2 November 2026
By Cristina Gamboa, CEO, World Green Building Council (WorldGBC), and Brian Motherway, Head of the Office of Energy Efficiency and Inclusive Transitions, International Energy Agency (IEA)
After a year marked by geopolitical uncertainty and rising cost-of-living pressures, governments and businesses will arrive at COP31 seeking solutions that can ease economic strain while advancing energy and climate goals.
The COP31 Presidency has put forward two targets directly linked to our built environment: reducing the global energy intensity of buildings by at least 25% by 2035 and raising electricity’s share of economy-wide final energy demand from just over 20% today to 35% by 2035.
Buildings are where these two ambitions converge. They account for around 30% of global final energy consumption and more than half of electricity use. Improving their performance can reduce emissions while reducing pressure on power systems and lowering costs for consumers.
Improving energy efficiency in buildings is an effective way to strengthen energy security. By delivering the same or better energy services with less energy, efficiency eases pressure on the wider system and reduces exposure to fuel imports and price volatility. It can also limit the need for investment in new power generation and grid capacity.
Well-insulated and well-shaded buildings need less energy to remain comfortable, while efficient heating, cooling, lighting and appliances reduce running costs over their lifetime. Building energy codes, minimum performance standards and well-designed renovation programmes – coupled with robust enforcement regimes – can make these improvements standard practice rather than the exception.
The IEA estimates that more than 120 million households in advanced economies spend over 10% of their income on heating, cooling and appliances. Those with lower incomes are especially exposed, since they often have limited means to make their homes more efficient. Improving the efficiency of these homes, alongside targeted funding and support for vulnerable households, can help reduce energy bills and improve access to essential energy services.
In emerging and developing economies, improving energy efficiency can also make modern energy services more affordable, enabling more households to access essential appliances and meet their energy needs at lower cost.
The world has entered what the IEA describes as the “Age of Electricity”, and buildings are already leading the way.
With electricity meeting around 40% of buildings’ final energy needs, compared with 23% across the wider economy, buildings are already among the more electrified sectors. Wider adoption of efficient electric technologies, from heat pumps to electric cooking, could further increase electricity’s role in buildings and advance progress towards overall electrification goals.
But more electrification without efficiency risks locking in unnecessary electricity demand.
The growing use of cooling, appliances and digital services is already placing pressure on power systems around the world. As electrification expands in buildings, it will be important to complement it with better building envelopes, more efficient equipment, and greater flexibility over when electricity is used.
The buildings of the future will not simply consume energy more efficiently — they will play an active role in the energy system.
Efficient, electrified and grid-interactive buildings can reduce peak demand and shift consumption to times when clean electricity is abundant. Smart controls, storage and distributed renewables can give households and businesses greater control over costs while supporting a more resilient grid.
These technologies are already delivering results. In 2025, installed heat pumps avoided an estimated 53 billion cubic metres of natural gas use for heating across Europe, Japan and China.
Priorities will differ: some countries need renovation and clean heating; others face rising cooling demand or must expand access to modern energy and clean cooking. The common principle is to reduce waste, then meet remaining needs as efficiently and cleanly as possible.
Buildings are where concepts like energy security and affordability become real for people, from access to clean cooking to the ability to afford adequate heating and cooling.
These everyday outcomes can shape public confidence in energy policies. Improving building performance can deliver lasting benefits for people and the climate. Deep retrofits can reduce the energy needed for space heating by two-thirds or more, while combining efficiency improvements with cleaner heating can substantially reduce emissions.
Building policies reflect national priorities and circumstances, including climate, building stock, grid capacity, affordability, investment conditions and technology availability.
Governments can make progress through coordinated policy packages that improve building envelopes and equipment efficiency, expand access to clean cooking and support the adoption of efficient technologies. Building codes and product standards can be complemented by financing mechanisms, grid investment, skills development and consumer protection.
More than 30 building-sector roadmaps have been developed worldwide, with WorldGBC and its network leading or supporting many of them. These roadmaps help countries establish priorities, coordinate policy and industry action, and identify the investment needed to improve building performance.
The IEA’s policy package approach provides a complementary framework for combining measures that reinforce one another, tailored to each country’s circumstances. The IEA Buildings Policy Toolkit offers practical guidance on policies to improve building energy performance, from building codes and appliance standards to finance, information and skills. Together with WorldGBC’s global network and national Green Building Councils, these resources can help governments translate international ambitions into credible, locally relevant pathways towards the COP31 targets.
COP31 has an opportunity to put buildings firmly at the centre of the energy and climate agenda. Achieving its efficiency and electrification targets will depend on treating them as connected priorities, supported by national policies that address affordability, energy security and emissions together.
The technologies and solutions needed are already available. The challenge now is to create the conditions for widespread adoption through effective regulation, accessible finance, skilled workforces and sustained investment in building and energy infrastructure.
The priority is to translate ambition into concrete action.