Cost-effectiveness of CO2 emissions reduction through energy efficiency in Brazilian building sector

This paper calculates the cost-effectiveness of CO2 emissions reduction in Brazilian buildings sector. The evaluation takes into account the implementation of three public policy mechanisms which the focus is the promotion of energy efficiency (EE). The mechanisms evaluated are minimum energy performance standards (MEPS), EE requirements in public procurement regulation, and building codes. The evaluation performed through marginal abatement cost curves (MACC) shows a wide range of cost-effective EE measures, i.e., EE technologies that represent negative abatement costs once the additional investments in EE are paid back through energy savings. The main specific findings are that (1) MEPS could be broader and reach the use of energy in standby mode and tubular fluorescent lamps and should be more stringent, mainly in the case of large air conditioning devices, and (2) there is a significant cost-effective potential of emissions reduction that could be captured through mechanisms not implemented yet in the country, as public procurement regulation and building codes. In general, the total impacts are very significant and could represent an energy saving potential of 795 TWh and emissions reduction of 74 million tons of CO2 over the period from the year 2014 to the year 2030.