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Reports

19 result(s) found

Interview - Energy efficiency benefits us all

Article
Authors:
Timothy Farrell

Potential gains from improving energy efficiency are substantial — not only in terms of saving energy and combating climate change, but also in terms of contributing to an array of other co-benefits, including improving human health and creating jobs. We asked Tim Farrell, Senior Advisor at the Copenhagen Centre on Energy Efficiency, what works best when it comes to boosting energy efficiency. He stressed that targeted policy measures and sufficient resources to support implementation and compliance are among a number of critical ingredients for success.

Analysis of the transition effects of building codes and regulations on the emergence of a low carbon residential building sector

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English
Authors:
Robert A.Enker,
Gregory M.Morrison

It is now established that energy use in buildings is a significant source of global greenhouse gas emissions and that abatement by the building sector can provide significant social, economic and environmental benefits. This paper examines the application of socio-technical transition theory to the building sector with Australian energy policy as a case study. The relatively high level of local building construction offers significant opportunities for market transition with appropriate policy settings so this national case has international implications.

The international implications of national and local coordination on building energy codes: Case studies in six cities

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English
Authors:
Meredydd Evans,
Sha Yu,
Aaron Staniszewski,
Luting Jin,
Artur Denysenko

Building energy efficiency is an important strategy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions globally. In fact, 55 countries have included building energy efficiency in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement. This research uses building energy code implementation in six cities across different continents as case studies to assess what it may take for countries to implement the ambitions of their energy efficiency goals.

Overview of State Policies for Energy Efficiency in Buildings

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English
Authors:
Yu Wang

This paper introduces the major state-level regulations and policies for improving energy efficiency in buildings. The purpose of the review is to discuss the challenges and issues in policy implementation and the latest trend in adopting innovative instruments. The implementation of customer efficiency programs increasingly incorporates non-price instruments to encourage participation and deep savings. States pay attention to not only code adoption and update but also compliance and evaluation.

Focused acceleration: A strategic approach to climate action in cities to 2030

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English
Authors:
Desiree Bernhard,
Michele Bertoncello,
Alex Brotschi,
Lia Cairone,
Ricardo Cepeda-Márquez,
Robert Cervero,
Flavio Coppola,
David Craven,
Andrea Fernandez,
David Frankel,
Bhavin Gandhi,
Anna Gressel-Bacharan,
Clare Healy,
Max Jamieson,
Laura Jay,
Sean Kane,
Kate Laing,
Nicholas Laverty,
Julia Lipton,
Timo Möller,
Eric Morden,
Jesse Noffsinger,
Dickon Pinner,
Angelos Platanias,
Matt Rogers,
Josh Rosenfield,
Caterina Sarfatti,
Lucila Spotorno,
Zachary Tofias,
Andreas Tschiesner,
Helga Vanthournout,
Amy Wagner,
Caroline Watson,
Jonathan Woetzel,
Katherine Wolosz,
and Hong Xia

There is now widespread recognition in the international community that the commitments made by national governments under the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015 cannot be achieved without concerted action by cities. Fortunately, many mayors have shown strong commitment to tackling climate change and a willingness to collaborate to achieve this goal.

Greenhouse gas emissions reduction in different economic sectors: Mitigation measures, health co-benefits, knowledge gaps, and policy implications

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English
Authors:
Jinghong Gao, Hongli Hou, Yunkai Zhai, Alistair Woodward, Sotiris Vardoulakis, Sari Kovats, Paul Wilkinson, Liping Li, Xiaoqin Song, Lei Xu, Bohan Meng , Xiaobo Liu, Jun Wang, Jie Zhao, Qiyong Liu

To date, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, mitigation strategies and the accompanying health co-benefits in different economic sectors have not been fully investigated. The purpose of this paper is to review comprehensively the evidence on GHG mitigation measures and the related health co-benefits, identify knowledge gaps, and provide recommendations to promote further development and implementation of climate change response policies.

Solar home systems and solar lanterns in rural areas of the Global South: What impact?

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English
Authors:
Xavier Lemaire

Assessing the extent of evidence available relating to the impact of solar energy for households (HHs) in developing countries, surveys are reviewed focusing on the impact of pico‐photovoltaic (e.g., solar lanterns) or solar home systems (SHS) on rural HHs and directly related economic activities of their occupiers. Ninety‐eight documents have been analyzed. Areas of enquiry have included the impact of small individual solar photovoltaic systems on different facets of the life of HHs' occupiers: their education, health, finance, livelihoods, and social relations.

Co-benefits and synergies between urban climate change mitigation and adaptation measures: A literature review

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English
Authors:
Ayyoob Sharifi

Accounting for over 70% of global CO2 emissions, cities are major contributors to climate change. Acknowledging this, urban climate change adaptation and mitigation plans are increasingly developed to make progress toward enhancing climate resilience. While there is consensus that focusing on both adaptation and mitigation is necessary for addressing climate change impacts, better understanding of their interactions is needed to efficiently maximize their potentials. This paper, first, provides a bibliographic analysis to map existing knowledge regarding adaptation-mitigation interactions.

Mitigating CO2 emissions from energy use in the world's buildings

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English
Authors:
Diana ürge-Vorsatz , L. D. Danny Harvey , Sevastianos Mirasgedis & Mark D.
Levine

An overview of climate change mitigation opportunities in the world's buildings is presented, based on the key building-specific findings of the Fourth Assessment Report from the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change. Buildings and the building stock can play a major role in mitigating climate change in the short- to medium-term, since substantial reductions in CO2 emissions from their energy use can be achieved over the coming years.

Boosting building renovation: An overview of good practices

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English
Authors:
Bogdan Atanasiu,
Ilektra Kouloumpi,
Marine Faber,
Cosmina Marian,
Ingeborg Nolte,
Oliver Rapf,
Dan Staniaszek

The main aim of this report is to contribute to the exchange of good practices and to support EU MS by providing potential ideas for the elaboration of long-term renovation plans. The report compiles renovation requirements as well as financial instruments, support programmes and market mechanisms for building renovation in a number of countries and regions. While the main focus of the report is on selected EU MS, a few global examples are also presented.

Evaluating policy instruments to foster energy efficiency for the sustainable transformation of buildings

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English
Authors:
Benigna Boza-Kiss,
Sergi Moles-Grueso,
Diana Urge-Vorsatz

Energy efficiency policies have the unique capacity to contribute to a more sustainable energy future at an economic net benefit even when co-benefits are not included in the evaluations. The purpose of this paper is to present quantitative and comparative information on the societal cost-effectiveness and the lifetime energy savings of all light eight building energy efficiency policy instruments.

Building governance and climate change: roles for regulation and related policies

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English
Authors:
Henk Visscher,
Jacques Laubscher,
Edwin Chan

The contribution of buildings to climate change has become widely acknowledged. On 3 December 2015, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) held the first ‘buildings day’ at COP 21 (the UN Climate Change Conference) devoted to the decarbonization of the building stock. There are several forms of negative contributions that buildings make to climate change, but high on the list are embodied and operational energy demands, which largely depend on fossil fuels and result in greenhouse gas emissions.

Setting a standard for electricity pilot studies

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English
Authors:
Alexander L.Davis,
Tamar Krishnamurti,
Baruch Fischhoff,
Wandi Bruine de Bruin

In-home displays, dynamic pricing, and automated devices aim to reduce residential electricity use—overall and during peak hours. We present a meta-analysis of 32 studies of the impacts of these interventions, conducted in the US or Canada. We find that methodological problems are common in the design of these studies, leading to artificially inflated results relative to what one would expect if the interventions were implemented in the general population.

The path towards buildings energy efficiency in South American countries

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English
Authors:
Fabiana Silvero,
Fernanda Rodrigues,
Sergio Montelpare,
Enrico Spacone,
Humberto Varum

Nowadays, energy efficiency (EE) is presented as a reliable strategy towards sustainable development, but its application has not been developed equitably worldwide, since most EE policies have been implemented in industrialised nations, and developing countries are still in the process of improving their EE levels.

Making carbon pricing work for citizens

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English
Authors:
David Klenert,
Linus Mattauch,
Emmanuel Combet,
Ottmar Edenhofer,
Cameron Hepburn,
Ryan Rafaty,
Nicholas Stern

The gap between actual carbon prices and those required to achieve ambitious climate change mitigation could be closed by enhancing the public acceptability of carbon pricing through appropriate use of the revenues raised. In this Perspective, we synthesize findings regarding the optimal use of carbon revenues from both traditional economic analyses and studies in behavioural and political science that are focused on public acceptability.

NATIONAL ENERGY PRODUCTIVITY PLAN: ANNUAL REPORT

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English
Authors:
Australian Government

This Annual Report covers the second in a 15-year plan and shows that the NEPP has continued to progress well. Throughout 2017, measures across the work plan have advanced and many have achieved significant outcomes. There has also been wider progress in energy policy and jurisdictional measures which will contribute strongly to energy productivity and NEPP objectives. This document highlights key outcomes, their expected impacts and links to broader reforms.

Mind the gap: A social sciences review of energy efficiency

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English
Authors:
Tessa Dunlop

Energy efficiency is a complex concept which is represented in diverse fields including engineering, economics, energy, computer sciences, environmental sciences, mathematics and physics. The social sciences literature on energy efficiency, however, remains significantly underrepresented, comprising just 2.6% of the total energy efficiency literature found in this study. Energy efficiency is an important energy policy strategy globally to reduce energy consumption, secure energy supply, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

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