A review on buildings energy information: Trends, end-uses, fuels and drivers

Buildings are a major contributor to climate change, accounting for one third of global energy consumption and one quarter of CO2 emissions. However, comprehensive information is lacking for the development, evaluation and monitoring of mitigation policies. This paper discusses the remaining challenges in terms of reliability and consistency of the available data. A review of energy use in buildings is presented to analyse its evolution by building types, energy services and fuel sources. Residential buildings are the most consuming, although tertiary expansion requires further analysis to develop sound specific indicators. Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems concentrate 38% of buildings consumption, calling for strengthened standards and incentives for retrofitting. Electrification is rapidly increasing, representing a potential tool for climate change mitigation, if renewable power was promoted. However, energy use in buildings will only curb if global cooperation enables developing nations to break the link between economic growth, urbanisation and consumption. To this aim, efficiency gains both in construction and equipment, decarbonisation of the energy mix and a global awareness on energy conservation are all needed.