Promoting Energy Efficiency Standards and Technologies to Enhance Energy Efficiency in Buildings

ECE Energy Series No. 60
Geneva, 2020

Buildings today are responsible for approximately one third of total final energy consumption and account for almost 40 percent of carbon dioxide emissions. Advanced technical solutions to improve buildings’ energy efficiency exist, and their deployment requires standards, supporting measures and enforcement mechanisms, as well as technical capacity, improved consumer knowledge, and integrally – a holistic and consistent policy approach.

The recent report maps the existing energy efficiency standards, technologies and practices in buildings in its 56 member States.

It includes:

• Analysis of comprehensiveness, stringency, and technical requirements of building energy codes and energy performance certificates;
• Analysis of enforcement mechanisms;
• Assessment of energy-efficient technologies in buildings in relation to the existing standards;
• Analysis of actual prevalence of specific energy-efficient technologies for buildings, and of public policy interventions supporting their deployment;
• Identified best practices on adopting, implementing and enforcing energy efficiency standards and technologies for buildings.

The report also suggests a set of priority actions intended to strengthen determination of the Governments in ongoing efforts to improve energy efficiency in building sector of national economies.