What will be covered?
- To introduce the issue of energy access in rural areas and the importance of energy for the achievement of the MDGs.
- To outline the basic energy needs in rural areas and some of the barriers preventing increased energy access to rural populations.
- To provide some examples of policy instruments for improving energy services in rural areas.
- To outline business models and private sector participation schemes for increasing access to energy in rural areas.
Globally the building sector accounts for more electricity use than any other sector, 42 per cent. No wonder considering that we spend more than 90 per cent of our time in buildings. With increasing urbanization, higher in developing countries, the number and size of buildings in urban areas will increase, resulting in an increased demand for electricity and other forms of energy commonly used in buildings. Africa’s rate of urbanization of 3.5 per cent per year is the highest in the world, resulting in more urban areas with bigger populations, as well as the expansion of existing urban areas. There are currently 40 cities in Africa with populations of more than a million and it is expected that by 2015 seventy cities will have populations of one million or more.
In many developing countries there is normally very little margin between exist- ing power supply and electricity demand. With increasing electricity demand, new generation needs to be brought in. Although renewable sources of electricity such as hydro, geothermal or wind provide electricity at a much lower cost, their cap- ital outlay is large, they are complex and take much longer to implement. Diesel- based generation is usually brought in the short term to meet this demand, which results in increased cost of electricity.
Investments in energy efficiency in a building can be compared with the cost of capital investments necessary on the supply side of the energy system to pro- duce a similar amount of peak capacity or annual energy production. Usually, the capital costs of efficiency are lower than comparable investments in increased supply and there are no additional operating costs of efficiency compared to sub- stantial operating costs for supply-side options. In addition, energy efficiency investments generally have much shorter lead times than energy supply invest- ments, a particularly important consideration in countries where the demand for energy services is growing rapidly.
One consistent quality in the building sector is that it is subject to a high degree of regulation. Building codes often influence material use and appliance stan- dards that have a significant effect on energy efficiency. Regulatory regimes, to the extent that they exist, may therefore provide a pathway to improve efficiency for both building construction and a variety of building appliances.
This module is designed to provide an overview of energy efficiency in buildings; it aims to help policymakers and regulators understand the potential benefits, the opportunities for improving the efficiency of buildings and give them a
MODULE 18: ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN BUILDINGS
page 18.1
background on the key issues to be addressed when developing suitable poli- cies and a framework for implementation. In addition, it briefly discusses the methodology used for determining the efficiency of buildings and the mecha- nisms that can be used to finance energy efficiency measures.
It concludes with a discussion on the process of developing and implementing policy on energy efficiency in buildings and gives a summary on policy tools that
can be used to facilitate implementation of energy efficiency in buildings.