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McKinsey report: Green building is crucial and urgent for economy, environment

August 10, 2009—Investing in the energy efficiency of buildings represents a powerful and strategic energy and climate solution that combined with other non-transportation initiatives could reduce the nation's energy consumption by 23 percent by 2020, save the U.S. economy $1.2 trillion, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 1.1 gigatons annually, according to a study released July 29 by McKinsey & Company.

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"Green building can stimulate the economy at a level one and a half times larger than the federal stimulus bill," said Rick Fedrizzi, President, CEO, and Founding Chairman of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). "In terms of climate change, a commitment to energy efficiency would be the equivalent to taking the entire U.S. fleet of passenger cars and light trucks—more than 200 million vehicles—off the road."

The report provides a detailed assessment of how much the nation can increase energy efficiency in buildings and other non-transportation sectors using existing methods and technologies. A targeted investment of $50 billion a year over 10 years, the report finds, would enable the entirety of those potential savings to be realized. Those reductions in energy use would save the U.S. economy $1.2 trillion, a return on investment of more than two to one.

Furthermore, those investments would generate 900,000 jobs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 1.1 gigatons, according to the report, "Unlocking Energy Efficiency in the U.S. Economy," which was sponsored by USGBC and 11 other organizations from the government, non-governmental, and private sectors.

McKinsey's research finds that a comprehensive strategy, executed at scale, could reduce the annual non-transportation end-use energy consumption analyzed in this report from 36.9 quadrillion BTUs in 2008 to 30.8 quadrillion BTUs in 2020—saving 9.1 quadrillion BTUs relative to a business-as-usual baseline.

The energy efficiency potential cited in the report is divided across three sectors of the U.S. economy: industrial (40 percent of the end-use energy efficiency potential), residential (35 percent), and commercial (25 percent).

Solutions, drawn from a rich inventory of proven, piloted, and emerging national and international examples, show that maximizing the energy efficiency potential from any single opportunity—weatherizing homes, utilizing efficient air conditioners, or employing combined heat and power generation—requires addressing multiple barriers simultaneously by leveraging existing green building approaches like USGBC's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system.

The report calls for an integrated national plan guided by five principles:

• Recognize energy efficiency as an important energy resource that can help meet future energy needs, while the nation simultaneously develops new no- and low-carbon energy sources;
• Formulate and launch—at both the national and regional levels—an integrated portfolio of proven, piloted, and emerging approaches;
• Identify methods to provide the significant upfront funding;
• Forge greater alignment among utilities, regulators, government agencies, manufacturers, and energy consumers; and
• Foster innovation in the development and deployment of next-generation energy efficiency technologies to ensure continuing productivity gains.

   
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