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    1. Energy Efficiency

    Global building industry leaders commit to Decarbonization of Facilities

    Nov. 11, 2022
    Graphic credit American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy
    Aceee Buildings 636e5e410e592

    Staff and Wire Reports

    Research and standards organization ASHRAE and 24 building industry groups, which are signatories of the Building Industry Steps Up to Address Climate Change, have pledged at the United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP 27), to take a leadership role in decarbonizing the built environment.

    Buildings, including residential and business, account for close to 40 percent of total global greenhouse gas emissions, ASHRAE President Farooq Mehboob said in a statement. Energy efficiency advocates say that dramatic improvements in electrification, insulation and lighting could be a huge driver on the road to Net Zero goals.

    “The built environment is therefore one of the leading drivers of climate change,” Mehboob added. “Simultaneously, making changes to how and what we build is one of our most effective tools for mitigating and adapting to climate change and places a great responsibility on the built environment industry. This is a responsibility we earnestly accept.”

    The members and organizations supported the statement. U.S. Green Building Council President and CEO Peter Templeton said that collaboration was critical to develop standards on decarbonizing building energy use.

    Building energy management platform GridPoint CEO Mark Danzenbaker, while speaking outside of the ASHRAE agreement, noted that the built environment covers many different energy efficiency needs, whether it’s residential, commercial and industrial, campuses, offices, shopping malls or more. Danzenbaker stressed the need to focus on small to medium-sized buildings.

    “These are often overlooked but account for the majority of buildings and present the greatest opportunities for cost-effective decarbonization today,” he said in an exclusive quote to EnergyTech. “According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, of the more than 5.9 million commercial buildings across the U.S., over 90 percent are small- to medium-sized with footprints under 50,000 square feet – think your neighborhood pharmacy chain store, local coffee shop, fast food restaurant or convenience store."

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    So more than 5.3 million small to medium-sized commercial buildings offer opportunities for efficiency and emissions reduction. Danzenbaker said ASHRAE was the right place to start.

    “As the leading global publisher of technical industry standards for improving building service engineering, energy efficiency and sustainable practices, ASHRAE is in an excellent position to lead the charge in driving decarbonization of the built environment,” he said.

    Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Energy revealed plans to tighten energy codes for federal buildings. These moves, DOE says, could save 2.2 quadrillion Btus of energy, or the equivalent of current usage in 13 million homes, per year.

    In Colorado, the state formed its first-ever Energy Code Board to oversee a revamping to get in line with the International Energy Conservation Code standards. New York also is overseeing future-forward tightening of building energy codes.

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    (Rod Walton, senior editor for EnergyTech, is a 14-year veteran of covering the energy industry both as a newspaper and trade journalist. He can be reached at [email protected]). 

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    About the Author

    Rod Walton, EnergyTech Managing Editor | Senior Editor

    For EnergyTech editorial inquiries, please contact Managing Editor Rod Walton at [email protected].

    Rod Walton has spent 15 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist. He formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.

    Walton earned his Bachelors degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma. His career stops include the Moore American, Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, Wagoner Tribune and Tulsa World. 

    EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids. The C&I sectors together account for close to 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.

    He was named Managing Editor for Microgrid Knowledge and EnergyTech starting July 1, 2023

    Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.

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