Energy use in buildings – from heating and cooling to keeping the lights on – is responsible for over one-third of the carbon emissions in the United States. In South Africa, commercial buildings make up 22% of the carbon emissions. By reducing electricity usage, which is the largest contributing factor to carbon emissions in the metro’s due to the use of fossil fuels, businesses can reduce their carbon-footprint and start their journey to becoming a Green business.
An initiative by Sustainable Energy Africa (SEA) and C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40) aims to have the four biggest South African metro’s see zero-net carbon emissions from newly built buildings by 2050. Part of this initiative is to build more energy-efficient buildings which will reduce the carbon emissions over the lifetime of the building which is anything from 40 to 120 years in South Africa for commercial buildings.
The reduction in energy consumption will be largely attributed to solar PV power generation, in combination with the implementation of smarter designs that will reduce the demand for energy through smarter lighter and other efficient ways to reduce power through intelligent architecture.
When it comes to reducing the use of fossil fuels, solar energy always plays a big part because it is our greatest source of sustainable, renewable energy, which is capable of being a main power source for both commercial and residential buildings in the long run. Although the expected global transition to solar by 2050 is only expected to be 10%, even this will make a significant impact on the carbon emissions due to the reduction of fossil fuel usage through the use of renewable energy resources.
At Green Light City, we want to see a greener planet, and we contribute to this vision one solar installation at a time. We are certified solar PV installers with experience in commercial and residential solar installations. Want to learn more about solar? Call us on 021 203 1470