Costs of reducing carbon emissions: US building sector scenarios

Energy Policy ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 433-440 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan G Koomey ◽  
Nathan C Martin ◽  
Marilyn Brown ◽  
Lynn K Price ◽  
Mark D Levine
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Emissions ◽  
Building Sector

scholarly journals Climate repair through built environment: Decarbonising UK’s building sector through energy efficiency and natural materials

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramit Debnath ◽  
Ronita Bardhan ◽  
Darshil U. Shah ◽  
Antiopi Koronaki ◽  
Aurimas Bukauskas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Built Environment ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Carbon Emissions ◽  
Building Sector ◽  
Insulating Materials ◽  
Working Paper ◽  
Net Zero ◽  
Royal Institution ◽  
The Uk

This working paper is an evidence submitted to the Royal Institution for British Architects that makes the case that the built environment must drastically reduce its carbon emissions to work towards net zero. Here we advocate for climate repair through the built environment by decarbonising UK’s building sector through both improved energy efficiency of buildings and the use of nature‐based solutions, such as engineered timber and natural insulating materials. The UK has the opportunity to lead by example at the upcoming United Nations COP‐26 conference and beyond, as we implement the solutions in the coming years.

scholarly journals How to Set the Proper CO2 Reduction Targets for the Provincial Building Sector of China?

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (24) ◽  
pp. 10432
Author(s):  
Qingwei Shi ◽  
Hong Ren ◽  
Weiguang Cai ◽  
Jingxin Gao
Keyword(s):  
Energy Saving ◽  
Co2 Emissions ◽  
Carbon Emissions ◽  
Emission Reduction ◽  
Carbon Emission ◽  
National Level ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
Energy Structure ◽  
Building Sector ◽  
Emission Abatement

The improvement of the energy and carbon emission efficiency of activities in the building sector is the key to China’s realization of the Paris Agreement. We can explore effective emission abatement approaches for the building sector by evaluating the carbon emissions and energy efficiency of construction activities, measuring the emission abatement potential of construction activities across the country and regions, and measuring the marginal abatement cost (MAC) of China and various regions. This study calculates the energy and carbon emissions performance of the building sector of 30 provinces and regions in China from 2005 to 2015, measures the dynamic changes in the energy-saving potential and carbon emission performance of the building sector, conducts relevant verification, and estimates the MAC of the building sector by using the slacks-based measure-directional distance function. The level of energy consumption per unit of the building sector of China has been decreasing yearly, but the energy structure has changed minimally (considering that clean energy is used). The total factor technical efficiency of the building sector of various provinces, cities, and regions is generally low, as verified in the evaluation of the energy-saving and emission abatement potential of the building sector of China. The energy saving and emission abatement of the building sector of China have great potential—that is, in approximately 50% of the total emissions of the building sector of China. In particular, Northeast and North China account for more than 50% of the total energy-saving and emission abatement potential. The study of the CO2 emissions and MAC of the building sector indicates that the larger the CO2 emissions are, the smaller MAC will be. The emission abatement efficiency is proportional to MAC. Based on this research, it can be more equitable and effective in formulating provincial emission reduction policy targets at the national level, and can maximize the contribution of the building sector of various provinces to the national carbon emission reduction.

Measuring carbon emission from energy consumption in a Hong Kong family

Facilities ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 32 (7/8) ◽  
pp. 324-341 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Li ◽  
Yat Hung Chiang ◽  
Lu Zhou ◽  
Tracy N.Y. Choi
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Carbon Emissions ◽  
Carbon Emission ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Residential Building ◽  
Building Sector ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Residential Units ◽  
End Use

Purpose – This study aims to develop a prototype for measuring the carbon emissions arising from the utilization of electrical appliances in a typical Hong Kong family in Kowloon District. Design/methodology/approach – To estimate carbon emission coefficients of energy consumption, the US building energy database books are referred to, which include home appliances’ energy end-use expenditure splits and energy end-use carbon splits. Due to differences in climate, geography and culture, the estimation equations are refined with assumptions and constraints based on the context of Hong Kong. Findings – By calculating the amount of carbon emissions from different electrical appliances, including space cooling, water heating, lighting, refrigeration, wet cleaning and cooking, it is estimated that the carbon emissions from major home electrical appliances in Hong Kong’s residential building sector is 1,805,397 metric tons. According to the findings of this study, by adopting the energy-saving guidelines for space coolers, refrigerators, water heaters and washing machines, carbon emissions in Hong Kong’s residential building sector can be reduced by 155,443 metric tons, or by 8.6 per cent of the current emission. Research limitations/implications – Due to limited resources, the case study does not cover residential units in other districts of Hong Kong, including the Hong Kong Island and the New Territories. In addition, relevant institutional and financing costs of implementing the proposed practices such as increasing the air-conditioning temperature and upgrading the lighting system should be further considered. Future research will be extended to the wider territory of Hong Kong and to obtain more cases for analysis. Originality/value – This paper provides a microscopic perspective on investigating the carbon emissions associated with energy consumption from major home electrical appliances in Hong Kong’s residential buildings. By unveiling the interaction between energy consumption and carbon emission, we formulate measures and strategies for implementing a cost reduction and carbon saving scheme of Hong Kong’s residential buildings, which is in line with government’s guidelines on green buildings.

scholarly journals Operational Carbon Change in Commercial Buildings under the Carbon Neutral Goal: A LASSO–WOA Approach

Buildings ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 54
Author(s):  
Xiwang Xiang ◽  
Xin Ma ◽  
Zhili Ma ◽  
Minda Ma
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Emissions ◽  
Emission Reduction ◽  
Driving Forces ◽  
Commercial Buildings ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Lasso Regression ◽  
Commercial Building ◽  
Building Sector ◽  
Whale Optimization ◽  
New Perspective

The rapid growth of energy consumption in commercial building operations has hindered the pace of carbon emission reduction in the building sector in China. This study used historical data to model the carbon emissions of commercial building operations, the LASSO regression was applied to estimate the model results, and the whale optimization algorithm was used to optimize the nonlinear parameter. The key findings show the following: (1) The major driving forces of carbon emissions from commercial buildings in China were found to be the population size and energy intensity of carbon emissions, and their elastic coefficients were 0.6346 and 0.2487, respectively. (2) The peak emissions of the commercial building sector were 1264.81 MtCO2, and the peak year was estimated to be 2030. Overall, this study analyzed the historical emission reduction levels and prospective peaks of carbon emissions from China’s commercial buildings from a new perspective. The research results are helpful for governments and decision makers to formulate effective emission reduction policies and can also provide references for the low-carbon development of other countries and regions.

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