Samoregulacija i percepcija nestabilnosti zaposlenja

The built environment accounts for approximately 40% of global energy consumption and around 30-40% of greenhouse gas emissions. In the United States, the world’s second largest energy consumer after China, the buildings sector accounted for about 41% of primary energy consumption in 2010, compared to 30% by the industrial sector and 29% by the transportation sector (see Figure 1-16). This statistic is reflected similarly across most developed nations. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, total building primary energy consumption in 2009 was about 48% higher than consumption in 1980 with space heating, space cooling, and lighting the dominant end uses in 2010, accounting for close to half of all energy consumed in the buildings sector.

Figure 1-16: Buildings (Residential & Commercial) Energy Consumption (U.S. DOE)

1.3.1 Energy Efficiency

The high level of energy consumption and GHG emissions in the buildings sector in Europe and the US make it an obvious sector to target to improve energy performance. The justification for focussing on efficiency targets can be summarised by a number of arguments from an individual and societal point of view:

 Lower GHG emissions;

 Reduced energy costs for consumers and avoidance of ‘fuel poverty’;  Cheaper than investing in increased energy capacity;

 Improved comfort and indoor air quality (IAQ) for building occupants.

0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0% 30.0% 35.0% 40.0% 45.0%

U.S. Primary Energy Consumption (% Total)

Energy efficiency projects also contribute to the objective of sustainable development and rehabilitation of older buildings, as well as providing employment to the building energy services sector. Efficiency improvements also offer significant potential for improvement in existing processes. Currently only 20–35% of the chemical energy of the fuel burned is typically transformed to useful energy (see Figure 1-17). This is primarily due to losses in conversion, distribution and end-use process efficiency.

Figure 1-17: Schematic of UK Energy Flow (Wilkinson et al. 2007)

1.3.2 Policy and Legislation

The proliferation of energy consumption and CO2 emissions in the built environment has made energy efficiency and savings strategies a priority objective for energy policies in most countries (Pérez-Lombard et al. 2008). The US and EU have increased efforts to reduce building energy consumption through prescriptive approaches by introducing stringent standards and codes of practice. The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) in the EU (2002), for example, required the obligatory energy certification of new and existing buildings as well as display of this certification and other relevant information in public buildings. In addition, the Energy End-use Efficiency and Energy Services Directive (2006) requires member states to draw up national action plans to achieve 1% yearly energy savings in the retail, supply and distribution of electricity, natural gas, urban heating, and other energy products including transport fuels. In June 2000 the EU’s European Commission launched the European Climate Change Programme (ECCP). The goal of the ECCP is to identify, develop and implement all the necessary elements of an EU strategy to implement the Kyoto Protocol. It was under this

programme that the Emissions Trading Scheme was set up whereby countries could purchase Carbon credits in order to comply with Kyoto targets.

At a national level, these EU directives have translated into a number of country-level national energy action plans. For example, the “Green Deal” which forms part of Britain’s new Energy Bill, aims to revolutionise energy efficiency of British properties. The new framework will enable private firms to offer energy efficiency improvements to their homes and businesses at no upfront cost, and recoup payments through a charge in instalments on their energy bill. In Ireland, the National Energy Efficiency Action Plan (NEEAP) aims to deliver a 20% energy saving target by 2020, including a 33% reduction in public sector energy use. Similar to the ‘Green Deal’, the NEEAP includes a framework for energy performance contracting (EPC)1_, under a Pay-As-You-Save (PAYS) model.

Furthermore, in response to the EU EPBD Directive, Ireland have introduced legislation making Building Energy Rating (BER) certificates a mandatory requirement for all new buildings

constructed and all buildings being sold or let after 1st January 2009 (Building Control Authority 2013). The revised building regulations also provide for the introduction of a methodology for building energy performance assessment in the case of new dwellings commencing on or after 1 July 2006 as required by Articles 3, 4 and 5 and Annex of the EPBD. Building certification can help overcome the “first cost” barrier of energy efficiency measures by integrating the

operational costs of each building into its market value.

1 _{Energy (Savings) Performance Contracts (EPC): a contractual agreement between the beneficiary and the provider}

(normally an ESCO) of an energy efficiency improvement measure, where investments in that measure are paid for in relation to a contractually agreed level of energy efficiency improvement. An ESCO is a natural or legal person that delivers energy services and/or other energy efficiency improvement measures in a user’s facility or premises

1.3.3 Barriers to Change

A number of barriers to the implementation of energy efficiency measures in buildings have been identified: (Evander et al. 2004; Deringer et al. 2004; Carbon Trust 2005; Yao et al. 2005; Levine et al. 2007; UNEP 2009; DECC 2012).

Table 1-1: Barriers to adoption of Energy Conservation Measures (ECM's)

Category Barrier

Economic

Upfront cost of measures.

Length of time required for measures to pay back. Poor ratio of investment cost to value of energy savings.

Costs or risks that are not captured directly in financial flows (e.g. hardware/software incompatibilities, performance risks etc.)

Political and Structural

Market structures and constraints that prevent a consistent trade-off between specific efficiency investment and energy saving benefits

Structural characteristics of political, economic, energy system which make efficiency investment difficult.

Behavioural and Organisational

Behavioural characteristics of individuals and companies that hinder energy efficiency technologies and practices;

Difficulty in planning and carrying out work

Information Lack of knowledge and awareness about the benefits.

While some of these barriers relate to broader market and political factors, there are also barriers relating to lack of information, awareness and ability to effectively assess and plan ECM’s. Some of these challenges may be addressed by streamlining the process of identifying and analysing various energy efficiency, through the use of whole building energy simulation.