Zero Carbon Buildings for All - WRI Ross Center for ...

Zero Carbon Buildings for All unites government, industry, investors and civil society to decarbonize new buildings by 2030 and existing buildings by 2050. Skiptomaincontent Helpingcitiesmakebigideashappen™ Signupfornews Search Search Menu Home OurWorkPracticeAreasBuildings EnergyandClimate HealthandRoadSafety SustainableUrbanMobility UrbanClimateResilience UrbanDevelopment UrbanGovernance Water AnnualReport Publications Projects OurCities OurApproach News EventsUpcomingEvents PastEvents SeminarSeries Blog COVID WorldResourcesReport Prize AboutAboutUs Experts&Staff Donors AboutEMBARQ AdvisoryGroup Careers Contact PrivacyPolicy ZeroCarbonBuildingsforAll Raisingambitiontodecarbonizethebuildingsectoreverywhere Zerocarbonbuildingsarecrucialtoglobalclimategoals. Theimportanceofzerocarbonbuildings(ZCBs)toasustainablefutureisclear.Buildingsareresponsiblefornearly30%ofglobalenergy-relatedgreenhousegasemissions.Fortunately,reducingenergydemandinbuildingsalsorepresentsthemostcost-effectivewaytotackleclimatechangeandbetterbuildingscanaddimportantco-benefits,likeimprovinghealthandqualityoflifeforresidentsandworkers. TheZeroCarbonBuildingsforAllInitiative TheZeroCarbonBuildingsforAllInitiative,launchedatthe2019UNSecretary-General’sClimateActionSummitinNewYork,unitesleadersacrosssectorsinastronginternationalcoalitiontodecarbonizethebuildingsectorandmeetclimategoals. ZeroCarbonBuildingsforAll'scorecomponentsincludesecuringcommitmentsfromtwoaudiences: Nationalandlocalleaders,todevelopandimplementpoliciestodrivedecarbonizationofallnewbuildingsby2030andallexistingbuildingsby2050Financialandindustrypartners,toprovideexpertinputandcommit$1trillionofmarketactionby2030 Thisjointinitiativerepresentsastepchangeintheambitionofpolicymakers,advocatesandtheprivatesector. ThenationalgovernmentsannouncingtheircommitmenttoZeroCarbonBuildingsforAllinclude Kenya, Turkey,the UnitedArabEmirates,andthe UnitedKingdom.SeehereforanexampleofprogresscurrentlyunderwayintheUAE. Thehigh-levelplatformonInfrastructure,CitiesandLocalActionatthe2019UNClimateActionSummit. Financialinstitutionsupportersinclude AfricanDevelopmentBank,InternationalFinanceCorporation,InvestmentFundforDevelopingCountries(Denmark),EuropeanBankforReconstructionandDevelopment,EuropeanInvestmentBank,andothers. Privatesectorleadershavealsosteppeduptooffertechnicalexpertise,includingworld-classbuildingdesignfirmslike Gensler and BuroHappold,andbuildingtechnologiesfirmslike ROCKWOOLGroup and Saint-Gobain,amongothers. Civilsocietypartnersincludethe GlobalAllianceforBuildingsandConstruction,GlobalEnvironmentFacility,PacificNorthwestNationalLaboratory,ProgramforEnergyEfficiencyinBuildings,UrbanLandInstitute,WorldEconomicForum,WorldGreenBuildingCouncil,WorldResourcesInstitute,andothers. ThesecommitmentsjointhosegalvanizedbycomplementaryeffortsliketheWorldGreenBuildingCouncil’sNetZeroCarbonBuildingsCommitmentandtheGlobalAllianceforBuildingandConstruction’sGlobalCall. Emailusformoreinformation. Readthebrief. Readthefullproposal.   Thiswebinarpresentsdetailedinformationabouttheproposal,withguestspeakersfromnationalgovernments,developmentbanksandcivilsociety. WhatAreZCBs? ZCBsarebuildingswithanetzeroamountofcarbonemissionsassociatedwiththeirannualenergydemand.ZCBsachievethisby: Implementing highlevelsofenergyefficiencyMeetingenergyneedswith on-oroff-siterenewableenergy sourcing Insomecases,asalastresort,buildingscanalsopartlyachievenetzeroemissionsthroughcarbonoffsets,whichoftencomeintheformofrenewableenergyinvestmentselsewhere.Offsets,however,areonlyrecommended forcasesinwhicha100%renewableenergysupplyisnotfeasible. WhileinthepastZCBshavebeenseenasatargetonlywealthycountriescouldreach,therearepolicypathwaystodaytoreachzerocarbonbuildingsregardlessoflocationordevelopmentstatus. HowDoWeAchieveZCBs? WehavethetechnologytoachieveZCBsinnearlyeverycontext;whatnationalandlocalleadersneedarepolicypathwaysandfinancingsolutions.TherearemultiplewaystoachieveZCBsthroughcombinationsofenergyefficiency,renewableenergyandcarbonoffsets,inthefollowingorderofpriority: Themorecarbonavoidedthroughefficiency,thebetter.Energyefficiencyisgenerallythecheapestapproach,andremainingenergyneedscanthenbemetwithgreenerenergysupply. Inadditiontothesetofprinciplesshownabove,municipal,nationalandstategovernmentshavedifferentrolesanddegreesofinfluenceinachievingZCBpathways.Theseguidingprincipleslaythegroundworkforamenuofpathwaystoarriveatnetzerocarbonforindividualbuildings,districtsandbuildingportfolios–turningcarbonneutralityfromanaspirationintoatargetwellwithinreach. OurWork PracticeAreas AnnualReport Publications Projects OurCities OurApproach RelatedPracticeArea: BuildingsEnergyandClimate Geography: AfricaAsiaChinaIndiaNorthAmericaMexico Projects: BuildingEfficiencyAccelerator Tags: BuildingEfficiencyAcceleratorbuildingperformanceclimateactionenergyefficiencynetzeroenergyurbanenergysystems Publications AllPublications News AllNews ExpertsAllstaff ClayNeslerSeniorAdvisor,BuildingsandEnergy EricMackresSeniorManager,DataandTools-UrbanEfficiency&Climate MiaoHongEnergyLead,WRIChina AndrésFloresMontalvoClimateandEnergyDirector,WRIMéxico MeltemBayraktarUrbanEfficiency&ClimateManager,WRITurkeySustainableCities TuğçeÜzümoğluEnvironmentalEngineer,WRITurkeySustainableCities FairuzLoutfiCircularEconomyandEnergyEfficiencyManager,WRIMéxico JenniferLaykeGlobalDirector,EnergyProgram NatalieThomureBuildingsAnalyst MichaelDoustDirector,UrbanEfficiency&Climate,WRIRossCenterforSustainableCities StayConnected Signupforupdates RegistertoReceiveOurNewsandAnnouncementsSubscribe RSSFeeds AllContent News Events Publications Connectwithus Facebook LinkedIn Twitter YouTube Flickr More