The building and construction sector hasn't always been recognized as the most efficient. Historically, conventional processes have had dire environmental and financial implications, mainly due to their high emissions, contribution to poor air quality and uncurbed resource use.
According to a 2024 United Nations Environment Programme report, the building and construction industry is responsible for 21% of global greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, structures accounted for 34% and 37% of worldwide electricity demand and process-related carbon dioxide.
Excessive energy use equates to soaring costs for builders and occupants, hindering prospective monetary stability. By leaning into the latest insulation and renewables solutions, the construction sector has managed to lower its carbon footprint, improve sustainability and build financial resilience.
Sufficient insulation delivers a vital thermal barrier for reducing heat transfer through windows, walls and roofs. In turn, there is less need to run heating and cooling systems. The following insulation projects have transformed the construction of greener buildings.
Passive Building Design
Passive building designs consider location, insulation for optimal thermal comfort, an airtight building envelope, ventilation with heat recovery and high-performance windows. It also avoids thermal bridging, which enables heat to escape more easily. This strategic concept encourages natural ventilation to keep indoor temperatures comfortable without relying on HVAC systems.
Eastgate Centre in Harare, Zimbabwe, is a prime example of a passive design. Architect Mike Pearce was inspired by termites when building the mixed-use complex to ensure it responded well to the climate. Today, Eastgate consumes 35% less energy than six traditional structures in Harare and maintains its natural convection even during power outages.
Spray Foam Insulation
Spray foam insulation has been a game changer in reducing commercial and residential construction electricity consumption. Consider how 40% of today's housing supply was built before efficiency was on everyone's minds.
Older structures benefit most from insulation retrofits. However, achieving maximum thermal efficiency depends on whether the spray foam product has a high R-factor and a low U-factor.
Cool Roof Installation
Cool roofs help absorb less heat by reflecting sunlight using highly reflective paints, tiles, shingles and sheet coverings. This lowers heat transfer to buildings. A white cool roof in particular can decrease cooling costs by 40%, reducing pressure and extending the life span of HVAC systems.
The City of Chelsea, Massachusetts, installed cool roofing on several public schools between 2018 and 2022. After applying a white membrane coating with low volatile organic compounds, the school facilities manager determined the new roof is 30-40 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than the original surface and even reduced land temperatures surrounding the school by 4.5 degrees F. The cool coating also added another 10 years to the roofs' life expectancy.
Energy-Efficient Windows
Older windows cause significant heat loss and gain, accounting for 25%-30% of heating and cooling electricity use. Fortunately, developments in efficient windows — including low-E coating and multiple panes for less heat transfer — have helped revolutionize energy in construction.
The Empire State Building's 2010 retrofit was uncommon then but dramatically improved its power use. Another pane of coated film was applied to all 6,514 windows, which helped reduce energy use by 40% and saved $4 million annually.
Successful Integration of Renewable Energy
Insulation projects aren't the only advancements in lowering the energy consumption of the building and construction sector. The widespread integration of renewables has also been highly effective.
Geothermal Energy
While not as common as solar or wind, geothermal energy is on an upward trend. It used to be less feasible because power plants needed to be near fault lines in the Earth’s crust to access the necessary heat.
However, technological advancements have enabled facilities worldwide to use the planet’s underground temperatures to generate electricity, such as the Larderello Geothermal Complex in Italy, Svartsengi Power Station in Iceland and Chena Hot Springs in the U.S. Commercial and residential structures can tap into this renewable thermal source for a more eco-friendly way to keep the lights on.
Hybrid Renewable Energy Systems
A hybrid renewable power system integrates several renewable sources for building operations. For instance, structures may approach power generation by mixing solar panels, wind turbines, fuel cell generators and battery storage to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels.
Researchers have explored the potential of hybrid renewable energy systems to meet electricity, water and heat demands. At an airport in Egypt, a hybrid photovoltaic and wind turbine system achieved $0.08 kilowatt-hours of energy with a return on investment of 1.2 years.
Renewable Energy Storage
Renewable electricity storage has made headway as experts deem it an essential solution for future clean power generation. For example, the demand and availability of power varies. Solar panels only work when they absorb sunlight, while hydroelectric energy depends on water channels. Likewise, people use varying amounts of electricity at different times.
These storage systems harness renewables for later use. While several technologies are currently deployed to store various energies, researchers are looking closely at battery storage. In Texas, a battery storage project successfully harnessed enough renewables to run 130,000 residences in 2022.
Storing energy improves reliability and stability during peak generation times, especially if production is lower. Adopting these solutions in the future will further transform construction's efficiency.
The building and construction sector has already adopted insulation and renewable advancements to tackle electricity consumption. As technologies and practices evolve, buildings will undergo further decarbonization for a healthier environment.
