Passive cooling for low CO2 emissions

To reduce air conditioning emissions by 1/3, energy efficiency and refrigerant leaks must be improved, and passive cooling strategies, energy-efficient technologies, and renewable energy should be implemented in building design.

Air conditioning is essential for improving people’s comfort and health, indispensable for the economic development of hot, humid regions, and made increasingly necessary by the more frequent heat waves caused by global warming. Nonetheless, it contributes to the CO2 emissions that fuel this warming. According to IIR estimates, air conditioning accounts for over 12 percent of electricity consumption and 5 percent of energy-related CO₂ emissions worldwide.

It is imperative to implement strong measures to mitigate the climate impact of air conditioning. Only a real break in the rate of increase in energy efficiency, combined with a sharp reduction in the impact of refrigerant leaks, would make it possible to achieve an objective of reducing air conditioning-related emissions by 1/3, despite the 2.5-fold increase in the number of air-conditioning equipment by 2050 projected by the new model developed by the IIR.

To reduce indoor cooling needs, it’s crucial to implement passive cooling strategies from the building design stage, prioritise energy-efficient technologies like district cooling, and use renewable energies like solar cooling to reduce indoor space cooling requirements.