Thermal insulation is an important technology to reduce energy consumption in buildings by preventing heat gain/loss through the building envelope. Thermal insulation is a construction material with low thermal conductivity, often less than 0.1W/mK. These materials have no other purpose than to save energy and protect and provide comfort to occupants. Of the many forms, shapes and applications of thermal insulation, this section focuses on those that are commonly used for building envelopes– i.e., floor, walls and roof, and have potential for South-South technology transfer.

Materials and products used in building, such as steel and aluminum, are created by a production process of raw material extraction, raw material process, melting, manufacture to final products, and transportation to building sites. Each of the steps consumes energy, which is also expressed in terms of carbon emissions. Total carbon emissions of all building materials and products and the construction involved to put them together is known as building’s embodied carbon. Embodied carbon accounts for about 20% of the carbon emissions from the building sector (Lane, 2010).

Managing the energy and other needs in buildings efficiently and intelligently can have considerable benefits. A building energy management system (BEMS) is a sophisticated method to monitor and control the building's energy needs. Next to energy management, the system can control and monitor a large variety of other aspects of the building regardless of whether it is residential or commercial. Examples of these functions are heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), lighting or security measures.

Heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems supply fresh air and condition the indoor air temperature and humidity of a building. HVAC is reported as the key energy user (37%) in US buildings (WBCSD, 2008), accounting for 59% of the energy used in China commercial buildings in 2000 (Levine et al., 2007). Therefore, HVAC is a key component of climate change mitigation potential in the building sector.

Increasing awareness of energy efficiency and climate change has led to new developments in the building sector, including the concept of passive house, low carbon buildings, and even zero emission buildings. Low carbon houses and zero emission buildings achieve their common objectives by applying all available green design techniques, strategies and technologies.

The use of traditional building materials and design is often found itself in a difficult situation, that is either being under the threat of perished under the force of modernisation or being innovatively implemented to meet modern building standards and living conditions. Traditional building materials and design have gained renewed attention in the green building movement, thanks to the use of locally accessible resources that address local conditions in a cost effective way.

The life cycle and integrated design process can be understood as a design process to deliver a building, in which its relationship to the surrounding context, technical components and technologies are parts of a whole system, for the whole building life cycle (Larsson, 2005). This objective can be obtained once interdisciplinary professional team members work collaboratively right from the inception and conceptual design to make strategic decisions and address all design issues.

Technology Owners

• Consultants, engineers, infrastructure specialists
• Governments and government organisations

Needs Addressed

Hazard-proofed infrastructure

Cool roofs can help reduce the heat island effect and also help improving the energy performance of the buildings. A cool roof can reflect the sun’s heat and emits absorbed radiation back into the atmosphere at a higher rate than standard materials. The cool roofs technology has been used for more than 20 years (EPA, 2012). The cool roof basically helps in reflecting sunlight and heat, thus reducing the temperature of the roofs. 20-­‐25% of the urban surface is reported to be occupied by roof surface.

Daylight harnessing technologies are applied to bring diffused daylight into the building interior. There are many available methods and technologies available to harness daylight and this section covers three selective technologies, which are commonly found in good practice and yet highly applicable in developing countries. They are light shelves, light pipes and skylights. They can be deployed independently or in combination, depending on the building’s configuration and functions.