Buildings and their design have evolved over the years to meet social demands. Skyscrapers, for example, primarily came into existence to meet the growing real estate demands of American cities. The technologies used by skyscrapers themselves have evolved over a period of time. Present day building sector has new set of challenges to deal with, particularly in terms of reducing energy consumption and carbon footprint.31

According to a report by IEA, buildings account for almost one-third of the global final energy consumption and are an important source of carbon emissions. Energy consumed for space heating and cooling along with hot water accounts for roughly half of global energy consumption in buildings. The report also states that in the building sector, the global number of households will grow by 67% and the floor area of service sector buildings will grow by almost 195% by 2050.32 This presents both a mammoth challenge as well as the opportunity to decrease the energy consumption in the building sector by adopting energy efficiency measure. This section thus aims to identify existing technologies and innovative policy mechanisms that can help buildings take a leap in terms of energy efficiency and become "sustainable" or "green". Technologies and policies are suggested for the following components of "Green Buildings"; Building design and systems engineering; Building Envelope; Building materials; HVAC; Lighting and Controls; Electrical Power; Water Heating and Pumping; Water supply and sanitation; Solid waste disposal; and Operations and Maintenance.

"Efficient” or “sustainable” or “Green” buildings use key resources like energy, water, materials, and land more efficiently than buildings that are just built to code. With more natural light and better air quality, green buildings typically contribute to improved employee and student health, comfort, and productivity. They also create healthier work, learning, and living environments, with more natural light and cleaner air, and contribute to improved employee and student health, comfort, and productivity. Sustainable buildings are cost-effective, saving taxpayer dollars by reducing operations and maintenance costs, as well as by lowering utility bills. It is generally recognized that buildings consume a large portion of water, wood, energy, and other resources used in the economy.33

While the environmental and human health benefits of green building have been widely recognized, our analysis reveals that a minimal increase in upfront costs of about 2% to support green design would, on average, result in life cycle savings of 20% of total construction costs -- more than ten times the initial investment.

Cities can optimize commercial and residential buildings' energy requirements to be 40-50% more efficient than conventional buildings, by implementing effective green building technologies, guidelines, and building energy codes. Energy saved is energy generated. Advanced building technologies will enhance energy and environmental performance from a whole building perspective over a building’s lifecycle, thus promoting innovative implementation of sustainable site selection and site planning, water and energy efficiency, renewable energy, waste management, effective materials and resources utilization, and indoor environmental quality.   By setting research goals and market policies one can move toward net zero energy, low carbon buildings.

While the environmental and human health benefits of green building have been widely recognized, our analysis reveals that a minimal increase in upfront costs of about 2% to support green design would, on average, result in life cycle savings of 20% of total construction costs -- more than ten times the initial investment. For example, an initial upfront investment of up to $100,000 to incorporate green building features into a $5 million project would result in a savings of $1 million in today’s dollars over the life of the building. This basically means that the average premium for these green buildings is slightly less than 2% (or $3-5/ ft2) which is substantially lower than is commonly perceived. The majority of this cost is due to the increased architectural and engineering (A&E) design time necessary to integrate sustainable building practices into projects. Generally, the earlier green building gets incorporated into the design process, the lower the cost.

Guidelines and policy interventions are essential to improve energy efficiency in both new construction as well as existing buildings and shall be seconded by measures such as building codes, policy interventions, labeling/rating systems, appliance standards, etc. to streamline efforts to promote energy efficiency in the buildings sector.

There are several green building guidelines, that can be used to establish energy-smart activities and embark on developing new buildings with green guidelines for all facilities/buildings constructed, owned, or managed in the City. These guidelines can combine energy-efficient design and construction, operation and maintenance practices, envelope, electrical and mechanical systems, appliances and equipment that minimize building loads, and cost-effective geothermal, photovoltaics, or other renewable power sources in buildings that can make cities leaders in sustainable city initiatives and provide multiple benefits, like leapfrogging to advanced, efficient and clean technologies. Such building guidelines will enhance energy and environmental performance from a whole building perspective over a building’s lifecycle, thus promoting innovative implementation of sustainable site selection and site planning, water and energy efficiency, renewable energy, waste management, effective materials and resources utilization, and indoor environmental quality. Set research goals and market policies to move toward net zero energy, low carbon buildings.

Example: LEED Green Building Rating System

LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is the world's most widely used green building rating system. LEED certification provides a framework for healthy, highly efficient, and cost-saving green buildings, which offer environmental, social, and governance benefits. Cities in Ukraine can choose, any green building guidelines or rating system for institutionalizing green residential, commercial, institutional, and industrial buildings.

LEED building standards address energy efficiency, water conservation, site selection, material selection, daylighting, and waste reduction. LEED offers a comprehensive framework for green building design, construction, operations and performance:

• The rigorous focus on material selection, human comfort, air quality, and human health features of a building rightly prioritizes the most important asset of the building: human beings.

• The specific focus on social equity ensures that buildings are not considered in isolation of their communities but prioritize access and inclusiveness for all.

• To ensure a building is resilient to natural and unnatural disturbances a comprehensive set of design and construction strategies has been established.

LEED:

• Ensures that all building stakeholders – developer, property manager, occupant, and the community benefit from sustainable design, construction, operations, and performance.

• Supports projects to implement sustainable and healthy building practices to realize environmental, economic, social, and community benefits for decades to come.

• Emphasizes integrative design to ensure better design, translation of design into high-quality construction, optimize operations, and high performance of a building.

• Helps buildings deliver higher quality beyond market practices by incorporating innovative design, technologies, construction, and material selection strategies.

• Focuses on both performance-oriented sustainable strategies and outcomes.

• Helps buildings consume fewer resources, reduce operating costs, increase value, and create safer and healthier environments for their occupants.

• Helps buildings reduce their GHG/carbon emissions.

• Helps buildings use toxin-free materials to deliver cleaner indoor air to improve productivity, and focus, and reduce respiratory illnesses of its occupants.

• Prioritizes sustainable materials, helping manufacturers to design, produce, and deliver building materials that reduce a building’s environmental impact. LEED also helps manufacturers reduce energy, water, waste during manufacturing, carbon footprint during distribution and transportation, and overall carbon emissions through the entire production lifecycle.