Energy use in buildings represents roughly one-third of global final energy consumption and accounts for nearly 20 percent of the greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions worldwide. Growing population, as well as rapid growth in purchasing power in emerging economies and many developing countries, means that energy demand in buildings could increase by 50 percent by 2050.
This roadmap aims to describe, when possible, the main overarching goals, steps and agenda that the Building sector as a whole could share, creating the framework of a common vision for low GHG and resilient global real estate pathways. The purpose of this roadmap is to set up a collective framework for the building and construction sector to match the climate related objectives set out in the Paris Agreement, i.e. for the world to stay well below 2°C and to be carbon neutral in the second half of this century.
In addition, this roadmap identifies key steps to enable the transition towards an energy-efficient, low-GHG and resilient real estate that can be implemented in different ways through different mixes of measures, whilst still converging towards the same end. It does not set a specific target related to appliances, as other initiatives are directly targeting this issue, which is less under the direct responsibility of building professionals and more that of the consumers and appliance producers.