Building Energy Codes: Reviewing the Status of Implementation Strategies in the Global South

The public understanding of climate change, methods, mitigation, adaptation and the reason behind it have been investigated in developed countries. The current knowledge levels in the Global South remains limited, this while countries forming part of the Global South are more vulnerable to resultant effects of global warming. This requires the urgent attention by both citizens, who lack relevant information as well as decision makers lacking environmental literacy to establish long-term sustainable strategies. With just 9 years left, the probability of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), is unlikely and will require the complete redevelopment of the building sector. Focusing on the built environment, this paper uses contemporary definitions of the Global South to establish the contribution, significance and lack of energy efficiency mechanisms in the face of climate change. A combination of literature, desk research and data gathering from various sources are employed to establish the contribution of the Global South built environment to climate change. Using Carbon Dioxide (CO₂) emissions, 2050 urban population figures and distinctive climatic regions as basis, this study selected the largest role players to establish the status, extent and efficacy of building energy codes. The review point towards a built environment lacking the necessary building energy codes, with approximately 47% of selected Global South countries not implementing any form of building energy efficiency regulations or related policies. As part of the recommendations, Global South countries lacking the necessary regulations are encouraged to revise, update or adopt possible best practice standards from relevant countries that implement mandatory building energy codes. This study aims to address the gap in knowledge, establish a way forward and facilitate a larger implementation of building energy codes and strategies in the Global South

The Status of Embodied Carbon in Building Practice and Research in the United States: A Systematic Investigation

The building construction industry accounts for 5% of global energy use and 10% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. A primary source of these emissions is the manufacture of building construction materials such as steel, cement, and glass. As aggressive building energy codes push new construction towards net-zero-energy and net-zero-carbon operations, corresponding efforts to reduce embodied energy and carbon from building construction materials must be pursued to achieve the decarbonization goals of the building sector. In the past few decades, progressive building energy codes as well as the underlying research on reducing the operational energy and its related greenhouse gas emissions have stimulated changes of practice in building design and operation. In contrast, strategies to reduce embodied carbon in the substitute remaining life-cycle stages of a building are less defined and studied. The selection of building materials and systems is largely unregulated, as long as minimum health, safety, and performance standards are met. In addition, it is unclear whether we have adequate knowledge infrastructure to incorporate embodied carbon into national model codes. This study provides a comprehensive review of the current state of knowledge of existing methods, databases, and tools on embodied carbon studies, and identifies the knowledge gaps. It provides a basis for the governments, academia, industry, and other institutes to collaboratively fill in these gaps and develop standards and codes to decarbonize buildings and their interface with other sectors.

Facade Design Process to Establish and Achieve Net Zero Carbon Building Targets

As more stringent building energy codes and sustainability certification goals have become more prevalent in recent years, a focus for many building designers has been reducing the operational energy with the objective of reaching net-zero energy targets. More recently, as the efficiency in operational energy use has increased significantly, the focus is moving towards the environmental impact of building materials, primarily reflected in the embodied energy and emissions, and the potential (re)life options that allow circular material flows and reduced global warming potential. This paper investigates a methodology applied during early and advanced design development phases to assess and compare different façade typology carbon emissions. Embodied carbon is evaluated through Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) analysis, and operational carbon is analysed during the service life of the office building through energy simulation. Results show that overall carbon assessment of different facade solution can provide useful design feedback in the decision-making process.

The impact of window-to-wall ratio on energy intensity of existing office buildings in Ontario and Quebec

Energy codes, such as SB-10, provide significant impact on the thermal performance of the building envelope. For design of new buildings, a window-to-wall ratio (WWR) of 40% is considered as a threshold in Ontario for using prescriptive solutions for thermal resistance of the enclosure. This study will demonstrate the relationship of the energy intensity of the existing office building to the WWR, through analysis of 15 office buildings located in Ontario and Quebec. Recent studies indicate that building geometry can influence the energy efficiency of the building; nevertheless, factors that impact energy intensity of existing buildings are not researched in full, and this study’s aim is to minimize the knowledge gap in this field of literature. The outcome of this research shows that WWR directly influences energy intensity of the building. Energy balance calculations and energy loads distribution showed that WWR impacts on average 15% of overall energy consumption

The impact of window-to-wall ratio on energy intensity of existing office buildings in Ontario and Quebec

Energy codes, such as SB-10, provide significant impact on the thermal performance of the building envelope. For design of new buildings, a window-to-wall ratio (WWR) of 40% is considered as a threshold in Ontario for using prescriptive solutions for thermal resistance of the enclosure. This study will demonstrate the relationship of the energy intensity of the existing office building to the WWR, through analysis of 15 office buildings located in Ontario and Quebec. Recent studies indicate that building geometry can influence the energy efficiency of the building; nevertheless, factors that impact energy intensity of existing buildings are not researched in full, and this study’s aim is to minimize the knowledge gap in this field of literature. The outcome of this research shows that WWR directly influences energy intensity of the building. Energy balance calculations and energy loads distribution showed that WWR impacts on average 15% of overall energy consumption