The buildings sector is not on track to achieve global climate commitments, but progress is being made with global initiatives, policies and technologies. Annual net building-related greenhouse gas emissions peaked at 9.5 gigatonnes in 2013 and decreased to 9.0 gigatonnes in 2016. However, buildings final energy consumption grew steadily from 119 EJ in 2010 to 124 EJ in 2016 as a result of increasing floor area growth, which is outpacing energy intensity reduction.

Progress on energy efficiency policies for buildings continues to increase, though the share of progress on building envelopes by country varies compared with progress on heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment.

Source: Energy Efficiency 2017

5 October 2017