Construction and energy companies have formed a specialist
international assurance group as part of their efforts to improve the
energy efficiency of buildings.
Members of the year-old Energy Efficiency in Buildings project, who
include Cemex, DuPont, EDF, Gaz de France, Kansai Electric Power
Company, Lafarge, Philips, and United Technologies Corp, say the group
is needed to validate their research findings, which are expected
within two years.
The six-person group, to be chaired by Klaus Topfer, a former German
environment minister, consists of experts from business, government and
academia. These include Eileen Claussen, president of the US-based Pew
Center on Global Climate Change, and Thomas Johansson, director of the
International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics in
Sweden.
The project, started in March 2006, aims to ‘focus the global building
industry on designing, financing, building and operating commercial and
residential structures that are completely energy self-sufficient’. The
World Business Council for Sustainable Development, which is providing
administrative support, estimates that buildings account for a third of
energy consumed worldwide.
