New buildings are still being designed and built to waste energy
Buildings waste enormous amounts of energy
Buildings consume about 40% of global energy and produce roughly the same share of carbon emissions. Most of this energy gets wasted through poor insulation, inefficient heating and cooling systems, and outdated design practices.
The building sector moves slowly — most structures last decades, and retrofitting existing buildings is complex and expensive. Meanwhile, billions of people worldwide still rely on polluting fuels for basic needs like cooking and heating water, creating both climate and health problems.
Solving building energy waste requires both cutting-edge technology and practical approaches that work at massive scale. The opportunity is enormous: dramatically reducing emissions while making buildings more comfortable and affordable to operate.
New buildings are still being designed and built to waste energy
Even today, most new buildings are designed to meet minimum code requirements rather than optimize for energy performance. Architects and engineers often lack tools to easily model energy use during design, and developers focus on minimizing upfront costs.
Building codes are slowly improving, but the design and construction industry needs better tools and incentives to create truly efficient buildings from the start.