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.

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.

Cities in developing countries seldom consider the cost increases that regulations impose on development. To build legal housing, developers must meet a high minimum cost threshold established by mandatory standards. Many standards impose costs on building construction, make them less affordable to low-income households, deprive them access to legally built housing, and fuel the formation of slums.

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.

Rapid urbanization poses a significant challenge of accommodating the poor, particularly in developing countries such as China where affordable housing has only been initiated a few years ago and will continue to be developed in the coming years. Two major considerations in affordable housing programs are cost and time, as the ability to meet the needs of low-income households is the main target of these programs. However, it is not a common strategy to address affordable housing shortage by means of incorporating sustainability features.

Thanks to new insights on the impacts that dwellings have throughout their life cycles, there has been increased attention to retrofitting innovative energy systems (IES) in existing housing. This paper uses an explorative case study design to gain more knowledge about the governance aspects of this under-researched topic. The central research question is: Which factors influence the adoption of innovative energy systems in social housing sites during renovation projects? To answer this question, eight large-scale renovation projects in The Netherlands were investigated.

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.

On an average, India has more than 3000 Cooling Degree Days (CDD). The multifamily public housing being constructed under India’s Prime Minister Awas Yojana (PMAY) is aimed at providing formal housing to the society’s Economic Weaker Section (EWS). It is essential that this housing delivers thermally comfortable in-doors to the occupants. This study mapped the design and construction practices followed under PMAY Urban (PMAY-U) against India’s Residential Energy Building Code, Eco Niwas Samhita (ENS). The metric prescribed in ENS is Residential Envelope Transmittance Value (RETV).