Standards are an effective instrument for addressing energy efficiency in buildings and supporting the achievements of the targets set by international initiatives such as the Global Goals, the Sustainable Energy for All Initiative, and the Geneva UN Charter on Sustainable Housing. All these initiatives stress the importance of energy efficiency to ensure energy security, mitigate GHGs emissions and grant access to affordable energy for all.
In March 2015, the UNECE Committee on Housing and Land Management (CHLM) and the Committee on Sustainable Energy (CSE) jointly developed a questionnaire. It aimed to understand the situation and the challenges of the member States in the field of standards and regulations, in particular in the sector of energy efficiency in buildings; and to identify the most important areas and activities in the field of building standards and regulations where UNECE can support member States.
The outcomes of this survey are reported in this online publication and will serve as the background for UNECE future work on standards on energy efficiency in buildings.