Global Energy Assessment: Energy-Efficient Building Modelling Scenarios

The Global Energy Assessment (GEA) is a major initiative established in late 2005 to help decision makers address the challenges of providing energy services for sustainable development, whilst ameliorating existing and emerging threats associated with: security of supply; access to modern forms of energy for development and poverty alleviation; local, regional and global environmental impacts; and securing sufficient investment.

The GEA will provide a strong technical and scientific basis for decision-making by evaluating the range of social, economic, development, technological, environmental, security and other issues linked to energy. In addition, the GEA will identify options for the way forward­ - both on a global and regional level­ - and inform policymakers, the business and investment sector, and society at large, on the key opportunities and challenges facing the global energy system on the road to longer-term sustainable development. The GEA will target the needs of a range of stakeholders, providing policy-relevant analysis and capacity-enhancing guidance to national governments and intergovernmental organizations, decision-support material to the commercial sector (energy service companies, investors and others) and analysis relevant to academic institutions.

Contributing to GEA as a Convening Lead Analyst, 3CSEP director Diana Ürge-Vorsatz leads the work on the knowledge module on energy efficiency in buildings. In this context, the Sustainable Buildings & Climate Initiative (SBCI) of UNEP is funding the work of 3CSEP on scenarios of energy saving and greenhouse gas mitigation potentials (and associated costs) in the world’s buildings.

The project comprises the development of at least 3 scenarios for different pathways of emission reduction through enhanced energy efficiency in buildings and a baseline scenario to compare these to in order to evaluate saving potentials. These scenarios cover the whole world, divided up in different regions. During the process of the scenario construction, best practice data (in terms of performance and costs) is also gathered on exemplary low-energy buildings in various climate zones.

The results will on the one hand be integrated into the Global Energy Assessment and on the other hand be published in a report for UNEP. An executive summary will also be prepared as input for the crucial Copenhagen climate summit in December 2009.