The construction sector is essential for an economic recovery after the Covid-19 crisis. It can rapidly create large amounts of jobs and involves far-reaching value chains of small and large businesses. In 2015, the sector accounted for 11-13% of global GDP. It is indeed a major employer: 7% of total global employment or 220 million jobs depend on it. The building sector holds the potential for a double win: providing a powerful tool to stimulate the economy, while moving the whole sector to a new and greener state.

Governments used green building programmes to help recover from the past crises. With GlobalABC’s Work Area Finance, PEEB collected best practice examples of green stimulus programmes, as well as their excellent results in terms of job creation, figures and climate mitigation. Green building programmes can stimulate economic activity and create jobs, while simultaneously achieving environmental and social goals. Between 9–30 jobs in manufacturing and construction would be created for every million dollars invested in retrofits or efficiency measures in new builds.

53 countries mention energy efficient buildings in their NDCs, and 38 specifically call out building’s energy codes, but concrete targets and implementation are lacking. There is an urgent need for more effective and concrete NDC targets for buildings, combined with long-term strategies. This needs to be combined with more action to implement NDCs, through roadmaps with concrete steps, coordination and financing.

PEEB supports the Government of Vietnam in developing and implementing an NDC implementation strategy for the building sector. PEEB works with the NDC Partnership to advocate for more effective NDCs for the building sector. Building on GlobalABC’s Guide for incorporating Building Actions in NDCs, PEEB and the Global Buildings Performance Network (GBPN) are developing an online toolkit for developing and implementing effective NDCs.

Energy needs for space cooling could triple by 2050, especially in hot and tropical countries. Residential buildings are responsible for over two thirds of this increase. Global sales of air conditioning (AC) systems per year have nearly quadrupled since 1990. 2.8 billion people live in places with average daily temperatures above 25°C all year; yet, only 8% of them have an AC.

“Cool buildings” need to be a key element of cooling strategies. If buildings are adapted to the local climate and use passive cooling techniques, they can keep cool naturally. Variations depend on the climate zone, the local building culture and building use. Simple measures can massively bring down the demand for mechanical cooling. Climate-adapted building envelopes, light colours for facades and roofs, windows, natural ventilation, orientation and vegetation offer large possibilities to reduce the energy demand for cooling.

USD 5.9 trillion were invested globally into buildings and construction in 2019. Out of this, only USD 152 billion were directed towards energy-efficient construction. Green buildings and green buisness models are only slowly coming to the forefront in discussions about sustainable finance. Financing green buildings requires experience with how to structure projects to reach the required scale, as well as technical tools to measure sustainability criteria and climate mitigation and adaptation impacts of buildings.

Development banks like AFD have a key role to play to trigger investments in green buildings. PEEB has strong experience in developing a pipeline for energy efficient building projects, including large-scale construction or renovation in key sectors like health or education, as well as national housing programmes, as in Morocco or Vietnam. Internationally, PEEB supports this as co-chair of GlobalABC’s Work Area Finance.