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Buildings account for around 30 percent of the world's total energy consumption and a similar percentage of the world's greenhouse gas emissions.
But, according to the Asia Business Council, most buildings in Asia are surprisingly inefficient at using energy for lighting, heating and cooling. More than half of the world's new construction is taking place in China and India alone, yet the potential for efficiency gains in the building sector is largely being squandered.
The Council adds that many of the costly and environmentally damaging power plants now being built to fuel Asia's growth could be avoided with better policies and practices.
The Asia Business Council has released a book on the problems and opportunities in the energy efficiency arena. The study, which includes interviews with more than 70 experts, looks at how large energy savings can be achieved in Asia through better building design and operation--and highlights what businesses and governments are doing now as well as what should be done to realize both economic and environmental benefits.
The Asia Business Council was formed by a group of prominent business people and is the first pan-Asian CEO organization. The Council's primary goal is to understand and work toward the continued economic growth and competitiveness of Asia as a region. Its mission is to:
Foster dialogue and understanding among Asian and international business leaders
Improve the efficacy of the private sector in promoting continued economic growth and development in the region
Be a collective voice to influence other corporations, governments, multilateral organizations and members of civil society
In launching the Asia Business Councils study on building energy efficiency the organisation's Chairman, N.R. Narayana Murthy said that the study, the first that the Council has published, takes an incisive look at a serious challenge facing Asia.
The study concentrates on market-based solutions to an important aspect of the energy and environmental challenges the region faces. Buildings account for nearly one-third of energy use and a similar proportion of total global greenhouse gas emissions.
Murthy says that "Building Energy Efficiency" represents an excellent example of the sort of work that the industry has come to expect from the Council. The book presents in-depth research that has bottom-line implications for not only for Council members but also has wider implications for the economies in which we live and work.
Dr. Ruth Shapiro, the founder and former executive director of the Asia Business Council, identified the importance of building energy efficiency and guided the research and much of the writing process. Dr. Wen Hong and Madelaine Steller Chiang did the vast bulk of the research, analysing copious amount of literature, interviewing more than 70 people throughout Asia and marshalling research done by New Delhi's The Energy Research Institute.
Mark Clifford, the Council's executive director, pushed the team to expand the project into a book. Finally, editor Margarethe P. Laurenzi nurtured what began as a brief research report through repeated drafts.
The Council is dedicated to producing research on key issues facing Asian companies and the societies in which they operate. The researchers have committed to continue to build on work they have done in areas such as corporate governance, education, energy, the environment, finance, health and technology.
The rapid economic growth of the past several decades has put Asia at the centre of global events. Although the value of intra-regional trade has surpassed that of exports from the region, ideas have been slower to cross Asia's borders.
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