IEA report shows how to achieve dramatic energy savings in the buildings sector by 2050
18.05.2011
New roadmap says energy savings could be achieved rapidly with policies that promote heating and cooling
technologies that are energy-efficient and emit little or no CO2
A new report from the International Energy Agency released today shows how heating and cooling technologies that are
energy-efficient and that emit little or no carbon dioxide can dramatically reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions
within residential, commercial and public buildings, a sector that currently accounts for around one-third of total
final energy consumption.
The IEA Technology Roadmap Energy-efficient Buildings: Heating and Cooling Equipment shows how technologies such as solar
thermal, heat pumps, thermal energy storage, and combined heat and power for buildings have the potential to reduce CO2
emissions by up to 2 gigatonnes (Gt) by 2050 – around a quarter of today’s emissions from buildings – and save 710
million tonnes oil equivalent (Mtoe) of energy by 2050. Much of the potential energy savings identified in the report
could be achieved rapidly, both because the required technologies are available today and because heating and cooling
equipment is typically replaced between 7 and 30 years – much more rapidly than the buildings themselves, which may
last 30 to 100 years or more.
Read more: IEA press release.
http://www.iea.org/press/pressdetail.asp?PRESS_REL_ID=412
