Decarbonising heating is a major challenge for any country. Germanyâs Building Energy Act (GEG) means that from 2024 every newly installed heating system, in new or existing buildings, must operate with a minimum of 65% renewable energy. Concerns over the costs to customers (installing new and expensive systems, or paying a penalty for fossil heating) has led to intense debates, hence the new law includes a range of subsidies, bonuses, discounted … [Read more...]
Building Materials âEmbodied Carbonâ: reaching net-zero with low-carbon cement, timber, modular design and more
In this explainer Madeline Weir, Audrey Rempher and Rebecca Esau at RMI first describe how embodied carbon is calculated. They then summarise the strategies being employed to reduce it, including using low-carbon, carbon-neutral, or even carbon-storing materials. New cement formulations are being developed with over 60% less CO2 emissions than the regular kind. Low-carbon mass timber is an alternative building material under development. On the … [Read more...]
Buildings Efficiency: cars have an âeco modeâ button. Why not our homes?
Households need the right tools to be able to take control of their real-time energy consumption, says Maximilian Auffhammer at the Energy Institute at Haas. Smart meters are just too crude. They donât tell you how much energy individual devices are using â fridges, ovens, heaters, EV chargers, TVs, lightbulbs, toasters, etc. You have to work it out yourself by switching devices on and off and seeing the difference. Auffhammer argues if you price … [Read more...]
Adding ordinary baking soda to concrete production can cut 15% of its CO2 emissions
Concrete production makes up 8% of global CO2 emissions. Half comes from the fossil energy used to make it (which, hopefully, can transition to clean power), and the other half comes from the CO2 that escapes during the chemical transformation. David Chandler at MIT describes research there that shows how simply adding sodium bicarbonate (yes, the baking soda you put in your cookies) during the early stages of production can remove, by … [Read more...]
Buildings âEnergy Performance Certificatesâ: piloting new tools to ramp up renovations
In Europe, any building put up for sale or rent must have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC). But as climate ambitions rise, so too must the those of the EPC. That's the purpose of the TIMEPAC consortium, funded by the EUâs Horizon programme, is working to extend its effectiveness and range of tools, explains Patricia Contreras Tejada writing for the European Science Communication Institute (ESCI). She quotes experts who point out that a low … [Read more...]
Solar PV windows on highly glazed skyscrapers can cut energy by 40%+
Around a third of the worldâs energy consumption and CO2 emissions come from buildings. Highly glazed skyscrapers and buildings may look beautiful and let in plenty of light, but waste a lot of energy due to the extra cooling needed in summer and heating in winter. Modern skyscrapers can have window-to-wall ratios of 70%+. But modern thermally efficient photovoltaic windows not only provide insulation but turn the absorbed light into power. Wayne … [Read more...]
New U.S. âBuy Cleanâ plan earmarks billions for low-carbon cement, steel and other building materials
New guidance from the U.S. federal government, combined with historic Inflation Reduction Act investments, could turbocharge markets for low-carbon cement, steel, and other building materials. Victor Olgyay, Anish Tilak and Connor Usry at Rocky Mountain Institute explain how the new âBuy Cleanâ recommendations will mean the procurement of green building materials for federal building and transportation projects. That will lead to a boost in … [Read more...]
Buildings Renovation: city-wide comprehensive data management tools to transform each building
In the U.S. the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have created a free-to-use (and develop) online data management tool â called SEED - that allows whole cities to collect details on thousands of buildings and use them to assess energy wastage at the single building level. Molly Rettig at NREL explains that hundreds of data points can be collected for each building. The tools, along with … [Read more...]
EU Heat Pumps: warnings against âone size fits allâ policies
The EU is aiming for the installation of 50 million heat pumps by 2030, equating to annual growth of 16%, reaching one third of the total 150 million boiler installations in the bloc. Helen Farrell reviews these ambitious targets and the policies that are driving them, and turns to a report by RAP to identify the weaknesses in the plan and how it can be improved. The main danger is a âone size fits allâ approach. Different countries have … [Read more...]
46% of Buildings âEmbodied Carbonâ can be slashed at little to no cost
Buildings and their construction account for around 40% of all carbon emissions today. Half those emissions come from the construction alone, so buildings successfully powered by clean energy wonât come close to fixing the whole problem. John Matson and Rebecca Esau at RMI describe how industry leaders are creating the tools to measure and gather data on the âembodied carbonâ in building materials (concrete, rebar, glazing, insulation, other … [Read more...]
Buildings Renovation: if Europe had started a decade ago it wouldnât have a Russian oil & gas problem
Itâs a message we are starting to see a lot. If ambitious climate policies struggling to be implemented today had been launched a decade ago, Europe wouldnât have a Russian oil and gas problem. Andreas RĂŒdinger at IDDRI looks at buildings renovations in France. Two missed targets, proposed in 2008, are a 38% reduction in energy consumption in existing buildings by 2020, and 400,000 âmajorâ renovations annually. If they had been met, natural gas … [Read more...]
Why sustainable Buildings are critical for a resilient, healthier society
Europe and its Member States are committing large sums to buildings renovations. The policy emphasis has been on insulation, energy savings and emissions reduction. The latest Healthy Homes Barometer 2022 by Velux draws attention to the health benefits of renovations that target damp, lack of daylight, excess noise or cold, and other indoor climate hazards. To get an idea of the scale of the problem, 34 million Europeans are unable to keep their … [Read more...]
Factory-built energy-efficient modular affordable Housing for reducing lifecycle emissions
Building construction and operation accounts for 37% of global energy-related carbon emissions, according to the UNEP. And every part of the world needs new housing. The U.S. has a 3.8-million-unit housing shortage. Jeffrey Wolf, writing for NREL, describes how modular factory-made affordable net-zero housing is being developed that costs no more than existing construction methods. To get the greatest decarbonisation impact most cost-effectively, … [Read more...]
Smart households in a high Renewables world: flexible, efficient, cheaper
Smart controls can enable household heating and EVs to interact flexibly with increasingly decentralised electricity generation. As renewables continue to be added to the energy mix, it will increase efficiency, reduce load, and save money. Marco Reiser and Karoline Steinbacher at Guidehouse summarise the challenges and opportunities, before looking at the SINTEG pilot in Germany. The main hurdles are technological (standardisation, interfaces, … [Read more...]
If Buildings Renovation fails, the EU ETS pricing mechanism must change
If the EU âRenovation Waveâ for buildings fails, the massive ramp up of clean electrification required to compensate will come into direct conflict with EU ETS pricing formulas, say Sebastian Osorio and Michael Pahle at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Oliver Ruhnau at the Hertie School in Berlin. If the cap in the original ETS is too tight relative to the Effort Sharing Regulation (ESR) targets, its carbon prices may rise … [Read more...]
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