Buildings Initiative

The Buildings Initiative provides practical resources to help cities succeed with policies, technologies, and innovative investment strategies to deliver better buildings, cleaner air, and more efficient urban development.

By 2030, 70 percent of the world’s population will live in cities. Today’s urban development choices could lock-in urban dwellers in decades of high energy demand and water use and carbon emissions, as well as creating urban transportation challenges. Implementing more building efficiency requires building owners to overcome 6 critical barriers:

• lack of information and awareness on their choices for more efficiency,

• lack of technical knowledge to evaluate their options,

• uncertainty about how to measure or understand the energy efficiency performance,

• an inability to meet financial criteria (return on investment rates)

• lack of capital funds to invest in energy efficiency

• landlord/tenant split incentives (the landlord does not have a reason to invest in efficiency if the tenant is the one paying the energy bills)

The Buildings Initiative, a part of the WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities, engages partners, policymakers, and practitioners to support accelerated building efficiency action in cities around the world.

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