The potential of buildings to mitigate climate change is 'huge,' claims Belgian climatologist Jean-Pascal van Ypersele, who will deliver a keynote speech entitled 'The Truth about Climate Change' to the ULI conference in Paris on 3 February.
The potential of buildings to mitigate climate change is 'huge,' claims Belgian climatologist Jean-Pascal van Ypersele, who will deliver a keynote speech entitled 'The Truth about Climate Change' to the ULI conference in Paris on 3 February.
Van Ypersele, who is vice-chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), says buildings account for one-third of energy-related CO2 emissions and two-thirds of halocarbons - fluids contained in air conditioning systems which leak into the atmosphere and contribute to global warming.
He points to an IPCC report which states that 30% of building sector emissions can be avoided at net benefit by 2030. The mitigation potential of the building sector is far bigger than, say, of industry, primarily because the cost of reducing carbon emissions for industry is higher.
According to the IPCC report, buildings have the potential to reduce emissions by 7 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) per year by 2030, compared with 2 gigatonnes for the transport sector and around 5 gigatonnes for industry.
The Belgian climatologist is adamant that efforts to cut emissions in the real estate industry will only work if sustainability standards are uniform and binding. 'As long as rules are voluntary, little progress will be made. My experience with businesses is that they want certainty and clarity. They will comply as long as regulations are standard and apply to everyone.'
Eventually, he believes, green buildings - through legislation - will become mainstream. Van Ypersele: 'Already, buildings in Europe, at the point of sale, have to have energy performance certificates, and while the system may not be ideal yet, in the long run it will have the same effect as the labelling used for appliances.'
See the February edition of PropertyEU magazine for the full preview of Jean-Pascal van Ypersele's presentation.
Click on the link below to 'Emerging Trends report: long haul ahead for European real estate'