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The global buildings sector needs to ramp up its decarbonization
efforts by a factor of five to come close to achieving net-zero
carbon by 2050, according to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP),
after emissions from the operations of buildings reached an
all-time high in 2019.
The goal is an even taller order than it appears on the surface
because over the last couple of years the sector's decarbonization
progress began heading in the wrong direction, according to the
calculations of a UNEP-sponsored initiative. The Global Alliance
for Building and Construction's Buildings Climate Tracker
(GlobalABC) - which considers measures such as incremental energy
efficiency investment in buildings and the share of renewable
energy in global buildings - found that the sector's rate of annual
improvement was decreasing, halving between 2016 and 2019.
The tracker - which UNEP calls the first global tracking index
developed for buildings and construction - was launched 16 December
2020. A set of indicators is used to identify trends in
decarbonization action and impact. The method is based on the
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development approach for
composite indicators and applied to data from the existing
GlobalABC Global Status Reports and other sources, it said.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) said the buildings and
construction sector accounted for 36% of global energy use and 39%
of carbon dioxide emissions in 2018, including the manufacturing of
materials.
Emissions from the operation of buildings reached their
highest-ever level in 2019 at 9.95 gigatons of carbon dioxide
equivalent, according to the GlobalABC's The 2020 Global Status Report
for Buildings and Construction, also unveiled 16
December.
The sector's emissions increased year on year as a result of "a
shift away from the direct use of coal, oil and traditional biomass
towards electricity, which had a higher carbon content due to the
high proportion of fossil fuels used in generation," according to
UNEP, and shifted the sector further from meeting "its huge
potential" to help slow climate change.
While construction activity dropped 20% to 30% in 2020 compared
with 2019 as a result of the pandemic and around 10% of overall
jobs were lost or are at risk across the building construction
sector, stimulus programs for the building and construction sector
can create jobs, boost economic activity, and activate local value
chains, according to UNEP. "Pandemic recovery packages provide an
opportunity to promote building renovation and performance
standards for newly constructed buildings, and rapidly cut
emissions," it said.
Under its Sustainable Recovery Plan, the IEA estimates that up
to 30 jobs in manufacturing and construction would be created for
every million dollars invested in retrofits or efficiency measures
in new builds.
The updating of climate pledges under the Paris Climate
Agreement - known as nationally determined contributions - also
offer a chance to hone existing measures and include new
commitments for the sector, it added.
A separate UNEP study, the
Emissions Gap Report 2020, argued that a green pandemic
recovery could cut up to 25% off predicted 2030 greenhouse gas
emissions and bring the world closer to meeting the 2 degrees
Celsius goal of the Paris Climate Agreement.
"Rising emissions in the buildings and construction sector
emphasize the urgent need for a triple strategy to aggressively
reduce energy demand in the built environment, decarbonize the
power sector and implement materials strategies that reduce
lifecycle carbon emissions," Inger Andersen, UNEP executive
director, said in a statement following the launch of the tracker
and report.
"Green recovery packages can provide the spark that will get us
moving rapidly in the right direction," she added. "Moving the
buildings and construction sector onto a low-carbon pathway will
slow climate change and deliver strong economic recovery benefits,
so it should be a clear priority for all governments."
Governments can help achieve these gains by systematically
including building decarbonization measures into recovery packages
- increasing renovation rates, channeling investment into
low-carbon buildings, providing jobs, and increasing real estate
value, the UNEP said.
In 2019, global spending on energy-efficient buildings increased
for the first time in three years, with building energy efficiency
increasing to $152 billion in 2019, 3% more than the previous year.
However, this is only a minimal share of the $5.8 trillion spent in
the building and construction sector, according to UNEP.
Urban areas will add 2.5 billion residents globally by 2050,
which means 13,000 homes/day will need to be built to house these
people, Cedric de Meeus, Co-Chair EU Working Group, International
Emissions Trading Association and an executive at cement maker
LafargeHolcim, said during a briefing launching the tracker.
To get on track to net-zero carbon building stock by 2050, the
IEA estimates that direct building CO2 emissions need,
by 2030, to fall by 50% and indirect building sector emissions by
60%. This equates to building sector emissions falling by around 6%
per year until 2030, close to the 7% in 2020 global energy sector
CO2 emissions due to the pandemic.
The 16 December report has a list of recommendations for
businesses and governments to support improving the sustainability
of the construction sector, including:
Conduct material flow analysis for construction materials at
different scales (building, city, region, country, global)
Level the playing field between primary and secondary materials
resources by including environmental and social aspects as well as
economic and technical considerations in resource
classification
Develop standards for modular structures that are assembled
on-site from components manufactured off-site to support safe and
rapid deconstruction and material reuse
Use local alternatives to carbon-intensive cement and
steel
Consider trade-offs in material substitutions, e.g., impacts on
forest stocks
Develop systems to enable cycling of timber at higher value
before energy recovery
Develop platforms for selling and buying already used building
materials and components
Implement policies to minimize complete deconstruction and
preserve existing building materials.
