New BPIE report on renovation strategies

The Buildings Performance Institute Europe (BPIE) has recently published a report on renovation strategies that are required by EU member states. Article 4 of the 2012 Energy Efficiency Directive requires Member States, for the first time, to set out national strategies for the renovation of their building stocks. The report focuses on 10 member states … Continue reading New BPIE report on renovation strategies →

Britain turns to the Netherlands for a retrofit model

While Europe is increasingly turning to nearly zero energy buildings for new build, the need for that concept to take hold for existing buildings is important. Arthur Neslen writes an important article in The Guardian about how Britain is turning to an important development in The Netherlands. Is this the way for the future? Are … Continue reading Britain turns to the Netherlands for a retrofit model →

Skyscrapers turning into plyscrapers

Athlyn Cathcart-Keays writes in the Guardian about a new development of engineered timber that could herald a new era of eco-friendly ‘plyscrapers’. Christchurch welcomed its first multistorey timber structure this year, there are plans for Vancouver, and the talk is China could follow. Wooden skyscrapers could be the future of flat-pack cities around the … Continue reading Skyscrapers turning into plyscrapers →

Assessing the benefits of passive houses

Sheri Koones writes on AOL’s real estate pages on the growing trend towards passive houses. While it started in Europe, the interest is growing globally. The 'Passive House' Path to Extreme Energy Efficiency With the growing cost of fuel, increasingly stringent home construction codes, and scientific evidence that we must reduce CO2 emissions, many architects, … Continue reading Assessing the benefits of passive houses →

Documenting the energy savings potential in India’s residential buildings

A new report entitled Residential Buildings in India: Energy Use Projections and Savings Potentials by the Global Buildings Performance Network (GBPN) and jointly developed with CEPT University from India provides the first comprehensive attempt to document energy saving potentials that could be achieved in India by 2050 in the residential sector. Four energy scenarios were … Continue reading Documenting the energy savings potential in India’s residential buildings →

Partnership to improve commercial building energy efficiency

Stephen Lacey, from Greentech Media, writes on The Energy Collective website about an important new partnership to move into improving the energy efficiency of commercial buildings. Opower Enters Rare Partnership With FirstFuel to Expand Into Commercial Building Efficiency Opower doesn't often enter into strategic partnerships with companies that overlap with its business. The behavioral … Continue reading Partnership to improve commercial building energy efficiency →

The challenges in implementing energy efficiency directives

The Czech News Agency has written in The Prague Post about the challenges for the Czech Republic to meet some of its obligations under the EU’s Energy Efficiency Directive. It would be good to get examples from other member states. Crucial data on state buildings is still missing from new registry One-fifth of the … Continue reading The challenges in implementing energy efficiency directives →

Trends in building automation

The market consultants, Frost & Sullivan have reviewed the global trends in the adoption of building automation systems. Such systems have the potential to achieve significant energy efficiency improvements in buildings. Energy Efficiency Initiatives and Advanced Features to Transform the Building Automation Market Building owners across the globe are increasingly adopting building automation (BA) … Continue reading Trends in building automation →

New market analysis on energy efficient buildings in Europe

The azocleantech website reviews a new report by Navigant Research on the state of play in improving energy efficiency of buildings in Europe and in assessing the cumulative spending to improve their performance. New Forecast Report on Cumulative Spending on Energy Efficient Buildings in Europe Buildings account for 40 percent of Europe’s final energy … Continue reading New market analysis on energy efficient buildings in Europe →

Promoting demand response in Chicago

Karan Gupta, an EDF Climate Corps Fellow at Jones Lang Lasalle, the Chicago-based professional services and investment management company specialising in real estate, writes on The Energy Collective website about how they are using demand response to promote energy savings. Demand Response at the Core of Energy Savings for Large Office Building in Chicago … Continue reading Promoting demand response in Chicago →