International Energy Agency lays out roadmap to net zero

The International Energy Agency (IEA) published its first comprehensive roadmap to net-zero emissions by 2050.

Many governments use IEA’s modeling and conclusions as input for policy decisions. Much of the document’s focus is on energy generation and a transition to cleaner forms of transportation, but building efficiency is also included.

The net zero vision would have emissions from buildings drop by 40% by 2030 and more than 95% by 2050. That goal would require that by 2030, about 20% of the existing building stock worldwide be retrofitted and all new buildings comply with zero‐carbon‐ready building standards. A zero‐carbon‐ready building is defined as highly energy efficient using either renewable energy directly or from an energy supply that will be fully decarbonized by 2050.

The roadmap also calls for minimum energy performance standards and replacement schemes for low‐efficiency appliances to be introduced or strengthened in the 2020s in all countries. By the mid‐2030s, nearly all household appliances sold worldwide should be as efficient as the most efficient models available today.