ASHRAE Positions
Eliminating GHG emissions from the built environment is essential to address climate change.
By 2030, the global built environment must halve its 2015 GHG emissions.
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1. All new buildings must be net zero GHG emissions in operation,
2. Widespread energy-efficiency retrofits of existing assets must be well underway,
3. Embodied carbon of new construction must be reduced by at least 40%.
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By 2050, at the latest, all new and existing assets must be net zero GHG emissions across the whole life cycle.
Decarbonization benefits go beyond reducing GHGs.
- Reduced indoor and outdoor air pollution
- Energy savings
- Improved community health and well-being
- Enhanced social responsibility
- Increased property valuation
Operational energy-related GHG emissions can be reduced by
- Efficiency measures and building electrification
- Operations and maintenance
- Refrigerants: Low-GWP, minimizing volume, and improving management
- Renewable energy sources (on and off site) and energy storage
- Building-grid integration and real-time carbon signals
Increasing stringency and enforcement of energy codes are critical for decarbonization.
Whole-building life-cycle assessment (WBLCA) must be considered in future building codes to reduce embodied and operational GHG emissions related to buildings and their HVAC&R systems.
Building performance standards (BPS) should be considered as a policy tool for existing building decarbonization.
Building decarbonization strategies and policies must consider
- Mitigating impacts on disadvantaged communities and less-developed nations
- Healthy, safe, and comfortable environments
- Environmental and social impacts
- Sustainability
- Resilience
- Economics
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Translation: Spanish