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Are buildings an important piece of the climate puzzle ? / Alan Miller, World Bank Development in a Changing Climate blog, 21/01/2011.http://blogs.worldbank.org/climatechange/are-buildings-important-piece-climate-puzzleThey inhabit two different worlds—buildings and climate change—both  outside and within the World Bank. It should not be that way as the  building sector could be central to both mitigation and adaptation  efforts.Buildings are important for climate mitigation because they account  for about 30% of global energy consumption and greenhouse gas  emissions. According to the International Energy agency (IEA), energy use in this sector is expected to increase globally about  30 % over the next two decades if recent trends continue; however, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report concludes buildings offer by far the largest potential source for low  cost reductions in CO2 emissions. The World Bank has many projects and  analyses addressing this opportunity including a recent ESMAP (Energy Sector Management Assistance Program) report on the benefits and obstacles to effective building codes. These could  address over 60 % of building energy use but remain weak and often  unenforced in most Bank client countries...