Eskişehir, Turkey, To Save $4.4 Million by 2030 with New Building Efficiency Commitment

Today, Eskişehir Metropolitan Municipality announced a new collaboration with the Building Efficiency Accelerator (BEA), a public-private initiative that turns global expertise into action to accelerate local government implementation of building efficiency programs and policies.

“We are thrilled to be a partner of this project which considers energy efficiency as a global issue,” said Yilmaz Büyükerşen, Mayor of Eskişehir Metropolitan Municipality. “In an age where energy costs are rapidly draining the resources of our world, the city of Eskişehir will certainly do its part to improve on sustainability, serving as an example for both Turkey and the world.” 

Eskişehir will work with the BEA to develop a retrofit program for existing municipal buildings and adopt building energy performance certification of Class B or higher in new buildings. The city will also make a recommendation to Turkey’s Ministry of Environment and Urbanisation to amend its efficiency laws to require Class B or higher certification for planned urban transformation projects – which is already followed as best practice in Eskişehir.

“Being part of the BEA provides the unique opportunity to create and share meaningful knowledge on the vital nature of energy efficiency in buildings,” said Özgün Çalışkan, BEA Project Coordinator of Eskişehir Metropolitan Municipality.

Home to Europe’s largest university, the city of Eskişehir is focused on creating livable spaces as its population grows. As a result of its actions with the BEA, Eskişehir is estimated to save 32 gigawatt hours of energy and $4.4 million from 2019 to 2030.

 “With a strong dialogue around energy-efficient buildings, Eskişehir will not only create huge economic savings but also make progress toward a better quality of life for its citizens,” said Güneş Cansız, Director of WRI Turkey Sustainable Cities. “Carbon emissions will be reduced while we take steps to building a more livable and healthy city.”

The BEA, part of the UN Sustainable Energy for All (SEforAll) campaign, works with subnational governments and global and local private and civil society partners to implement policies and programs to improve buildings. In its first two years, the BEA reached 253 cities with its resources and obtained 47 commitments on building efficiency action from 32 cities in 17 countries.

About the Building Efficiency Accelerator

The Building Efficiency Accelerator (BEA) is a partnership of businesses, NGOs and multilaterals assisting local governments to take action to improve their buildings. The BEA is coordinated by WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities and includes more than three dozen partners, including WorldGBC. The BEA is supported by Johnson Controls, Inc., and the Global Environment Facility (GEF). Learn more at buildingefficiencyaccelerator.org.