In 2008 Lend Lease, WSP Lincolne Scott (now WSP Asia Pacific) and Built Ecology identified a simple, cost-effective solution to unlock the enormous carbon abatement potential in existing buildings: the Efficient Building Scheme.
The Scheme will drive deep, fast emissions reductions across the non-residential building sector, and at the same time deliver a raft of other social and economic benefits.
The case for the Efficient Building Scheme
The Efficient Building Scheme could reduce greenhouse gas emissions in our cities by 50% before 2020 using existing technology and knowledge, as well as stimulating jobs growth and innovation, and health and productivity benefits. By reducing demand, it would also defer or reduce investment in energy infrastructure.
For the building sector, it will provide investment certainty, stimulating innovation, driving domestic and international business opportunities, and increasing asset values, yields and returns on investment.
The Efficient Building Scheme is a cap and trade scheme specifically for the non-residential building sector. It is identical to an emissions trading scheme except that it recognises energy efficiency improvements in non-residential buildings, rather than emissions avoided. It works by providing an incentive for energy efficiency improvements in existing buildings – balanced by a penalty for inaction on inefficient buildings. Finally, it is simple and affordable, based on a single set of accurate, readily accessible data on each building from which a government can enable national benchmarking, reporting and direct monetization of carbon.
This solution has been identified by Lend Lease, WSP Lincolne Scott and Built Ecology, with legal advice from Freehills, in response to the failure of existing measures to unlock the potential greenhouse gas savings from significantly increasing the efficiency of non-residential buildings.
Stay tuned for more information and updates about the Efficient Building Scheme.
For a video summary of the case for an Efficient Building Scheme please see the Efficient Building youtube page http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4rM6CINpwk