Advances Toward a Net-Zero Global Building Sector

Abstract

The building sector is responsible for 39% of process-related greenhouse gas emissions globally, making net- or nearly-zero energy buildings pivotal for reaching climate neutrality. This article reviews recent advances in key options and strategies for converting the building sector to be climate neutral. The evidence from the literature shows it is possible to achieve net- or nearly-zero energy building outcomes across the world in most building types and climates with systems, technologies, and skills that already exist, and at costs that are in the range of conventional buildings. Maximizing energy efficiency for all building energy uses is found as central to net-zero targets. Jurisdictions all over the world, including Brussels, New York, Vancouver, and Tyrol, have innovated visionary policies to catalyze the market success of such buildings, with more than 7 million square meters of nearly-zero energy buildings erected in China alone in the past few years. Since embodied carbon in building materials can consume up to a half of the remaining 1.5°C carbon budget, this article reviews recent advances to minimize embodied energy and store carbon in building materials. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Environment and Resources, Volume 45 is October 19, 2020. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Demand-side solutions to climate change mitigation consistent with high levels of wellbeing

“…Overall, 'avoid' potential in the building sector, reducing waste in super uous oor space, heating and IT equipment, and energy use, is estimated at 10 and 30%, and possibly up to 50% 77 . Improve options, such as energy e cient appliances, insulation, and prosumer renewables on rooftops may similarly reduce GHG emissions, combined, by 50% [30-70%] 16,78,79 . Demand-side mitigation strategies improve wellbeing Based on 406 papers (Table S3-S7), we analyze how sectoral demand-side and service-oriented mitigation strategies in uence constituents of wellbeing.…”

“…Avoiding energy use in buildings starts with smaller dwellings that reduce overall demand for lighting and space conditioning and smaller dwellings, shared housing, and building lifespan extension all reduce the overall demand for carbon-intensive building materials such as concrete and steel 71,72 . It also includes designing buildings based on bioclimatic principles to maximise energy demand reduction through nature and building typology (single-family homes versus multi-family buildings), adapting the size of buildings to the size of households redesigning both individual energy end use and building operations: replace arti cial light with daylighting 73,74 and use lighting sensors to avoid demand for lumens from arti cial light; design passive houses using the thermal mass and smart controllers to avoid demand for space conditioning services 16 ; eliminating standby power to reduce energy wasted in appliances/devices (this alone may reduce household energy use by 10%) 75 . 3D printing of buildings further reduces construction waste, optimizes the geometries and minimizes the materials content of structural elements 76 .…”

Reducing carbon emissions of households through monetary incentives and behavioral interventions: a meta-analysis

“…This estimated mitigation wedge is conservative. The reductions could be enhanced by using our evidence on interactions between the various interventions, including the consideration of interaction between injunctive and descriptive norms 45 , and the interaction between social norms, behavioral interventions and infrastructure provisions or building design 47 . Cost effectiveness of a basket of interventions should also be assessed by taking into account the costs of different interventions (monetary incentives for example could entail higher infrastructure and regulatory costs).…”

Cooling for sustainable development

“…As a result, the co-production of knowledge by the often-scattered academic and professional communities who are at the frontier of the relevant areas of science and practice will be key to a holistic and integrated understanding of the relationships between sustainable development and cooling. Such inter-and trans-disciplinary approaches that link research with empirically evidenced impact have become an important trend in approaching advancements of science particularly in fields where on-ground experience is crucial for testing and calibrating new findings, such as in urban science and architecture 64 . Equally, the need for a transdisciplinary approach is well identified to establish demand-side climate solutions -to which cooling is central -and investigate their mitigation potential, detail policy measures and assess their implications for human well-being and sustainable development 39 .…”