Publication outlines steps toward cutting building energy waste

May 27, 2009—Nearly half of America’s energy—and 10 percent of the energy used in the world—goes toward powering buildings, and much of that energy is wasted through poor insulation, leaky windows, inefficient lighting, heating or cooling systems, and poor construction techniques.

Buildings account for 40 percent of total U.S. carbon dioxide emissions, a major contributor to global warming. Building a Better Future: Moving Toward Zero Pollution with Highly Efficient Homes and Businesses outlines policy steps that local and state officials and the federal government can take to significantly cut energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

“We have barely scratched the surface of what’s possible with energy efficiency in buildings,” said Rob Sargent, Energy Program Director for Environment America.

According to Environment America, a comprehensive plan to make our nations buildings more efficient by 2030 could save enough energy to power all of our nations cars, homes and businesses for a year and a half while saving Americans more than $500 billion. By renovating old buildings and ensuring that new ones use 50 percent less energy within ten years and generate as much energy as they use by 2030, we can cut U.S. global warming emissions by at least 34 percent by 2050.

The report calls for a complete plan to make our nation’s buildings more efficient including:

• Upgrading and enforcing building energy codes to require 30 percent more efficiency by 2010 and 50 percent more efficiency by 2016, and have all new buildings and substantial renovations meet these combination of energy efficiency and onsite renewable energy. By the year 2040, 75% of our buildings are expected to be new or renovated, providing a great opportunity to save energy.
  
• Adopting President Obama’s target of all new buildings being zero energy by 2030.
  
• Stimulating investments in energy efficiency retrofits in all existing commercial and residential buildings before 2030.

For more information, see the Environment America Web site, or download it for free.