Nine multinationals have joined a project that aims to make big cuts in the energy used in their buildings.
The companies, including DuPont and EDF, have signed up to the Energy
Efficiency in Buildings project, which was started in March by the
cement business Lafarge and US-based United Technologies, whose
products range from air conditioning units to Sikorsky military
helicopters. The World Business Council for Sustainable Development, a
Geneva-based organization that represents 180 international companies,
is providing the secretariat.
Members of the three-year project will work together to decide how they
can eventually consume zero net energy in buildings in their use or
ownership. The WBCSD estimates that buildings account for a third of
the world’s energy use.
The other companies that recently joined the project were Cemex
(Mexico), Gaz de France, ITT (US), Kansai Electric Power and Tokyo
Electric Power (Japan), Philips (Netherlands) and Sonae Sierra
(Portugal).
