A significant portion of the environmental impacts associated with buildings results from the consumption of energy required to provide heating, cooling and electricity. Cole and Kernan (1996) state that over the life cycle of a typical Canadian office building, approximately 85% of its impact is associated with energy use. Commercial and institutional buildings in Canada are responsible for as much as 40% of the country’s primary energy consumption and green house gas emissions. 

The pressing need to address the impacts of building energy consumption has been recognized in various green building rating systems, including both the LEED and Green Globes, which require the use of green energy and/or energy efficient practices.

In today's market, there are already a number of cost-effective strategies and technologies that have been developed to harness renewable energy sources, and to use energy more cleanly and efficiently, thereby yielding lower emissions of greenhouse gases and other atmospheric pollutants.  Click here to learn more about the market for green energy.

These technologies generally fall under one of two categories: those that address the production of energy and those that address the consumption of energy.  Green energy production encompasses the harnessing of renewables and high-efficiency non-renewables, and techniques for high efficiency energy production and delivery such as cogeneration.  There are also many technologies that have been developed to address the consumption of energy, including energy efficient appliances, improved building envelopes, pre-construction building energy modelling, and high perfomance HVAC systems.

Select a category on the right to learn more about these measures.

Sources:
Cole, R.J. and Kernan, P.C., 1996.  Life-Cycle Energy Use in Office Buildings. Building and Environment, 31(4), pp. 307-317.