The Alsace Energivie Competitiveness Cluster has released a high level platform on how the building and construction sector can effectively boost CO2 and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions.

Given that the building and construction sector accounts for about 35% of the world’s CO2 production and more than 40% in OECD countries, there is great potential for emission reductions.

The Energivie Manifesto: Buildings at the core of the Energy Transition, developed by a panel of 22 international experts including the Planning Institute of Australia and CRC for Low Carbon Living, sets out to propose practical recommendations to scale up the investment needed to achieve dramatic change.

The manifesto outlines six key targets:

1. Reinforcing multi-stakeholder perspectives (public and private sectors, NGOs, civil society, etc.)
2. Identifying and supporting industrial innovation, whatever its scale and whatever the size of the companies concerned
3. Reaching our goals and obtaining universally-applicable results through a focus on local solutions
4. Acting now before scaling up to the next level and planning for the future
5. Recognizing the need for result-oriented codes and standards able to develop over time, their application and monitoring
6. Connecting knowledge, skills and professional networks

Forty proposals are also listed, including:

• Define clear and operational CO2-limitation-oriented targets
• Recognize that building stock is a key component of CO2 reduction
• Embark on the 3 stages in the green construction improvement process
• Prioritize lifecycle assessment of building materials
• Harmonize norms and standards
• Include values other than just energy cost savings in the retrofit decision making process
• Locate new developments in places that are accessible to high capacity transit
• Move from a building to a district dimension
• Ensure that building and construction are not treated solely on the basis of ndividual projects, but on a city-wide scale
• Redefine the role of building and construction professionals

Download the full Manifesto here.