Comparative Analysis of EE Standards in Latin America and the Caribbean

The project “Mecanismos y redes de transferencia de tecnología relacionada con el cambio climático en América Latina y el Caribe” (Mechanisms and networks for technology transfer in climate change in Latin America and the Caribbean), with contributions from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and administered by the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) and executed by Fundación Bariloche de Argentina.   Within the framework of the project, Fundación Bariloche mandated Econoler for the “Preparation of a comparative analysis of energy efficiency (EE) standards in residential, commercial and public buildings of the main countries of Latin America and the Caribbean” with the aim of identifying best practices, promoting harmonization of standards in the region and generating information that may contribute to the establishment of public policies related to the better management of energy in residential and commercial buildings.   The study involved the comparison between the situation and experience in the matter in 10 countries in the region: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Dominican Republic and Uruguay.   The intent was to compare minimum EE standards (MEPS) related to the following items, among others, with influence or impact on the consumption of energy in buildings of the residential and commercial sectors: building envelope (including thermal insulation, building materials, colors, envelope control systems, windows, etc.), lighting equipment, air conditioners, fridge/refrigerator/freezer, other home appliances, water heater, small engines, etc.

The project was mainly implemented in two separate stages. During the first part of the project, a market study was carried out by analyzing the energy and EE context, as well as the regulatory framework in the selected countries and the second part was focused on the comparative analysis of minimum EE standards. In both project components, the analyses were focused on the standards involving residential, commercial and public buildings.   Stage 1: Market study

• Data gathering: Existing information publicly available through different information sources was gathered. Information was supplemented with the support of a local expert network.
• Interviews with key stakeholders: Key stakeholders were interviewed in each country in order to obtain qualitative information about the success of the different EE standards in buildings.
• Market analysis: using the existing literature, supplemented by the interviews, the following was set to be established for each country:
• Energy matrix and energy consumption by sector
• Energy characteristics of buildings
• Institutional framework of the energy efficiency
• Policies related to energy efficiency in buildings
• Energy efficiency programs for buildings
• Energy efficiency standards in buildings
• Selection of standards for the comparative analysis: standards were selected based on criteria such as the existence in at least five countries and equipment whose consumption of energy affected the energy matrix the most in the 10 selected countries.

  Stage 2: Comparative analysis of EE standards for residential, commercial and public buildings. This assignment included the following tasks:

• Comparison of standards as to their influence or impact on energy consumption in those buildings.
• Provision of advice as to the successful conditions for the implementation of EE standards, highlighting coincidences and differences between countries under various criteria, including:
• Energy context
• Main final uses of the energy in the residential, commercial and public sectors.
• Institutional, regulatory and financial framework.
• Determination of the most suitable conditions, i.e., best practices, to promote the penetration of efficient technologies as regards EE standards.
• Critical analysis of the success factors for the development and performance of EE standards.

  Stage 3: Dissemination of study conclusions: A webinar was given to disseminate the results of the comparative study in all selected countries. The webinar was developed on the Latin American Energy Organization (OLADE) Networking Experts platform in June 2017.