The International Energy Agency Energy in Buildings and Communities (IEA EBC) Programme, formerly known as the Energy in Buildings and Community Systems Programme (ECBCS), is one of the International Energy Agency's Technology Collaboration Programmes (TCPs). The Programme "carries out research and development activities toward near-zero energy and carbon emissions in the built environment".
History The programme was formally launched in 1977, following the oil crisis which drove research into alternative sources of energy and technologies to improve energy efficiency. Since then, IEA EBC's main aim has been to provide an international focus for energy efficiency research in the building sector, with its current mission being to “develop and facilitate the integration of technologies and processes for energy efficiency and conservation into healthy, low emission and sustainable buildings and communities, through innovation and research”.
EBC Executive Committee Chair Meli Stylianou, Natural Resources Canada (since 2024)
Former EBC Executive Committee Chairs Takao Sawachi, Building Research Institute, Japan Andreas Eckmanns, Bundesamt für Energie, Switzerland Morad R. Atif, National Research Council, Canada Richard Karney, Department of Energy, USA Sherif Barakat, National Research Council, Canada Gerald S. Leighton, Department of Energy, USA
EBC Strategic Plan Every five years, the IEA Committee on Energy Research and Technology (CERT) renews the Programme's Strategic Plan. The latest EBC Strategic Plan was developed in 2023 and is effective until 2029. The strategic objectives of the EBC TCP are:
the refurbishment of existing buildings; reducing the performance gap between design and operation; creating robust and affordable technologies; the development of energy efficient cooling; the creation of district level solution sets.
EBC Participating Countries Countries currently participating in the EBC are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, P.R. China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye, United Kingdom and the United States of America.
EBC Annexes The EBC carries out research and development (R&D) projects known as Annexes, with a typical duration of 3 to 4 years forming the Programme's basis. “The outcomes of the Annexes address the determining factors for energy use in three domains: technological aspects, policy measures, and occupant behaviour”. Below is a list with completed and current Annexes.
Current Annex 5: Air Infiltration and Ventilation Centre Annex 78: Supplementing Ventilation with Gas-phase Air Cleaning, Implementation and Energy Implications Annex 79: Occupant Behaviour-Centric Building Design and Operation Annex 81: Data-Driven Smart Buildings Annex 82: Energy Flexible Buildings Towards Resilient Low Carbon Energy Systems Annex 83: Positive Energy Districts Annex 84: Demand Management of Buildings in Thermal Networks Annex 85: Indirect Evaporative Cooling Annex 86: Energy Efficient Indoor Air Quality Management in Residential Buildings Annex 87: Energy and Indoor Environmental Quality Performance of Personalised Environmental Control Systems Annex 88: Evaluation and Demonstration of Actual Energy Efficiency of Heat Pump Systems in Buildings Annex 89: Ways to Implement Net-zero Whole Life Carbon Buildings Annex 90: EBC Annex 90 / SHC Task 70 Low Carbon, High Comfort Integrated Lighting Annex 91: Open BIM for Energy Efficient Buildings Annex 92: Smart Materials for Energy-efficient Heating, Cooling and IAQ Control in Residential Buildings Annex 93: Energy Resilience of the Buildings in Remote Cold Regions Annex 94: Validation and Verification of In-situ Building Energy Performance Measurement Techniques Annex 95: Human-centric Building Design and Operation for a Changing Climate Annex 96: Grid Integrated Control of Buildings Annex 97: Sustainable Cooling in Cities Working Group - Building Energy Codes
… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

