Energy efficiency
Energy-efficient measures in the building sector
ENERGY EFFICIENCY- Building sector as an example
| Buildings represent 40% of energy consumption in Europe. According to the Commission's own research, there is an energy saving potential of 27% for residential buildings and 30% for commercial buildings by 2020. Implementing energy-efficiency measures in buildings has a double dividend: not only does it have the single largest potential for reducing greenhouse gases, it is also one of the quickest and most cost-effective ways to create millions of new of jobs with technology that already exists. |
In April 2009, the Greens helped to introduce a deadline for "zero net energy" buildings (which produce at least as much energy as they consume) in the EU. This will not only help reduce harmful greenhouse gases, but also create jobs and cut down consumer's energy bills.
Energy-efficiency measures in the building sector include: green building, retrofitting, and building components (including energy using products).
Looking at residential buildings, the London-based Association for the Conservation of Energy found that for every 1 million spent in energy-efficiency programmes, 11.3 to 13.5 full-time equivalent jobs were created.
According to UNEP, 250 million homes in the United States and European Union alone need to be retrofitted. Greening the building industry in the two regions would create almost 2 to 3.5 million jobs.
A 2005 Ecofys study of the 10 new EU member states projected 50,000 to 185,000 new jobs by retrofitting the existing residential building stock.
A worldwide shift towards energy-efficient buildings would greatly reduce greenhouse gases, create millions of new jobs and green employment of the estimated 111 million workers in this sector.
Job Projections from Energy-Efficiency Measures in the Building Sector
Country | Study or Project Description | Projected Jobs |
Canada | Retrofit municipal buildings on a national scale | 5,6007,840 full-time equivalent |
European Union | European Commission Study: 20 percent reduction in EU energy consumption | 1 million |
European Trade Union Confederation Study: 75 percent reduction of CO2 emissions in the residential building sector | 1.377 million by 2050 or 2.585 million by 2030 | |
India | Replacing traditional cook stoves with recently developed biomass cooking technologies for 9 million households | 150,000 |
United States | Apollo Alliance Study: $89.9 billion investment in financing for green buildings, providing tax incentives, investing in research and development, and promoting new building codes and standards. | 827,260 |
U.S. Department of Energy: Standards on clothes washers, water heaters, and fluorescent lamp ballasts | 120,000 through 2020 |
Source: UNEP (Sept 2008): 'Green jobs: towards decent work in a sustainable, low-carbon world'.
