ESCOs vital to net zero pathways of building sector – PE2
MAKATI CITY, 10 January 2023 – The Philippine Energy Efficiency Alliance (PE2) told building and urban property market stakeholders that energy service companies (ESCOs) will play a crucial role in the attainment of net zero targets in the building sector. PE2 president Alexander Ablaza invited building owners, property developers and facility managers to consider the ESCO business model to accelerate implementation of energy efficiency measures in existing building stock of built urban environments during his presentation at the Net Zero Building & Net Zero City Summit Philippines 2023, held earlier today by the Global Zero Carbon Partnership at the Dusit Thani Manila.
Ablaza said that the UNFCCC Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action calls for the imperative to halve emissions of the built environment by 2030, whereby 100 per cent of new buildings must be net zero carbon in operation; and that by 2050, all new and existing assets must be net zero across the whole life cycle, including operational and embodied emissions.
He cited UNEP reports which confirm that investment in energy efficiency within the global buildings sector grew to over USD 237 billion in 2021, marking a growth of around 16 per cent from 2020 levels. While high-income countries benefited immensely from Government programs to retrofit buildings, many emerging economies showed a continued decline in new building construction activities, including in South Asia, Southeast Asia and Africa. The impact has been a significant slowdown in energy efficiency investment in 2021 from an already low level, and investment in these countries remains below 2019 levels.
“Two-thirds of the Philippines’ energy efficiency investment gap of PHP 12 trillion by 2040 should be bridged through innovative off-balance sheet modalities, such as ESCO performance contracting. More efficient cooling systems will need to replace obsolete technologies in older buildings, and ESCOs have built a robust track record of implementing such retrofits through energy savings performance contracts, here and in several ESCO markets around the globe. Today, the global ESCO market continues to grow by at least 9% annually to the USD 38 billion market as of 2021,” Ablaza said.
The Net Zero Building & Net Zero City Summit Philippines 2023 gathered companies supporting net zero targets of the local property sector. It was jointly organized by the Global Zero Carbon Partnership and Escom Events.
PE2 is an event partner of Net Zero Building & Net Zero City Summit Philippines 2023.
