For energy-efficiency gains, let’s get our houses in order

November 11, 2021

Raising the global building renovation rate will cut greenhouse gas emissions and reap multiple rewards.

As COP26 draws to a close, there is an important item still on the agenda. Today, the UN annual climate conference will feature a day fully dedicated to addressing the environmental impact of cities and the built environment- an issue that needs to be addressed urgently.

It’s surprising that this item is so often overlooked, given that our buildings are responsible for 40% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. And even within this space, it’s new, zero-energy buildings that make the headlines, with futuristic designs that incorporate cutting-edge technology to perform with the lightest possible impact.

Upgrading lighting is also the quickest and least intrusive part of the renovation process. Converting to smart LED lighting can reduce the built environment’s lighting-related energy consumption by up to 80%, offering carbon emissions reductions and bringing down electricity costs. And when LEDs are connected to a smart lighting management platform, the benefits multiply. A lighting system can be connected to other smart building technologies like sensors that can switch off lights in unoccupied rooms or adjust lighting levels in response to natural daylight conditions. Such systems can yield a 30% electricity saving over and above the savings from switching to LED. To add to the benefits, LED lighting is one of the quickest renovations that dramatically cuts carbon - it does not require large capital investments and has a short payback time.

In the European Union and the UK&I region, the Renovation Wave initiative aims to take on the challenge of upgrading aging buildings to keep our emissions within agreed levels. The initiative aims to double annual energy renovation rate in the next ten years. Such a plan yields multiple benefits, slashing emissions from our built environment while reducing energy poverty, improving quality of life, and creating skilled local jobs. The UK also has a resilience and recovery plan - The Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution - which lays out a broad roadmap towards this goal and in particular its financing.

Replicating such a scheme globally will undoubtedly be challenging. But with so much at stake, and with quick and significant additional gains on the table, it’s high time for our built environment to take its place on the world’s most important agenda.