Energy Efficiency and Energy Savings: A View from the Building Sector
A survey of senior building sector executives on the feasibility of implementing energy efficiency measures across their sector in China, Europe, India and the U.S.
12 result(s) found
A survey of senior building sector executives on the feasibility of implementing energy efficiency measures across their sector in China, Europe, India and the U.S.
Briefing
A survey of senior building sector executives on the feasibility of implementing energy efficiency measures across their sector in China, Europe, India and the U.S.
Highlights
A survey of senior building sector executives on the feasibility of implementing energy efficiency measures across their sector in China, Europe, India and the U.S.
Case Study
A survey of senior building sector executives on the feasibility of implementing energy efficiency measures across their sector in China, Europe, India and the U.S.
Many recent major studies, including the IPCC’s Fourth Assessment Report, have attested that energy efficiency is humanity’s prime option to combat climate change in the short- to mid-term. The potential to avoid CO2 emissions cost-effectively has been reported to be significant through efficiency policies. However, the review of global research findings on the quantification of cost-effectiveness of opportunities through improved efficiency has highlighted that there is a major shortcoming in the vast majority of such calculations.
In April 2010 the Tokyo Metropolitan Government launched the Tokyo Cap-and-Trade Program to reduce energy consumption-related CO2 emissions at the city level. This is the world's first cap-and-trade programme to cover buildings in the commercial, industrial and public sectors. Its main aim is to reduce CO2 emissions from energy consumption in existing buildings in urban areas; therefore, it is called an ‘urban cap-and-trade programme’.
Contemporary societies are facing a broad range of challenges, from pressures on human health and well-being to natural capital depletion, and the security of food, water and energy. These challenges are deeply intertwined with global processes, such as climate change and with local events such as natural disasters. The EU's research & innovation (R&I) policy is now seeking to address these challenges from a new perspective, with Nature-Based Solutions, and turn them into innovation opportunities that optimise the synergies between nature, society and the economy.
Pursuing economic targets of job creation, growth, and innovation while tackling global environmental challenges, has long been seen as impossible. However, any long-term economic competitiveness and security depends on the extent to which natural resources are used sustainably. Therefore, the European Union is investing in nature-based solutions to achieve this double goal. The difference between the prevailing economic model and a sustainable resource use has long seemed insurmountable.
Nature has provided humankind with food, fuel, and shelter throughout evolutionary history. However, in contemporary cities, many natural landscapes have become degraded and replaced with impermeable hard surfaces (e.g., roads, paving, car parks and buildings). The reversal of this trend is dynamic, complex and still in its infancy. There are many facets of urban greening initiatives involving multiple benefits, sensitivities and limitations.
Nature-based solutions (NBS) are increasingly applied to guide the design of resilient landscapes and cities to enable them to reach economic development goals with beneficial outcomes for the environment and society. The NBS concept is closely related to other concepts including sustainability, resilience, ecosystem services, coupled human and environment, and green (blue) infrastructure; however, NBS represent a more efficient and cost-effective approach to development than traditional approaches.
Increasing urbanisation, changing disease scenarios, and current predictions of climate change impacts require innovative strategies for providing healthy and sustainable cities, now and in the future. The recently coined concept, Nature-based solutions (NBS), is one such strategy referring to actions that are inspired by, supported by, or copied from nature, designed to address a range of environmental challenges.
The Shenzhen ETS is the first urban-level “cap-and-trade” carbon emissions trading scheme to operate in China. This paper gives an overview of the economic and emissions situation in Shenzhen and focuses on the development of the Shenzhen ETS regulatory framework. It is devised as an ETS with an intensity-based cap, output-based allocation and a market for trading of allowances. The design of the Shenzhen ETS attaches great importance to coordinate the dynamic relationships between economic growth, industrial transition and emissions control.