On Wednesday July 1st, the second of a series of Cool Coalition webinars will take place.
Join us to hear about how Greening Real-Estate Investments can help curb the Rise in Cooling Demand!
Energy demand for space cooling is predicted to triple by 2050. We need to rethink buildings if we want to limit the massive growth in energy for cooling, beyond the needed improvement in energy efficiency of air conditioners. According to the 2019 Global Status Report, only a fraction of the USD 4.5 billion annual global construction investments is made in energy efficiency.
Better building designs for cool buildings include passive building design with natural ventilation, sustainable building materials, as well as nature-based solutions through landscape and vegetation. The webinar will discuss strategies and explore how policies and NDCs can accelerate the transition to green buildings.
Register here: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/6349529424948253199
Speakers
Brian Dean, Lead, Energy Efficiency and Cooling at Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL)
Brian Dean is from the United States and works as Lead, Energy Efficiency and Cooling in the Vienna office. His role focuses on creating and executing the overall strategy for SEforALL’s engagement in the space of energy efficiency and cooling.
Brian has spent more than 22 years supporting energy efficiency and cooling from a range of projects, including policy development, building design, energy analytics and software development. He joined SEforALL after spending five years with the International Energy Agency (IEA). As the Lead for Energy Efficiency in Buildings, he and policy tracking, the annual Global Status Report on Buildings and Construction as well as the Future of Cooling report.
For almost 14 years, Brian worked in Washington DC, San Francisco and New Delhi as the Head of Energy Efficiency Analytics and Policy at ICF International, a global consulting and technology services company. He started his career as a building designer and HVAC engineer.
Andreas Gruner, Advisor, Programme for Energy Efficiency in Buildings (PEEB)
Andreas Gruner is an architect and, after building projects in Germany, joined the German International Development Cooperation GIZ in 2006. He advised cooperation partners in China, Ukraine and Mexico in sustainable urban development, municipal energy management and sustainable buildings.
After leading GIZ´s Mexican Housing NAMA project, he is advising Mexico and Vietnam on NDC implementation in buildings within the Programme for Energy Efficiency in Buildings (PEEB).
Dan Hamza-Goodacre, Cool Coalition, Non-Executive Director of the Kigali Cooling Efficiency Program (K-CEP), COP26 Champion
Dan Hamza-Goodacre is the Non-Executive Director of the Kigali Cooling Efficiency Program, a global initiative helping developing countries improve the efficiency of cooling as they reduce pollution from F-gases. Dan has worked on sustainable development in the public and private sectors across the globe for over 20 years. Prior to K-CEP, Dan was Director of Buildings and Industry at ClimateWorks.
Before working in philanthropy, Dan was with PwC, where he served as Deputy CEO of the Climate and Development Knowledge Network, a multi-lateral aid program to help developing countries respond to climate change. Dan held various posts with the U.K. Environment and Agriculture Ministry, including: Head of the Secretary of State’s office; co-founder of the UK’s Adapting to Climate Change Program; Adaptation Policy Lead for the UK Climate Change Act and Sustainable Agriculture Advisor. Dan also worked for the UK Foreign Office as a Climate Attaché.
He is a regular speaker and moderator at conferences and events and has written widely on climate and development. Dan has an MSc in International Development from Bristol University, where he also lectured and researched global environmental politics. In his early career Dan lived and worked in the rainforests of Latin America.
Ashok B. Lall, Principal of Ashok B Lall Architects, India
Ashok Lall, b. 1948, graduated from the University of Cambridge U.K. in Architecture Fine Arts and obtained the Architectural Association Diploma in 1970. His architectural firm (estd. 1981) is committed to an architectural practice based on the principles of environmental sustainability and social responsibility. It has won a number of awards and its work has been published widely.
Engaged in architectural education since 1990, he is actively engaged in the development of the architectural curricula for the Indian context, and contributes regularly to national professional journals in architecture. He is a member of the Committee for PhD Studies, School of Planning and Architecture and external Examiner for London Metropolitan University.
He is a Visiting Professor at the Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University (GGSIPU) in New Delhi, and Chair for Design & Technology at the Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute for Architecture (KRVIA) in Mumbai, India. He was Dean of the TVB School of Habitat Studies until its merger with GGSIPU in 2007.
In addition to membership of various professional bodies, he is an active advocate of sustainable architecture in India.
Emeka Nwandu, President, Green Building Council in Nigeria
Emeka Nwandu is an Abuja based architect, project manager, educator and consultant. He holds a B.Arch degree in architecture and a masters degree in construction management. He has received specialist training in computer programming and energy-efficient building design and in M&E. He is a fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Architects and a Member of the Nigerian Association of Evaluators.
He has served on the National Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan project of the Ministry of National Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Projects for Lagos and Bauchi States with SUSMAN and Associates, the Prepaid Metering Project of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, consultancy assignments for the Transmission Company of Nigeria, The Lagos/Kano Economic Summit and a variety of other projects in the private and public sectors.
He served for 4 years as the secretary of the Board of Architectural Education of the Nigerian Institute of Architects. He designed and implemented the Architects Registration Council of Nigeria (ARCON) Project Registration Number system; a cloud-based register of building projects by professional architects in Nigeria, with 8000+ registrations of data and drawings currently. On the ARCON team, he worked with GIZ in the development of the Building Energy Efficiency Code (BEEC). He is the President of the Green Building Council of Nigeria.
Martina Otto, GlobalABC, Head of Cities Unit, UNEP
Martina has over 20 years of experience in Environmental Policy and Programme Management, with a particular focus on energy, buildings and transport. She leads UN Environment’s work on cities, coordinating the UN Environment wide offer to support cities and promote multi-level policy integration, and is in charge of the cooperation with other UN agencies and partners in the sustainable urban development space.
Under her responsibility is also the work on buildings, with the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction, food systems, and the contributions to the respective programs under the 10 Year Framework of Programmes.
Martina has worked for UN Environment since 1999 in different substantive and management functions. Her areas of expertise include sustainable energy, transport, buildings, climate change, air quality and sustainable consumption and production.
Lily Riahi, Coordinator Cool Coalition, UNEP
Lily coordinates the Cool Coalition, a new initiative that was an official outcome of the Energy Transition Track of the UN Climate Action Summit in 2019. Lily also oversees the District Energy in Cities Initiative, which is working with over fifty public-private partners on implementing different business models that promote the uptake of efficient and renewable district energy (heating, cooling, and power) in cities.
Over the last fifteen years, Lily has developed public-private partnerships and implemented renewable energy and energy efficiency programs for UNEP, Global Environment Facility, REN21, the Environmental Defence Fund, ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability and the German parliament- where she participated in the set-up and promotion of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). She is also the report author of several energy publications, including ‘District Energy in Cities: Unlocking the Potential of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy,” a UN Environment publication.
Background
According to the 2019 Global Status Report, produced for the GlobalABC, energy use for ‘space cooling’ has already increased 25 per cent since 2010 and there are now more than 1.6 billion air conditioning units in buildings globally. Today, the largest markets are not in the hottest countries on the planet: only 8 per cent of the 2.8 billion people living in places with average daily temperatures above 25 degrees have an air conditioner. We need to rethink buildings if we want to limit the massive growth in energy for cooling beyond the needed improvement in energy efficiency of air conditioners.
We need better building design and look at urban forms. Solutions will have to include passive building design with natural ventilation, sustainable building materials, as well as nature-based solutions through landscape and vegetation. Financing is key to accelerate this transition to energy-efficient buildings. These buildings are sometimes more cost-effective, and some may have higher upfront cost, but will save money over their lifetime and yield multiple benefits including health, well-being and productivity. Smart financing solutions can incentivise their uptake.
There is a still a gap in large-scale financing for green buildings. The 2019 Global Status Report also highlights a ‘slow-down’ and persistent under-investment in the energy efficiency measures urgently needed to lower emissions and set the stage for the decarbonization of the sector.
The session will explore how smart financing solutions can green the massive global real-estate investment of 5 trillion USD per year. For example, Morocco is developing a financing mechanism for energy efficiency in residential housing. Countries, finance institutions and experts that are pioneers in promoting energy-efficient buildings will present their experiences and discuss with participants how to quickly promote the transition to energy-efficient and sustainable buildings.
Please send your questions, comments and feedback to Sophie Loran (sophie.loran@un.org) and Irene Fagotto (irene.fagotto@un.org).
