Wednesday 27 July 2016

Green partnership to cut energy in cities

Green Building Councils will work with major cities to help save energy in their buildings.

Green Building Councils in Colombia, the United Arab Emirates, Poland and South Africa will work with the cities of Bogota, Dubai, Warsaw and Tshwane respectively in a bid to double energy efficiency rates by 2030.

A partnership of cities, businesses and organisations called the Building Efficiency Accelerator (BEA), led by the World Resources Institute (WRI), will undertake the work with the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC).

The Green Building Councils are to work directly with the city governments while WorldGBC will share resources around the value of green building certification programmes which can operate at a national and local level.

WorldGBC recently set a goal for all buildings in specific cities to be "net zero" by 2050.

Jennifer Layke, Director of the Building Efficiency Initiative at the WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities said: “Cities are powerful leaders: as owners, investors and regulators, they shape the sustainability of our future. Buildings that are efficient improve the productivity of both people and energy systems."

Energy used in buildings often accounts for half of all carbon emissions in some cities while buildings in some larger cities can be responsible for up to 80% of emissions.

More cities and Green Building Councils are expected to join the initiative.