Buildings are responsible for 35% CO2 emissions

Buildings are massive consumers of energy. In the US, they consume almost 75% of all electricity and are responsible for 35% of the country’s CO2 emissions. ( Source: https://lnkd.in/gf5ABYyS ). The data for many other developed and developing economies – such as India – could be quite similar.

The building energy carbon footprint is thus quite a massive something.

For India, these data assume much higher significance because a large proportion of buildings that will stand in India by 2040 are yet to be built, unlike in developed countries that have very large and sophisticated building stocks.

These data should help climate entrepreneurs, investors and policy makers zoom into a special focus on buildings, especially in countries such as India.

𝐑𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬:
1. Replace current sources of energy with renewable energy – either from premises or from the grid.
2. Implement energy efficiency solutions that can significantly reduce the energy consumption of existing energy equipment (ACs, ventilation, heating…)
3. If it is a greenfield building (as it will be in many cases in India), incorporate energy efficiency (including passive energy avenues) design elements right at the design stage of the building.

𝐀𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐯𝐞 decarbonization efforts p𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐬:
=> Entrepreneurs, including startups & small businesses
=> Prominent solution providers, including large multinational firms
=> Financial investors keen on investing for impact
=> Government officials wondering where to start to get their regions & urban centers low carbon or Net Zero
=> Researchers & academics wishing to work on high value decarbonization avenues

I hope you found this post useful.