A cornerstone of concrete and masonry building methods can be leveraged to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, the most commonly cited source of global warming. A report presented last week in Morocco to the Sustainable Construction and Building Initiative (SBCI) general session notes that significant gains can be made in efforts to combat global warming by reducing buildings' energy use and improving their energy efficiency. The right mix of government regulation, greater use of energy-saving technologies and behavioral change can substantially reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the building sector, which accounts for 30% to 40% of global energy use, the report contends.

SBCI was launched last year under the United Nations Environment Program, and its members include Paris-based Lafarge S.A. Chairing SBCI is Lafarge Director for Sustainability Olivier Luneau, who observes, “To achieve improved energy efficiency in buildings, you often do not need to use advanced and expensive high-tech solutions, but simple solutions such as smart design, flexible energy solutions and provision of appropriate information to the building users.”

Citing the example of Europe, the “Buildings and Climate Change: Status, Challenges and Opportunities” report suggests more than one-fifth of present energy consumption and up to 45 million tons of CO2 emissions per year could be saved by 2010 by applying more ambitious standards to new and existing buildings. Authors also figure that in an average building, 80% of energy is consumed throughout service life use, versus 20% for construction. Copies of the UNEP SBCI Buildings and Climate Change report can be downloaded from www.unep.org