by Brianna Crandall — October 26, 2015—The International Partnership for Energy Efficiency Cooperation (IPEEC), in partnership with the Global Building Performance Network (GBPN) and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), launched a new Web portal last month to facilitate more efficient international exchange of practices and experiences in the implementation of building energy codes.
Effective implementation of energy codes ensures that buildings are built to code-required design, leading to the deployment of technologies and construction practices needed to realize the energy savings potential in the building sector, notes GBPN.
According to projections of the International Energy Agency (IEA), the global potential for energy savings in buildings is roughly 53 exajoules per year by 2050 — equivalent to the combined building energy use in China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States in 2012.
GBPN points out that capturing these energy savings would deliver a range of benefits:
- Lower electricity and fuel costs for businesses and households;
- Greater reliability in meeting energy demand without costly disruptions; and
- Reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants that pose a threat to human health.
The new Building Energy Codes Portal provides information on building energy code implementation practices in 22 countries across a range of topics, including code development, code compliance and enforcement, capacity building and education, and rating of building materials.
The information is organized by country in comprehensive summary documents and in a searchable online format that allows for comparison of code implementation approaches across countries. The site also features a newly established network of experts to help link code practitioners and policymakers with code implementation resources and other professionals with relevant expertise.
The Web portal supports the building energy work streams of the G20 Energy Efficiency Action Plan, which was established at the G20 Brisbane Summit in November 2014, and the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate, a high-level international forum dedicated to reducing emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases.
Building energy experts will discuss key findings from the portal’s code implementation summaries in international Webinars on October 22 (past) and November 12. Further details are provided at the Clean Energy Solutions Center site.
