Building sector is responsible for a large proportion of Australia’s GHG emissions and can make a major contribution to meeting a deep cuts target. Without change, Australia’s GHG emissions will continue to grow at a rapid rate. Almost a quarter of Australia’s total greenhouse gas emissions are a result of energy demand in the building sector. The building sector’s contribution to GHG emissions is mainly driven by its end use of electricity.
The objective of this study is to map the GHG emissions due to energy use at commercial office buildings in Australia using actual data for utility consumption of existing building in cities across Australia.
The proposed methodology is to acquire a year worth of data for building utility consumption for a set of existing buildings in each state capital with varying characteristics of design, location, climatic conditions, occupancy, stake holders etc.
Analysis of the data would determine the pattern of energy use and corresponding GHG emission for these buildings, subsequently projecting the GHG emission pattern for each state and the country as a whole based on the commercial office floor space available in each state.
The study would illustrate actual GHG emissions in Australia at present and emissions projected till 2050 in BAU scenario. It would also show where Australia is placed in terms of meeting the target set out by recently ratified Kyoto Protocol and the amount of reduction necessary to meet a deep cut target scenario of 30 to 60% reductions based on 1990 levels.