Guardian: “Germany is the world’s most energy efficient country with strong codes on buildings while China is quickly stepping up its own efforts, an environmental group said Thursday.”
“The study of 16 major economies by the Washington-based American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy ranked Mexico last and voiced concern about the pace of efforts by the United States and Australia.
The council gave Germany the top score as it credited Europe’s largest economy for its mandatory codes on residential and commercial buildings as it works to meet a goal of reducing energy consumption by 20% by 2020 from 2008 levels.
….The study ranked Italy second, pointing to its efficiency in transportation, and ranked the European Union as a whole third. China and France were tied for fourth place, followed by Britain and Japan.
The report found that China used less energy per square foot than any other country, even if enforcement of building codes is not always rigorous.
The study ranked the United States in 13th place, saying that the world’s largest economy has made progress but on a national level still wastes a “tremendous” amount of energy.”
Future Today
