This working paper brings together the findings of the first stage in this study, which focusses on the identification of 'macro-objectives' for the environmental performance of the EU building stock. This stage is intended to provide an initial 'top down' view of what the strategic priorities (the 'macro-objectives') should be for the building sector.

Executive Summary Scope and objectives This report provides the findings from the stakeholder-mapping stage the EnergyFit Homes Initiative phase 1. The objectives of this phase were to develop a map of the relevant stakeholders and to understand their perspectives of the need, scope and implantation of a national home energy efficiency information framework. A secondary objective of this stage was to begin to build consensus and a coalition of support for options to be built on in the next stage. This is the penultimate research stage of Phase 1.

In February 2015 the principle of ‘Efficiency First’  (E1st) was formally endorsed by the European Commission within the framework of the Energy Union.

This paper outlines and critically ‘maps’ existing roadmaps relevant to transitions to a low or zero carbon built environment in Australia. A roadmap describes the measures required to achieve goals and/or map future innovation opportunities. The three questions addressed by a comprehensive roadmap are: Where do we want to go?, Where are we now?, and How can we get there? The review identified 13 roadmaps/plans that have been produced by: peak industry bodies (Australian Institute of Refrigeration Air Conditioning and Heating); academic research groups (e.g.

This document contains the highlights from the high-level roundtable organised in the framework of the RenoValue project. The event took place at the European Parliament, in Brussels, Belgium, on 26 January 2016, providing the opportunity to discuss how policy makers can strengthen the role of property valuers as drivers of the market transition towards sustainable buildings.

For building owners, the renovation process can be a hassle, shaped by the ambiguity of the measures to implement. Uncertainty is one of the reasons why the renovation rate continues to linger around 1% and private investments remain limited. Achieving the full market potential of renovation calls for a paradigm shift, where a more service-oriented supply-side together with a deeper awareness on the demand-side play key roles. The BetterHome case study shows how innovative business models can drive energy renovations across Europe.

This report is an update from a similar document published in 2013. In 2018, evidence gathered by the International Energy Agency has identified six critical factors to guide policy makers in realising potential savings in both new and existing buildings through the modernisation of building energy codes.

The current shift from fossil energy resources to “green” energy — renewable energy plus storage in smart grids, many with electric vehicles providing grid services — is now a global phenomenon (International Energy Agency 2016; International Renewable Energy Agency [IRENA] 2017b).

The EU building sector needs to develop and deploy more innovative solutions in order to enhance the building stock’s energy efficiency and help meet energy and climate policy targets. The European Union is therefore supporting projects that address design and construction processes as well as new technologies, with funding from the Horizon 2020 programme. The results developed by these projects address key challenges at each stage of the value chain for new nearly zero-energy buildings, deep renovation of existing buildings, and energy-smart buildings.

The U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED®) green building certification has transformed how the building industry
and the public consider sustainability in the built environment. The most recent update to LEED, known as LEED v4, is the new standard for high-performance

Analysis of energy renovation costs, as provided by the French Observatory for Low Energy Buildings, identified the following:

State-level building energy codes have been around for over 40 years, but recent empirical research has cast doubt on their effectiveness. A potential virtue of standards-based policies is that they may be less regressive than explicit taxes on energy consumption. However, this conjecture has not been tested empirically in the case of building energy codes.

Designers can use superior building design and energy management strategies to create buildings that produce at least as much energy as they consume. These are called zero energy buildings (ZEBs). ZEBs exist in the United States and Canada now; however building energy codes will have to be continuously improved to achieve widespread ZEBs by 2030, a common goal of many cities and some states.

Most energy efficiency programs target only one fuel, usually electricity or natural gas. While they achieve savings, they sometimes miss opportunities by failing to address other fuels. Dual-fuel programs, on the other hand, have the potential to save more energy, reduce program costs, and improve customer satisfaction. Yet many utilities still do not offer them because they often require collaboration with other utilities or program administrators, making them more difficult to run.

Buildings that emit no greenhouse gas emissions during their operation are vital to meeting the SDGs and Paris Agreement targets. But in the past, zero carbon buildings have been assumed to be only attainable by technologically advanced or wealthy countries. New WRI research finds there are policy pathways to reach zero carbon buildings regardless of location or development status. The report identifies eight pathways countries can take to reach zero carbon buildings by reducing energy demand and cleaning energy supply.

In 1978, California adopted building codes designed to reduce the energy used for heating, cooling, and water heating in buildings. Using a rich dataset of hourly electricity consumption for 158,112 California houses during 2012-13, this paper estimates that single-family homes built from 1980 through 1982 consumed on average 13% less electricity for cooling than premises constructed between 1975 through 1977. This estimate is similar to projected cooling-energy savings made using engineering models at the time the codes were enacted.

While governors across the United States are setting innovative energy policies, energy efficiency can help them go even farther toward meeting state goals. Saving energy creates jobs, develops the workforce, grows state economies, improves public health, promotes technological innovation, protects the environment, and saves taxpayers money. This toolkit lays out steps governors can take to increase energy efficiency in homes, businesses, and transportation.