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Reports

38 result(s) found

Green Buildings: Economics and Policies

Journal
Authors:
Daniel C. Matisoff,
Douglas S. Noonan,
Mallory E. Flowers

Green building has received increased attention over the past decade from both environmental economists and policymakers. While there is no single definition of “green buildings” or its related policy, researchers and organizations tend to emphasize resource efficiency in building and reducing the impacts of buildings on human health and the environment.

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.

Powering the Future: Blockchain Technology in the Energy Sector

Video
Authors:

Blockchain and other DLTs hold great promise to help solve key energy challenges. The growing number of connected devices and distributed energy resources is adding further complexity to the rapidly evolving energy system. Blockchain may play an integral part in connecting consumers, electric utilities and third parties to these devices and the wider system, in a more secure, efficient, and distributed way.

INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF RESIDENTIAL BUILDING ENERGY EFFICIENCY RATING SCHEMES

Text
English
Authors:
Jacqui Bonnitcha,
Tom Davies

This project, “International Review of Residential Building Energy Efficiency Rating Schemes”, is the fifth project in a series of work conducted through the Building Energy Efficiency Task Group (BEET), under the International Partnership for Energy Efficiency Cooperation (IPEEC). This project report presents key governance and administrative considerations in the design of energy efficiency rating schemes, available information on the cost-effectiveness and market impact of rating schemes, barriers to uptake of schemes and lessons learned from the implementation of schemes.

BUILDING A GREEN NEW YORK: Construction Unions and Community Alliances

Text
English
Authors:
James Nugent,
Maria Figueroa

This chapter examines the experience of construction unions and community organizations as they enter into strategic alliances to create new markets in energy efficient systems. I focus on two recent policy initiatives: PlaNYC for the retrofitting of public and commercial properties in New York City, and Green Jobs/Green New York (GJ/GNY) for the retrofitting of non-commercial residential properties in the rest of the city and the state.

Cost optimal building performance requirements

Text
English
Authors:
Thomas Boermans,
Kjell Bettgenhäuser,
Andreas Hermelink,
Sven Schimschar and other Ecofys international staff

In the recast Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) adopted in May 2010, a benchmarking mechanism for national energy performance requirements was introduced. The purpose of this is to determine cost-optimal levels to be used by Member States for comparing and setting these requirements. The previous EPBD (from 2002) set out a general framework to assess the energy performance of buildings and required Member States to define maximum values for energy delivered to meet the energy demand associated with the standardised use of the building.

System dynamics modeling for urban energy consumption and CO2 emissions: A case study of Beijing, China

Text
English
Authors:
Y.Y. Feng,
S.Q. Chen,
L.X. Zhang

It is clear that city must be part of the solution if an urbanizing world is to grapple successfully with ecological challenges such as energy depletion and climate change. A system dynamics model was developed in this study using STELLA platform to model the energy consumption and CO2 emission trends for the City of Beijing over 2005–2030. Results show that the total energy demand in Beijing is predicted to reach 114.30 million tonnes coal equivalent (Mtce) by 2030, while that value in 2005 is 55.99 Mtce, which is 1.04 times higher than the level in 2005.

ADOPTING DECARBONIZATION POLICIES FOR THE BUILDINGS AND CONSTRUCTION SECTOR: Cost and Benefits

Text
English
Authors:
Peter Graham

The building sector is not on track to lower total greenhouse gas emissions. Given that emissions from the sector represent nearly 40% of global energy-and process-related emissions, this represents a serious challenge to keeping global warming to 1.5oC. The Buildings sector must therefore decarbonize.To support this goal, this report focuses on policy drivers for decarbonisation, and the costs and benefits associated with their implementation.

The price of innovation: An analysis of the marginal cost of green buildings

Text
English
Authors:
Andrea Chegut,
Piet Eichholtz,
Nils Kok

Energy efficiency plays an important role in reducing the carbon externality from buildings, but economic analyses of more efficient, green building have thus far ignored input costs. This paper finds that the average marginal cost of green-labeled construction projects is smaller than the value premiums documented in the literature. However, design fees, representing just a fraction of development costs but paid largely up-front, are significantly higher for green construction projects. These projects also take longer to complete.

A comprehensive analysis of building energy efficiency policies in China: status quo and development perspective

Text
English
Authors:
Jun Lia,
Bin Shui

This article is concerned with a comprehensive analysis of building energy efficiency policies in light of improvements in energy performance, living standards and climate change mitigation in China's built environment. In recent years, China has added about 1.7 billion square meters of new floor space in both urban and rural areas on an annual basis. In 2010, the total area of existing buildings in China was approximately 48.6 billion square meters, nearly twice the total of existing buildings areas in the European Union.

Heterogeneous Price Premiums in Sustainable Real Estate? An Investigation of the Relation between Value and Price Premiums

Text
English
Authors:
Spenser Robinson,
Pat McAllister

Focusing on the voluntary LEED and ENERGY STAR environmental certification schemes in the United States, we investigate whether price premiums exist across all building value categories or are localized to specific value segments. We find that the largest value building segment does not demonstrate any price premiums, while the smallest value categories do. The concentrated supply of eco-labeled offices in large, high-quality buildings likely contributes to this phenomenon.

Improving building energy efficiency in India: State-level analysis of building energy efficiency policies

Text
English
Authors:
Sha Yu,
Qing Tan,
Meredydd Evans,
Page Kyle,
Linh Vu,
Pralit L. Patel

India is expected to add 40 billion m2 of new buildings till 2050. Buildings are responsible for one third of India's total energy consumption today and building energy use is expected to continue growing driven by rapid income and population growth. The implementation of the Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) is one of the measures to improve building energy efficiency.

ENERGY PRODUCTIVITY PLAYBOOK Roadmaps for an Energy Productive Future

Text
English
Authors:
Global Alliance for Energy Productivity

This document is a tool designed to help organizations and policymakers around the world craft their own Roadmaps—published documents that detail the economic, jobs, environmental and security benefits of doubling energy productivity—that clearly articulate a target date for doubling energy productivity and detail achievable policy recommendations necessary to achieving the goal. Clean energy markets around the world are undergoing a revolution as countries, companies and citizens seek paths to a prosperous economic future that also protect the environment.

Improving the economics of building energy code change: A review of the inputs and assumptions of economic models

Text
English
Authors:
Stephen Berry,
Kathryn Davidson

Building energy code change in Australia, and many other developed nations, is subject to standardised economic tests, with a net present value calculation at the heart of the economic analysis. Although many nations have introduced minimum energy efficiency standards for residential and commercial buildings, increases in stringency have been hindered by limitations to the range of private and societal impacts typically incorporated in regulatory impact assessments.

From Brown to Green: SUSTAINABLE BUILDINGS IN LEGACY CITIES

Text
English
Authors:
ROBERT SIMON,
EUNKYU LEE

The research examines the installation of sustainable (green) property development, typified by Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification in legacy cities in comparison to non-legacy cities. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), green buildings represent resource-efficient models for construction and operation that are designed to use fewer resources and generate less pollution.

Energy efficiency, the value of buildings and the payment default risk

Text
English
Authors:
ZANCANELLA Paolo,
BERTOLDI Paolo,
BOZA-KISS Benigna

Energy efficiency delivers energy savings and therefore energy cost savings, as well as direct environmental benefits. Besides, as an indirect effect, it has smaller or larger consequences on other economic values. This report reviews current knowledge about the impact of energy efficiency improvements on the value of buildings. In particular, the methodology that can be applied to quantify the increase or decrease of property value linked to the energy performance and sustainability components is explained and different methods are compared.

Developing a methodology for the ex-post assessment of Building Energy Efficiency Special Planning in Beijing during the 12th Five-Year Plan” period

Text
English
Authors:
Yuming Liu,
Tingting Liu,
Binyu Wang,
Minghui Xu

In order to carry out an ex-post assessment of the completed Building Energy Efficiency Special Planning, a comprehensive ex-post assessment methodology is established. The methodology sets out the ex-post assessment criteria from three dimensions and 27 indexes, and apply the Fuzzy Synthetic Evaluation Method to build the ex-post assessment model. Applying the methodology, this research assesses the effectiveness of the Building Energy Efficiency Special Planning in Beijing during the “12th Five-Year Plan” period.

Urban Form Compaction and Energy Use Intensity in New Social Housing Neighborhoods in the UAE

Text
English
Authors:
Khaled Galal Ahmed,
S. M. Hossein Alipour

With increasing global awareness of sustainable development, federal and local authorities in the UAE have developed agendas for energy efficiency in all development sectors, especially for buildings and urban development. With the belief that urban form is integral to urban sustainability, several recently developed single-family social housing neighborhoods in the UAE have shifted from conventional sprawling urban forms to more compact ones. Unfortunately, the impact of this shift on operational and cooling energy use intensities (EUIs) is unknown.

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