South Africa: Building Energy Performance in the Spotlight Ahead of COP26
By GREEN BUILDING AFRICA – NET CARBON ZERO BUILDINGS AND CITIES
The built environment is responsible for approximately 40% of global carbon emissions – and the operation of these buildings contribute upwards of 28% of the world’s energy consumption. With climate change at the forefront of current international discussions, and considering South Africa’s large carbon footprint, it is important to prioritise local efforts towards more sustainable energy consumption in buildings. This is the view of Barry Bredenkamp, General Manager: Energy Efficiency & Corporate Communications at SANEDI.
“The International Energy Agency predicts that two-thirds of buildings which exist today will still exist in 2040. If we don’t improve the energy performance of our buildings with urgency, we will only drift further away from the Paris Agreement 1.5°C temperature rise cap target,” says Bredenkamp. The Paris Agreement is an international treaty signed by almost all countries in the world at COP21. This agreement aims to limit global warming to just a 1.5°C increase in the medium term.
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