ClimateWorks Foundation

Sector Overview
Best Practice Network: Collaborative Labeling and Appliance Standards Program
Best Practice Network: Global Buildings Performance Network

Sector Overview

Local and regional governments around the world are increasingly adopting energy efficiency standards for buildings and appliances as a central component of their efforts to save money for homes and businesses, reduce air pollution, and meet their commitments to reduce CO₂ emissions.

The combined energy use of the world's buildings and electrical appliances accounts for 40 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.  Because most of the changes that improve their energy efficiency save money—or can be achieved for little to no cost—accelerating the transition to super-efficient building techniques, energy efficient appliances, and efficient lighting is the fastest, cheapest, and most reliable way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Unfortunately, decisions about the amount of energy consumed by houses, buildings, and appliances are not typically made by the consumers who use them. Home buyers want to save money on their energy bills, but their homes' proximity to schools and jobs are typically higher-level considerations. Similarly, businesses rent commercial space based primarily on cost per square foot—a metric which can mask the oversized operating costs of an inefficient space with outdated technology for lighting or air conditioning.

The best way to solve this problem is to help develop national building energy codes and energy efficiency standards for appliances. These codes and standards can ensure that builders and manufacturers create products that utilize the most innovative, energy-efficient techniques and technologies to reduce carbon emissions and save money for end users. In addition, governments can further promote energy efficiency by developing labels that help consumers understand the benefits of more efficient models.

By updating energy codes and standards on a regular basis, policymakers can create powerful incentives for the large-scale adoption of innovative new technologies—which usually get more efficient with time.

Collaborative Labeling and Appliance Standards Program

The Collaborative Labeling and Appliance Standards Program (CLASP) serves as the leading international voice and resource for energy standards and labeling for commonly used appliances. CLASP, ClimateWorks’ Best Practice Network for appliances, promotes policies that save consumers money, reduce power demand, and slash greenhouse gas emissions.

CLASP assists policymakers with the design, implementation, and enforcement of appliance standards and labels. Since its inception in 1999, CLASP has helped implement 24 standards and/or labels, which will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30 million tons annually by the year 2020.

Global Buildings Performance Network

To address building energy use and emissions, ClimateWorks is developing the Global Buildings Performance Network. This new organization—ClimateWorks’ Best Practice Network for buildings—will focus on the design, implementation, and enforcement of building codes for new buildings, as well as the retrofit of existing buildings. The GBPN is in the process of establishing regional centers of excellence for building efficiency in China, India, and the United States. These centers will support local policymakers as they craft policies that capture the energy-savings potential in the buildings and appliances sector. Click here for more information about the Global Buildings Performance Network.

Buildings Performance Institute Europe

The Buildings Performance Institute Europe (BPIE) is the first such center of excellence. BPIE will serve as a source for impartial, authoritative information on energy efficiency in European buildings—a service that is urgently needed as European officials consider the Performance in Buildings Directive, an energy-efficiency policy that covers all new construction and major renovations in existing buildings.

Global Buildings Performance Network at the Institute for Market Transformation

The U.S. hub for the GBPN is a collaboration between ClimateWorks and the Institute for Market Transformation, a global expert in building energy efficiency. The U.S. hub will improve building energy efficiency and strengthen the connection between energy-efficient building design and operations through energy codes and labeling and disclosure policies. An early emphasis of the U.S. hub will be on code compliance and will draw from the work of a broad base of jurisdictions to compile best practices in improving building performance.