As temperatures rise and air conditioner ownership rise, so too do the challenges of powering demand for cooling. This webinar series explored the implications of growing cooling demand and showed examples of policies and programmes that improve efficiency while maintaining comfort, health, and affordability.   Part 1 took place on 22 July 2026 and explored balancing comfort, health, and climate goals, the metrics and standardisation of AC, affordability, and potential savings, with a demonstration of a tool to assess country-level savings. The Hub and SEAD were joined by speakers from the International Energy Agency (IEA), Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL), the IEA Technology Collaboration Programme on Energy Efficient End-Use Equipment (4E), Collaborative Labeling and Appliance Standards Program (CLASP), and the United Nations Environment Programme United for Efficiency (UNEP-U4E).   Part 2 on 29 July 2026 focused on fan production and use strategies, the new regulation expected in Europe, technology options for doubling the energy efficiency of room air conditioners, the Energy-Efficient AC Replacement Programme in India, and the use of ACs to support demand flexibility in China. Featured speakers joined the Hub and SEAD from Natural Resources Defense Council India (NRDC India), CLASP, SEforALL, the European Commission, and the Jiangsu State Grid Company.   About SEAD: The Super-Efficient Equipment and Appliances Deployment Initiative promotes the manufacture and sale of energy-efficient appliances, lighting, and equipment worldwide while fostering international collaboration to reduce energy use, bills and emissions. SEAD is a Task Group of the Hub and concurrently an initiative of the Clean Energy Ministerial.

This event was livestreamed from Belèm, Brazil. Effectively unlocking investment in retrofitting remains a critical challenge. Despite the clear economic and environmental benefits of retrofitting buildings, financial barriers continue to hinder large-scale adoption. The split incentive dilemma—where asset owners bear the capital expenditure for upgrades while tenants reap the financial benefits—remains a major roadblock. Additionally, uncertainty around commercial viability, regulatory frameworks, and financing mechanisms further complicates large-scale retrofitting efforts. This session brought together businesses, technology providers, and policy makers to showcase best practice implementations supported by conducive policy environments. The session aligned with the COP30 Buildings and Cooling Pavilion’s priority areas, including financing resilient buildings, high decarbonisation-potential technologies, and innovative approaches. This event was organised in partnership with GlobalABC, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), the European Commission, Jones Lang Lasalle (JLL), Trane Technologies, and the German Energy Agency on behalf of the Hub Energy Efficiency in Buildings Task Group. For further details, please visit the GlobalABC event page.  

10月16-17日 2025 中國北京 建筑行业对实现2030年全球能效提升速率翻倍的目标具有关键作用。现有建筑是达成这一目标的重要组成部分，但也带来了特殊的挑战，分享国际上的最佳实践将成为加速各国进展的重要推动力。本次论坛将汇集来自政府部门、私营领域、国际组织和研究机构的官员与专家，共同探讨现有实践与新兴探索。论坛目标如下： 聚焦中国经验与启示：展示中国在推动既有建筑改造过程中所实施的国家和地方政策、项目规划及融资机制的经验； 关注国际实践成果：分享其他国家可借鉴的项目范例，并深入探讨其在不同环境下的推广应用路径； 突出现有和新兴技术：总结现有技术的应用成果，并就如何将新兴技术应用于建筑改造分享见解。 本次活动由国家建筑绿色低碳技术创新中心 (NCTI-GB)、住房和城乡建设部科技与产业化发展中心 (CSTID, MOHURD)、中国质量认证中心（CQC)以及国际能效中心(Energy Efficiency Hub) 联合主办。 论坛由国家建筑绿色低碳技术创新中心和国际能效中心 (Energy Efficiency Hub) 共同承办。 此次线下论坛分为两天，一天为在北京的实地考察，随后将进行为期一天的线下小组会议。本次活动仅限受邀参加，如果您有兴趣参加，请联系国际能效中心秘书处，邮箱： secretariat@energyefficiencyhub.org An English version of the webpage can be accessed here.

As power systems face the fast-growing demand for electricity, flexibility becomes crucial. Meeting that demand requires investment not only in renewable and decarbonised energy supply and in stronger grids, but also in equipment and systems that enable the demand side to deliver this essential flexibility. Demand response is vital for balancing electricity supply and demand, maintaining grid stability, and ensuring that massive electrification of end-uses keeps pace with supply growth. The success of demand-response strategies hinges on regulatory frameworks that ensure appliances and equipment can understand and respond to grid signals. This is especially important for consumers, more of whom will benefit directly from better appliances than from other solutions like batteries and distributed solar generation. The policy options that are currently available can help steer the uptake of demand flexibility, but they must be mainstreamed now into broader strategies for investment in electricity networks worldwide. In this session, SEAD, in partnership with Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), offered a platform for high-level participants to express a common understanding of demand-response, its role in flexibility, and the necessity for reflecting this in power system strategies. Participants explored what appliances and equipment must do to deliver this flexibility and the necessary regulatory frameworks for effective demand-response. This session was held in person at the Clean Energy Ministerial in Busan, Korea.