ThyssenKrupp calls for energy savings in urban landscapes

ThyssenKrupp has called for a more energy efficient design in urban landscapes, following analysis that indicates the energy savings in our buildings need to be implemented now in order to achieve meaningful levels in 15 years. Today’s buildings account for 40% of global energy consumption.

On the Smart City Expo 2015 in Barcelona, the world’s leading smart city congress, Andreas Schierenbeck, CEO of ThyssenKrupp Elevator, said, “Buildings in our cities today are being “locked in” to poor energy patterns by inefficient building services which have an average lifespan of 15 years. It is of upmost importance we address this now and upgrade facilities more resourcefully, else we run the risk of low energy performances until 2030.”

Every single commercial building that is built today locks in an average of 12,000 MWh of electricity consumption for the next 15 years. In the US alone, every year, more than 150,000 buildings are constructed, resulting in locked in electricity consumption of 120 TWh per year, the equivalent of the Netherlands' total annual electricity consumption. Reducing this by only 10 percent now would save the equivalent of 180 TWh over the next 15 years, equaling reduced carbon emissions of up to 180 Million tons of CO2, equivalent to reducing the number of cars on the street by two million per year or three billion trees planted and grown over the same period.

Schierenbeck added, “The energy production versus consumption debate is nothing new, but rapidly increasing urbanisation across the world today is accelerating the conversation and more urgently demanding the creation of a more energy efficient environment. By 2030, up to 60 percent of the global population will live in cities, and energy consumption in these urban areas will increase by around a quarter. As a result, today’s energy inefficient buildings will simply not be able to accommodate the rising energy demand, making it imperative for urban development decisions made today for future cities to be forward-thinking and focused on sustainability for generations to come.”

With buildings accounting for the largest share of global energy usage, the conversation in cities revolves around how to make high-rise buildings run more smartly; minimising consumption and reducing the urban energy footprint.

Adapted from press release by Rebecca Bowden

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/europe-cis/17112015/thyssenkrupp-calls-for-energy-savings-in-urban-landscapes-10/