13 October 2009

New report: Energy efficiency in buildings is the key solution to a low carbon society

In its new annual climate and environmental report, leading insulation producer Rockwool International A/S substantiates the claim that energy efficiency in buildings is the key solution to obtain a low carbon society. The solid evidence presented in the report is aimed to inspire and help the politicians and other decision makers to speed up agreements on climate goals and actions.

Climate & Environment 2009

Buildings are the key energy users and CO2 emitters in modern society using 40% of our energy and emitting growing amounts of CO2. But it needn’t be like that. This is underpinned in Rockwool International’s new climate and environmental report which offers substantive and well-documented evidence for the fact that a higher level of energy efficiency in buildings is the fastest way to a low carbon society.

Eelco van Heel, CEO of the Rockwool Group, says:

“Today, it is possible to make both new and existing buildings so energy efficient that they will not consume 40% of the energy in modern societies. Actually, the building sector can even create zero carbon buildings independent of the grid and renovate buildings to a much higher energy standard. So the good news for the politicians, who will meet for the UN climate summit COP15 in two months time, is that there’s a fast way to a low carbon society. Fast, because the solutions for making buildings more energy efficient are already here: insulation, low energy windows, solar panels, etc.”

Politicians must take action

The Rockwool report points out that the International Energy Agency views energy efficiency as the most important key to the low-carbon society so urgently requested by the UN climate panel. It has a higher impact than even the combined effort of an ambitious expansion of renewable energy; nuclear power; and carbon capture and storage;. Eelco van Heel says:

“It is crucial that politicians in all countries start to address the challenge of making buildings more energy efficient. Luckily, there are some front runners; countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany, France and the Netherlands who have started implementing new tax and subsidy means to limit the energy consumption in buildings.”

The Rockwool report gives examples of these initiatives to inspire politicians in all countries. It also substantiates that energy efficiency does not cost society money. On the contrary, citizens and society will save money; energy efficiency creates jobs and offers politicians the luxury of a higher level of energy security, enabling countries to become more independent of energy imports.

The Rockwool Group’s own carbon footprint

The Rockwool report also offers a summary of the status of the Rockwool Group’s own carbon footprint and environmental performance.

The Group’s energy efficiency declined slightly from 2007 to 2008 after five consecutive years of increase energy efficiency. The decline was due to the financial crisis that reduced the company’s production capacity utilisation, causing inefficient idle-run. However, in the entire period from 2002 to 2008, the Group’s CO2 efficiency still shows an improvement of 3% (CO2 efficiency = tonne CO2 emitted per tonne produced stone wool).

In 2009 the Rockwool Group will be participating for the first time in the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), which is a golden standard for CO2 reporting. Seen from an overall perspective, the Rockwool Group has a highly positive net carbon footprint. A life cycle analysis shows that a standard Rockwool insulation product helps to save more than 100 times the energy and CO2 used for its manufacture.