buildings sector accounts for half of electricity consumption and contributes to 19% of the greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions worldwide. Because of a growing population, as well as structural changes in many economies, energy demand in buildings is expected to rise, as the global real estate is expected to double to reach over 180 billion m² by 2050. Furthermore, buildings will particularly be affected by the effects of climate change: flooding and seepages, reduction of the durability of building materials, increase in the risk of collapse all reducing building lifetime, and health-related risks. The buildings and construction sector still has to improve appropriate standards to adopt a universal decarbonisation target path (IEA, ETP 2016). Yet, many solutions are available, and the economic, health, and social benefits of sustainable buildings are significant, and have been demonstrated in most regions of the world. With early and efficient policies, the buildings and construction sector should therefore be more fully engaged in climate commitments. Actually, energy savings and related-carbon emission reductions that can be achieved through buildings represent a huge potential. Ambitious actions on buildings and construction, deep retrofit of existing buildings, ceiling of new buildings emissions, are possible to achieve global warming limitation. Ensuring access to a comfortable and healthy habitat, saving natural resources and emitting less GHG, is a challenge for all stakeholders. Governments are responsible for creating favorable conditions through regulations, fiscal or financial incentives, and strategies. Local authorities and private partners together are the key actors for a successful transition towards low-carbon real estate. Many commitments have been made, especially during the COP 21 in Paris. Many existing initiatives already target separately the mobilization of the players or local authorities. The Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction, in Climate Chance Forum, gathers major initiatives on sustainable buildings and energy efficiency in buildings to allow dialogue and create a common action. To this purpose, it appeared useful to provide clarity and visibility on initiatives intending to support local authorities in their action to decrease GHG footprint of the building sector. We hope to enrich and update it each year with more results and actions.

The report points to trillions of dollars’ worth of climate-smart investment opportunities and emphasizes the need for smart policy reforms from governments and innovative business models to unlock private sector finance.

A large portion of the report is devoted to the green buildings sector, and urban infrastructure in general. The report also includes new developments and next steps for key cross-cutting solutions such as green finance, green bonds, blended finance, carbon pricing, public-private partnerships, and city creditworthiness. IFC found a potential of at least $3.4 trillion for green building investments through 2025, and has produced recommendations for a number of actions needed to achieve this potential. You can access the investment opportunity series and download the report at ifc.org/climate/investmentopportunities 

Global transformation of buildings in the built environment: framing the design, delivery and operation of buildings as integrated, thermodynamic and environmental systems. This guide defines 20 non-prescriptive principles and affirms that climate neutrality in the building sector is achievable with existing technics. 

(4 pages)

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.