Energy and building technology for the 2000 W society—Potential of residential buildings in Switzerland

Abstract

The 2000 W society, achievable through cuts in resource consumption and per capita CO 2 emissions, is closely related to the goals of sustainable development. This study identifies the specific targets that need to be met both globally and by Switzerland to realize the vision. As a major energy consumer, the buildings sector will have to make a substantial contribution to meeting these targets. The report starts by examining the energy-saving potential of individual residential buildings through different combinations of building standard and building services system. Various building concepts already available today offer considerable potential and, as individual solutions, often achieve the targets of the 2000 W society. Yet, as the impact of such individual solutions on the building stock is dampened by a range of factors (e.g. long refurbishment cycles, low energy prices, scepticism of investors towards new technology), the effective gains fall far short of the theoretical potential. As the considered implementation scenarios and building stock projections show, the average buildings-sector targets required for the 2000 W society are nonetheless attainable. However, in order to tap the potential in the residential buildings sector, there is an urgent need for immediate action at various levels (e.g. through financial incentive systems, consumer information campaigns).