05/17/11 10:45am

Article By: Katerva

In its latest energy roadmap, the International Energy Agency (IEA)says dramatic energy savings could be achieved rapidly if policies which promote energy efficient heating and cooling technologies are adopted.

It is estimated that buildings — residential, commercial, and public — account for one-third of the globe’s total final energy consumption.  The IEA says this number could be reduced very quickly as a result of the bounty of energy efficient heating and cooling technologies currently available.

According to its report, implementing solar thermal, combined heat and power, heat-pump, and thermal energy storage systems could reduce fossil fuels’ share in building space and water heating between 5% and 20% by 2050.  The Agency figures these technologies could cut carbon emissions by 2 gigatonnes in the next 40 years — roughly one-quarter of today’s current building emissions.

Bo Diczfalusy, the IEA’s Director of Sustainable Energy Policy and Technology said potential for reducing buildings’ energy consumption is immense:  “Energy efficiency and CO2-free technologies for heating and cooling in buildings offer many low-cost options for reducing energy consumption, consumers’ energy bills and CO2 emissions in buildings, with technologies that are available today.  Given that space heating and cooling and hot water production consumer perhaps half of all energy consumed in buildings today, the savings potential is very large.”

Read the full story at EnergyBoom.com

This is a cross-post from Katerva.org.

Katerva identifies and awards the world's best sustainability ideas and initiatives. The Katerva Awards celebrate radical innovation and accelerate change for a sustainable planet.

Original Post: http://katerva.org/blog/iea-roadmap-says-building-sectors-energy-consumption-can-be-cut-33-by-2050/