Local Energy Efficiency Action Plan
Local Energy Efficiency Action Plan (LEEAP)
The GIZ project "Energy Efficient Building Refurbishment in Mongolia" (EEP) works with the Municipality of Ulaanbaatar (MUB) and other stakeholders on public investment management and energy efficiency in the building sector.
Why energy efficiency is crucial for the sustainable development of Mongolia
Buildings are responsible for 40% of global energy consumption, and 33% of greenhouse gas emissions. More than 80% of Ulaanbaatar’s district heating is used to heat the city’s buildings, which contributes to at least 50% of Ulaanbaatar’s carbon emissions. The city consists of old building stock, which was mainly built during the socialist era. As a consequence, and due to a lack of refurbishment activities, the insulation of most buildings is poor.
It is critical to ensure that new buildings are sustainable, and energy-efficient, to reduce the energy demands of the building stock. However, given the thermo-technical refurbishment of a building is around eight times cheaper than constructing a new one, it is also crucial to widely refurbish old structures in the city, and across Mongolia. Reduced heating results in lower fine particle emissions, and lower CO2 emissions.
Increased energy efficiency in the building sector results in reduced heating needs. This means that the available heat in the district heating system will be enough for more buildings. In times of suppressed demand and heat generation shortages, this is an essential factor for more energy efficiency. The heat demand in Ulaanbaatar increases by approximately 7% each year while the supply capacity is not increasing at that rate and therefore does not meet the demand. Instead of investing in new coalbased heat plants, there is the chance to lower the heat energy demand by about 50% with simple energy efficiency measures. This is a win on many levels compared to building new coal-based heat generating capacities:
- lower investment costs
- lower CO2 emissions
- running costs remain at the same level (instead of higher costs, due
- the expense of more power plants)
- increased temperatures, and living comfort for residents
Higher energy efficiency is also the basis for using clean renewable energies such as hydro, solar, and wind energy instead of fossil fuels. On the pathway to using higher shares of renewable energies, energy efficiency is a crucial step.
