Market Engagement
The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and its partner organization the United States Business Council for Sustainable Development (US BCSD) launched the Energy Efficiency in Buildings Houston initiative in 2014 to support the development of ambitious and practical strategies for reducing building energy consumption by 30% or more in the Houston market.
Research shows that energy savings of 30% from Houston’s commercial sector alone would contribute over half a billion dollars to the city economy. This is equivalent to the investment required to build 10 new mid-size power plants. Savings of this magnitude would add to the employment created by the increased activity in energy efficiency retrofits and other energy services, and could translate into nearly 20,000 new jobs over a five-year period.
The city of Houston is serious about greening building stock and on 23 September 2014 mayor Annise Parker made a public commitment at the UN Summit on Climate Change, that Houston would cut CO2 emissions by 80% from 2005 levels by 2050. With a total energy consumption of over 51 MWh and significant new construction ongoing; Houston offers a fantastic opportunity for increasing energy efficiency as a result of the EEB Lab.
Post EEB lab activities
Four Action Committees have been established as part of the EEB Houston market engagement to address the four key areas discussed at the Lab, each with their own short-term goals to be achieved in 2015 and longer-term objectives as part of action plans to be deployed in 2016. The committees are Finance, Building Operations, Policy and Communications.
The project has successfully brought together all actors involved in Houston’s EEB ecosystem into a single platform. EEB Houston is therefore a unique resource that presents great opportunities for promoting EEB in the city. Local interest continues to grow along with the number of participants.
For the specific short and long term goals for these action committees, click the cover image to the right to download the Houston Progress Report.
Coordinator of Energy Efficiency in Buildings – Houston platform: Gavin Dillingham at HARC, gdillingham@HARCresearch.org
Visit the EEB Houston Website for updates on the work of the Action Committees (News section)