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An easy way to turn green?
PROMOTING "green" housing and "green" commercial buildings would be the easiest way to reduce a nation's CO2 emissions and produce the biggest effects - according to a report just published by North America's tri-national, Commission for Environmental Cooperation.
It has found North America's buildings cause the annual release of more than 2200 megatons of CO2 - 35% of the continent's total. Yet the rapid market uptake of currently available and emerging energy-saving technologies would reduce emissions by 1700 megatons by 2030. That would be the equivalent of totally eliminating the level of CO2 emissions the US transport sector was producing annually in 2000.
"It is common now for more advanced green buildings to routinely reduce energy usage by 30, 40, or even 50% over conventional buildings, with the most efficient buildings performing more than 70% better than conventional properties," the report said.
But despite proven environmental, economic and health benefits, green buildings today only accounted for 2% of North America's new commercial buildings and less than half of one percent of the new residential market, it said. The report recommends that member countries (Canada, Mexico and the United States):
- Create national, multi-stakeholder task forces charged with achieving a vision for green building;
- Support the creation of a North American set of principles and planning tools for green building;
- Set clear targets to achieve the most rapid possible adoption of green building in North America, including aggressive targets for carbon-neutral or net zero-energy buildings, together with performance monitoring to track progress towards these targets;
- Enhance ongoing or new support for green building, including efforts to promote private sector investment and proper valuation methods; and
- Increase knowledge of green building through research and development, capacity building, and the use of labels and disclosures on green building performance.
