Urbanization and growing wealth in developing countries portend a large increase of demand for modern energy services in residential, commercial and public-service buildings in the coming decades. Pursuing energy efficiency in buildings is vital to energy security in developing countries and is identified by the Intergovernment Panel on Climate Change as having the greatest potential for cost-effective reduction of CO2 emissions by 2030 among all energy-consuming sectors. Building energy efficiency codes (BEECs), along with energy efficiency standards for major appliances and equipment, are broadly recognized as a necessary government intervention to overcome persistent market barriers to capturing the economic potential of energy efficiency gains in the residential, commercial and public-service sectors. Implementation of BEECs help prevent costly energy wastes over the lifecycles of buildings in space heating, air conditioning, lighting, and other energy service requirements. Nonetheless, achieving the full potential of energy savings afforded by more energy-efficient buildings requires holding people who live or work in buildings accountable for the cost of energy services. Compliance enforcement has been the biggest challenge to implementing BEECs. This report summarizes the findings of an extensive literature survey of the experiences of implementing BEECs in developed countries, as well as those from case studies of China, Egypt, India, and Mexico. It also serves as a primer on the basic features and contents of BEECs and the commonly adopted compliance and enforcement approaches. This report highlights the key challenges to improving compliance enforcement in developing countries, including government commitment to energy efficiency, the effectiveness of government oversight of the construction sector, the compliance capacity of building supply chain, and financing constraints. The report notes that the process of transforming a country s building supply chain toward delivering increasingly more energy-efficient buildings takes time and requires persistent government intervention through uniformly enforced and regularly updated BEECs. The report recommends increased international support in strengthening the enforcement infrastructure for BEECs in middle-income developing countries. For low- and lower-middle-income countries, there is an urgent need to assist in improving the effectiveness of government oversight system for building construction, laying the foundation for the system to also cover BEECs.

America's economy and lifestyles have been shaped by the low prices and availability of energy. In the last decade, however, the prices of oil, natural gas, and coal have increased dramatically, leaving consumers and the industrial and service sectors looking for ways to reduce energy use. To achieve greater energy efficiency, we need technology, more informed consumers and producers, and investments in more energy-efficient industrial processes, businesses, residences, and transportation. As part of the America's Energy Future project, Real Prospects for Energy Efficiency in the United States examines the potential for reducing energy demand through improving efficiency by using existing technologies, technologies developed but not yet utilized widely, and prospective technologies. The book evaluates technologies based on their estimated times to initial commercial deployment, and provides an analysis of costs, barriers, and research needs. This quantitative characterization of technologies will guide policy makers toward planning the future of energy use in America. This book will also have much to offer to industry leaders, investors, environmentalists, and others looking for a practical diagnosis of energy efficiency possibilities.

The entire world, especially the United States, is in the midst of an energy revolution. Since the oil embargo of 1973, individuals, corporations, and other organizations have found ways to economically reduce energy use. In this book, Jim Sweeney examines the energy policies and practices of the past forty years and their impact on three crucial systems: the economy, the environment, and national security. He shows how energy-efficiency contributions to the country's overall energy situation have been more powerful than all the increases in the domestic production of oil, gas, coal, geothermal energy, nuclear power, solar power, wind power, and biofuels. The author details the impact of new and improved energy-efficient technologies, the environmental and national security benefits of energy efficiency, ways to amplify energy efficiency, and more. Energy Efficiency: Building a Clean, Secure Economy reveals how the careful nurturing of private- and public-sector energy efficiency--along with public awareness, appropriate pricing, appropriate policies--and increased research and development, the trends of decreasing energy intensity and increasing energy efficiency can be beneficially accelerated.

This book analyzes the trends and technologies of green and energy efficient building, identifying strategies for implementing energy savings and enabling the use of renewable resources in residential, commercial, healthcare and educational building sectors. The authors focus on best practices in temperate climates, providing in-depth coverage of urban heat island, climate change and fuel poverty mitigation through architectural optimization, leveraging renewable energy sources and utilization of cutting-edge cooling materials. Pragmatic emphasis is placed on improving the energy performance of existing building stock to meet short and long term objectives of climate and energy conservation strategies. Engineers, architects, designers, students, policy makers and efficiency professionals will all gain valuable insights and ideas from this practical handbook to greening the built environment.

The adverse environmental impacts from inefficient building construction increase if measures to reduce energy and resource use, through stringent building policies and efficient technology, are not implemented in developed and developing countries. To illustrate a holistic approach to reducing buildings’ energy and resources, the comparison of energy efficient and green buildings in terms of their technological aspects and their policy context in developed and developing countries, mainly in Europe, the USA and India, is presented together with a policy package recommendation for Nepal. A quality review of multiple literature sources, supported by various expert opinions, were the methods used for this in-depth analysis. It discusses that mandatory building standards, voluntary labels, information instruments and financial incentives are the most effective combination for the shift towards market transformation, that results in a higher share of energy efficient and green buildings. The lesson such as higher compliance with, and enforcement of, building energy standards can be seen in developed countries (e.g. Germany). Looking at a building’s life cycle perspective, it is not sufficient to focus solely on operational energy reduction in higher energy efficient buildings as this is achieved by the increased use of energy intensive materials. Green requirements must be considered in updating building energy standards and labels, particularly for developed countries. Green building certification will also become more effective when the stringency of energy standards is higher and when the whole building life cycle assessment is considered. Due to the increasing scarcity of energy and resources, many developing countries are forced to face up to the need for holistic green buildings. Although baseline standards are not as high as in most developed countries and national financial support is low, the gradual move towards making the standards more stringent and incorporating the wider scope of resource saving are positive developments in developing countries (e.g. India). However, to achieve significant success, strategies must include the establishment of a suitable funding environment, a political commitment and a strong government vision for long term and sustainable building construction. The challenges faced by Nepal are even greater due to the fast pace of urban growth and the absence of energy and resource efficient buildings policies, highlighting the need for an effective policy package. Overall, this dissertation demonstrates how energy efficient and green buildings are interlinked. Green buildings reinforced with higher levels of energy efficiency and energy efficient buildings incorporating green requirements are stepping-stones for achieving greater building energy and resource efficiencies. And a suitable policy package fosters its development. Nachteilige Umweltwirkungen eines ineffizienten Bausektors nehmen zu, wenn Maßnahmen zur Reduktion des Energie- und Ressourcenbedarfs in Form stringenter Gebäudepolitiken und effizienter Technologie in Industrieländer und Entwicklungsländer nicht umgesetzt werden. Um einen ganzheitlichen Ansatz zur Reduktion des Energie- und Ressourcenbedarfs von Gebäuden abzubilden, werden energieeffiziente und grüne Gebäude hinsichtlich technologischer Aspekte und ihres Politikkontextes in Industrie- und Entwicklungsländern verglichen. Die Analysen beziehen sich hauptsächlich auf Europa, die USA und Indien und werden ergänzt um Empfehlungen für ein Maßnahmenpaket für Nepal. Ein Review unterschiedlicher Literaturquellen, unterstützt durch diverse Expertenmeinungen, stellt die methodische Grundlage für diese detaillierte Analyse dar. Es diskutiert dass Bauvorschriften und -standards, freiwillige Label, Informationsinstrumente und finanzielle Anreize bilden die effektivste Kombination für die Einleitung einer Markttransformation, die schließlich zu einem höheren Anteil energieeffizienter und grüner Gebäude führt. Gute Beispiele einer höheren Beachtung von Gebäudeenergiestandards und deren Weiterentwicklung existieren in verschiedenen Industrieländern wie Deutschland. Unter Berücksichtigung des Lebenszyklus von Gebäuden ist es nicht ausreichend, nur die Reduktion des Energieverbrauchs in der Nutzungsphase der Gebäude zu beachten, weil diese den Einsatz von Materialien mit hohem Energieverbrauch in der Herstellung bedeuten kann. Grüne Anforderungen muss in der zukünftigen Entwicklung von Gebäudeenergiestandards und -labels berücksichtigt werden, insbesondere in Industrieländern. Die Zertifizierung grüner Gebäude wird auch effektiver werden, wenn Energiestandards verschärft werden und wenn vollständige Gebäude-Ökobilanzen berücksichtigt werden. Auf Grund steigender Knappheit von Energie und Ressourcen sind viele Entwicklungsländer gezwungen, sich der Notwendigkeit grüner Gebäude zu stellen. Obwohl das Niveau von Mindeststandards unterhalb dessen der meisten entwickelten Ländern liegt und die finanzielle Unterstützung gering ist, sind die schrittweise Verschärfung der Standards und die Einbeziehung der weiteren Perspektive der Ressourcenschonung positive Entwicklungen in Entwicklungsländer wie Indien. Um erfolgreich zu sein, müssen bestehende Strategien umfasst werden, an die Schaffung eines geeigneten Förderrahmens, die politische Bekenntnis und eine starke Regierungsvision für einen langfristigen und nachhaltigen Bausektor. Die Herausforderungen, mit denen Nepal konfrontiert wird, sind noch umfangreicher. Sie resultieren aus einem schnellen urbanen Wachstum und dem Fehlen von energie- und ressourceneffizienten Gebäudepolitiken. Die Erforderlichkeit eines effektiven Maßnahmenpakets für Nepal wird hierdurch unterstrichen. Insgesamt wird hierdurch der Zusammenhang zwischen energieeffizienten und grünen Gebäuden aufgezeigt. Die verstärkte Berücksichtigung von Energieeffizienz in grünen Gebäuden sowie von Nachhaltigkeitsanforderungen in energieeffizienten Gebäude sind Sprungbretter für die verbesserte Energie- und Ressourceneffizienz von Gebäuden. Eine solche Entwicklung wird durch ein geeignetes Maßnahmenpaket unterstützt.