A review on buildings energy information: Trends, end-uses, fuels and drivers
Open accessAbstract
Buildings are a major contributor to climate change, accounting for one third of global energy consumption and one quarter of CO2 emissions. However, comprehensive information is lacking for the development, evaluation and monitoring of mitigation policies. This paper discusses the remaining challenges in terms of reliability and consistency of the available data. A review of energy use in buildings is presented to analyse its evolution by building types, energy services and fuel sources. Residential buildings are the most consuming, although tertiary expansion requires further analysis to develop sound specific indicators. Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems concentrate 38% of buildings consumption, calling for strengthened standards and incentives for retrofitting. Electrification is rapidly increasing, representing a potential tool for climate change mitigation, if renewable power was promoted. However, energy use in buildings will only curb if global cooperation enables developing nations to break the link between economic growth, urbanisation and consumption. To this aim, efficiency gains both in construction and equipment, decarbonisation of the energy mix and a global awareness on energy conservation are all needed.
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The construction sector accounts for approximately one-third of the world's final energy consumption and nearly a quarter of direct CO2 emissions.
“This sector accounts for approximately one-third of the world’s final energy consumption and nearly a quarter of direct CO2 emissions [92].”
From Transforming Plastic Waste into Value: A Review of Management Strategies and Innovative Applications in Sustainable Construction (2025) · cites this paper as [92]
The construction industry ranks among the largest energy and non-renewable resource consumers globally.
“The construction industry, indeed, ranks among the largest energy and non-renewable resource consumers globally.”
From Transforming Plastic Waste into Value: A Review of Management Strategies and Innovative Applications in Sustainable Construction (2025) · cites this paper as [92]
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- Authors
- González-Torres, M., Pérez-Lombard, L., Coronel, J. F., Maestre, I. R., & Yan, D.
- Affiliations
- Universidad de Sevilla (ES)
- Universidad de Cádiz (ES)
- Tsinghua University (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Maestre, Ismael R.
- Venue
- Energy Reports
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2022-11
- Volume
- 8
- Pages
- 626-637
- ISSN
- 2352-4847 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4200059648
- Cited by
- 1,036
- References
- 59
- Citations by year
- 2026: 268 · 2025: 301 · 2024: 255 · 2023: 169 · 2022: 43
- FWCI
- 53.54
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Energy Reports (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- idUS (Universidad de Sevilla) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- RODIN (Universidad de Cádiz) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Funders
- Universidad de Sevilla
- European Commission (768576, HORIZON2020)
- Universidad de Cádiz
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Building and Construction › Building Energy and Comfort Optimization
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Building and Construction › Building energy efficiency and sustainability
- Physical Sciences › Energy › Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment › Energy, Environment, and Transportation Policies
- Keywords
- building energy consumption, end-use energy, HVAC systems, building electrification, residential buildings, tertiary buildings, energy efficiency, decarbonization, climate change mitigation, energy conservation, developing countries
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