Sustainable Building Initiatives
It is clear to the industry and the scientific community that buildings take a large part of the overall carbon emission, accelerating climate change. According to the UN IPCC reports, buildings are responsible for around 40% of all energy use globally. 80% of which is linked to the building's operational phase(cooling, heating, lighting, etc). Today, the industry has the technology to cut down on operational energy use in a major way simply through highly efficient building systems and methods. Probably not surprisingly, better technology and more efficient products and methods also have a higher cost. For decades, homeowners and developers are left with the choice of paying more initial costs as an investment into better savings on energy use down the road; or they can instead build it cheaply and accept the price on the energy bills, as well as the consequences for carbon emissions. The image above illustrates a comparison of thermal images of a passive house(on the left) and a conventional building(on the right). these images clearly illustrates the energy(in the form of heat) to escape from the building, essentially requiring more energy supply to achieve ideal indoor temperatures. All that extra energy loss counts as throwing money out of the window, when it is clear and obvious that there are ways to conserve it and save it.
Short Summary of 'Buildings and Climate Change - UNEP'
The report looks at the building industry in an analytical way, identifying 8 separate discussions in the relationship between buildings and climate change. In the beginning, the data is shown to support the claim. Buildings are responsible for around 40% of global energy use, essentially becoming a large carbon emitter. There are two major phases for energy use are 1. embodied energy; the energy consumed during the manufacturing, transportation, and the construction of building materials; 2. operational energy; that is the energy consumed during the operational lifetime of the building such as cooling and heating it and providing lighting and powering appliances. Moving on to the suggested solutions, the report emphasizes the potential for the building industry to change for the better. Unlike other major emitters(like air travel), the building industry has the technology to reduce its global carbon footprint. And since buildings are designed for a long time, there is an urge to make those changes as soon as possible. Nevertheless, there is a great responsibility for designers and governments to cooperate and change legislation, offer incentives, and come up with creative solutions to ensure that the industry meets carbon reduction goals projected by the Paris Accord and or Governments separately.
Comments
Post a Comment