There’s growing visibility and content around the world which covers the need to reverse the effects of global warming and climate change.
We look at smart buildings and how reductions in the consumption in those buildings could both help those business cut costs and become more sustainable and make a sizable contribution toward a greener future.
Energy usage and efficiency in buildings
- Without action, energy demand in the building sector could increase 30% by 2060 – the same as all the energy used by households in the US, the EU & China in 2015. iea.org
- One-third of global energy is consumed in residential, public, and commercial buildings, where it is used for space heating, cooling, ventilating, lighting, cooking, water heating, refrigerating, and operating electric and mechanical devices. ESMAP.ORG
- Buildings use about 40% of global energy, 25% of global water, 40% of global resources, and they emit approximately 1/3 of GHG emissions. unep.org
- Energy used in the buildings sector—which includes residential and commercial structures—accounted for 20% of global delivered energy consumption in 2018. In its International Energy Outlook 2019 (IEO2019) Reference case, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) projects that global energy consumption in buildings will grow by 1.3% per year on average from 2018 to 2050. EIA.GOV
- Residential and commercial buildings consume approximately 60% of the world’s electricity. euenergycentre.org
- The buildings sector accounts for about 76% of electricity use and 40% of all U. S. primary energy use and associated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, making it essential to reduce energy consumption in buildings in order to meet national energy and environmental challenges (Chapter 1) and to reduce costs to building owners and tenants. energy.gov
- Heating, cooling and powering existing offices, homes and factories account for 27% of global energy-related carbon-dioxide emissions. economist.com
- 220 million existing buildings – or 75% of the building stock – are energy-inefficient publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu
- According to the International Energy Agency, from 1971 to 2014, global energy consumption grew by 92%. About 80% of global energy is consumed by urban settlements, of which total energy consumption from buildings accounts for 40%. network-king.net
- At the end of June 2021, there were 25.2 million smart meters in homes, small businesses, and parts of the public sector in Great Britain , 1.5 million of which were in the non-domestic sector. gov.uk
- As of 30 September 2021, a total of 47% of all gas and electric in meters in the UK were smart or advanced (a 2% increase from Q2 2021). ~1.6m of these meters were non-domestic installations out of a total of 26.3m installs. SMS-plc.com.
Construction and maintenance of buildings
- The construction, renovation, and maintenance of buildings contribute 10 to 40 percent of countries’ Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and represent on a global average 10 percent of country-level employment https://globalabc.org/
- 58% of the carbon-abatement potential for reducing urban emissions can be attributed to the buildings sector. The carbon reduction potential of low- or zero-carbon construction and building energy efficiency retrofits is high: the built environment is responsible for up to 60% of cities’ carbon abatement potential and accounts for 40% of CO2 emissions from energy worldwide. urbantransitions.global.
- In 2020, the Buildings and Construction sector accounted for 36 per cent of global final energy consumption and 37 per cent of energy related CO2 emissions, as compared to other end use sectors. globalabc.org
- The Global Buildings Climate Tracker appears to indicate that the buildings and construction sector is on track to achieve complete decarbonization by 2050. globalabc.org
Smart Buildings market size, funding and benefits
- The number of smart buildings worldwide is projected to climb from 45 million this year to 115 million in 2026, an increase of more than 150%, as demand grows for secure, energy-efficient developments. insiderintelligence.com.
- About 90% of smart building spending will go to nonresidential properties in 2026. insiderintelligence.com.
- According to a World Green Building Council study, enhancing ventilation and indoor air quality can improve worker productivity by 8-11%, and enhancing lighting conditions can improve productivity by 23%.
- The global smart building market size was estimated at $69.80 billion in 2021 and is expected to hit $201.16 billion by 2031, registering a CAGR of 11.3% from 2022 to 2031. Allied Market Research.
- The global smart building market is projected to grow from $80.62 billion in 2022 to $328.62 billion by 2029, at a CAGR of 22.2% in forecast period, 2022-2029.
- Around US$450 million in funding has been provided for emissions reductions in heavy industry, including CCS and clean hydrogen, materials, new technologies, and efficient construction.401 A green infrastructure plan for London, worth almost US$2 billion has been announced, which involves working with utility providers to support projects such as improved water efficiency and electric vehicle charging. vivideconomics.com
- A net zero urban transformation would: Require new investment of ~2% of global GDP per year; Yield annual returns of US$2.8 trillion per year by 2030, and US$6.9 trillion per year by 2050, from energy and material cost savings alone ($24 trillion NPV); Support 87 million jobs in 2030, and 45 million jobs in 2050
- The energy efficiency sector provides good, lasting jobs in the wake of a crisis: since the 2008 global economic crisis, the clean energy sector has added 11 million jobs. urbantransitions.global.
- Energy management is expected to grow rapidly due to increasing green building initiatives and stringent government regulations on energy consumption. For instance, Shanghai’s New Development Bank (NDB) implemented intelligent building solutions to monitor indoor lighting, electric curtains, and windows and witnessed more than 15% energy saving. fortunebusinessinsights.com
