UN report on energy efficiency of buildings has implications for Australia's response to climate change
03/Apr/2007
A new United Nations report calling on world governments to improve the energy efficiency of buildings was today endorsed by the Insulation Council of Australia & New Zealand (ICANZ).
Dennis D'Arcy, ICANZ President, said that the report by the UN Environment Programme draws attention to the substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions that can be achieved at low cost by improving the energy efficiency of Australian buildings, particularly homes.
"The UN report highlights the fact that carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the building sector accounts for 30-40 % of global energy use. Substantial benefits can be gained at low cost by improving the energy efficiency of buildings. Here in Australia this is particularly relevant because, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 40 per cent of Australian homes have no ceiling insulation," Mr D'Arcy said.
The UN report, Buildings and Climate Change: Status, Challenges and Opportunities, pushes for a greater use of existing technologies like thermal insulation, solar shading and more efficient lighting and electrical appliances, and the right mix of appropriate government regulation, greater use of energy saving technologies and behavioural change programs.
In announcing the report, Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and UN Environment Programme Executive Director, said: "Energy efficiency, along with cleaner and renewable forms of energy generation, is one of the pillars upon which a de-carbonized world will stand or fall. The savings that can be made right now are potentially huge and the costs to implement them are relatively low if sufficient numbers of governments, industries, businesses and consumers act".
The UN report identified Australia as a country where CO2 emissions increase exponentially with increased wealth, in contrast to other developed economies such as France and Sweden where CO2 emissions have remained level in spite of increases in their Gross National Product.
The report also says that better use in Europe of low cost existing technology such as building insulation could further reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than the total European Union commitment made under the Kyoto Protocol.
"Australia is a country where low cost demand-side solutions that can deliver immediate greenhouse gas savings, such as tighter passive design regulation for new homes and the retrofitting of insulation into older homes, are at least as important as supply-side solutions that will take decades to deliver benefit, such as the development of new low emission power stations," Mr D'Arcy said.
The UN report affirms that in the lifetime of an average building most energy is consumed, not for construction, but during the period when the building is in use, for example for heating, cooling, lighting, cooking, and ventilation.
The UN report and accompanying media statement can be dowloaded from the UN Environment Programme web site at www.unep.org.
