Technology and information management for low-carbon building

All buildings worldwide combined use 40% of the global energy and are responsible for one third of global energy-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The majority of GHG emissions of buildings come from fossil fuel energy in several stages of the life cycle of the building; 80%–90% of GHG emissions of buildings are emitted in the operations stage; 10%–20% GHG emissions are from embodied energy and carbon emissions related to construction stage. The greatest potential for low-hanging fruit in cost effective, quick, deep GHG reduction and mitigation is found in the construction industry. With currently available and proven technologies, reductions in energy consumption on both new and existing buildings are estimated to achieve 30%–80%. When costs of implementing energy reduction technologies are offset by energy savings, there is potential for a net profit over the life span of the building. Much has been done to study energy reductions, define GHG emissions, and develop metrics and protocols for measur...