Energy efficiency (i.e., the ratio of output of performance to input of energy) in office buildings can reduce energy costs and CO2 emissions, but there are barriers to widespread adoption of energy efficient solutions in offices because they are often perceived as a potential threat to perceived comfort, well-being, and performance of office users. However, the links between offices' energy efficiency and users' performance and well-being through their moderators are neither necessary nor empirically confirmed.

Key messages 1. The Buildings sector of today has an oversized ecological footprint. The buildings sector is the single largest contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), with approximately one third of global energy end use taking place within buildings. Furthermore, the construction sector is responsible for more than a third of global resource consumption, including 12 per cent of all fresh water use and significantly contributes to the generation of solid waste, estimated at 40 per cent of the total volume.

The Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) commissioned Energy in Buildings: 50 Best Practice Initiatives as a practical, user-friendly resource for property owners and managers, hoping that this will lead to greater awareness and implementation of initiatives across the property industry to reduce costs and emissions.

This paper outlines the approach and the cost-effectiveness potential for designing and retrofitting residential buildings to be energy-efficient in Bahrain. The analysis is focused on residential buildings since these buildings consume over 48% of the total electricity used in Bahrain. The optimization analysis has the benefit to assess both at the individual building and the national building stock levels, the potential of the application of currently proven measures and technologies to improve the energy efficiency of the building sector in Bahrain.

Energy Efficiency Retrofit (EER) of existing buildings is a key program for improving building energy efficiency in northern regions of China. This paper presents a methodological framework to conduct an economic cost-benefit analysis for EER projects, based on the calculation of costs and benefits over life cycle. By conducting a case study of a retrofit project located in Huixin Western Street Residential Area, Beijing, China, this research empirically examines its economic sustainability.

This report sets out the positive and negative impacts of improvements in energy efficiency in buildings that could come about through a recast of the Energy Performance Buildings Directive (EPBD). Successive studies have shown that energy efficiency offers many of the most cost-effective options for meeting global emission targets. In many cases, energy efficiency measures have been shown to be ‘negative cost’, meaning that it would be economically advantageous to implement them.

A new analysis framework is developed and applied to assess the benefits of building energy efficiency policies and programs. One of the main advantages of the new energy productivity analysis is that it accounts for both economic and energy performances of energy efficiency actions using only one metric. Specifically, the approach applies the concept of energy productivity to the building sector and accounts for both value added and energy savings of energy efficiency measures.

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.

This article advances a conceptual view of the role of local government in global environmental governance ('GEG') and the system of transnational environmental law ('TEL'). The underlying hypothesis is that a deeper understanding of the role of local governments (global cities and smaller local authorities) is expedient as it has the potential to curb some recurring GEG failures and contribute towards improvements in the pursuit of the objectives of TEL.

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.

This paper evaluates the economic, environmental, and social benefits of large-scale energy efficiency programs for new and existing buildings in Qatar. Using data obtained from detailed energy audits, several proven energy efficiency measures have been analyzed through optimized based analysis to assess their impact on the energy performance for both new and existing buildings in Qatar. Moreover, a bottom-up analysis approach is considered to quantify the multiple benefits for implementing large-scale building energy efficiency programs for the building stock in Qatar.

Addressing housing-related energy consumption and emissions is a challenge in many countries. Low-energy housing, e.g. whole house retrofits and zero-energy new houses, is still rare in the United Kingdom, yet very much required to reduce emissions. This paper contributes to research on low-energy housing by adding new empirical material through analysing how specific drivers linked to knowledge, public policy and intermediary actors can influence successful projects.

The demand for green buildings and to what extent firms will pay a premium price compared to conventional buildings is a lively debate. Policy instruments like the Swiss CO2-enactment and the Swiss Building Program encourage and incentivize investments in energy-efficient properties. Based on a corporate real estate survey, I investigate the premium percentage price firms are willing to pay for green buildings. On average, Swiss corporations are willing to pay a premium price of 3.0% for leasing, 4.75% for purchasing, and 5.0% for retrofitting.