Nine buildings recognised at COP31 for sustainable design and energy savings

Nine buildings across Europe, Asia and the Middle East have been recognised at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP31) for demonstrating how sustainable design, construction and improved building operations can help reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

The awards were announced on November 12 through the International Sustainable Buildings Competition, co-convened by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP)-hosted Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (GlobalABC) and the COP31 Türkiye Presidency.

The competition brought together two initiatives: Türkiye's YeS Honor Awards, which recognise sustainable building design, construction and management, and the World Championship for Energy Savings (WCES), which rewards buildings for verified improvements in energy performance.

The six YeS Honor Award recipients include projects ranging from residential renovation and public infrastructure to hotels and places of worship.

In Greece, the Passivistas: The Tavros Project transformed an existing residential building through insulation, airtightness, heat-recovery ventilation and solar energy. The renovation brought the building to the EnerPHit Plus standard, while residents continued living in their homes during the work.

Japan's Okayama City Hall was recognised for incorporating shading, natural ventilation and efficient systems. Its design was assessed at 53 per cent below the national reference level for primary energy consumption, including solar generation.

Monaco's Villa Carmelha combines passive cooling and solar energy with seawater-based heating and cooling systems. Its performance has been monitored for two years following handover.

In Türkiye, Voyage Kundu Hotel uses shading, planted roofs and energy-efficient equipment, with modelled energy savings of around 30 per cent across its building blocks.

The Al Shera’a – Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) Headquarters in the United Arab Emirates is a LEED Platinum office building designed to generate more energy on site annually than it consumes. Its operational performance is yet to be verified.

The Cambridge Central Mosque in the United Kingdom was also recognised for incorporating sustainably sourced timber, natural ventilation, rooflights, heat pumps and solar panels into its design.

Buildings demonstrate measurable energy savings

The three WCES winners were recognised for measured improvements in energy performance, including reductions in energy consumption and operational emissions.

At 26 York Street in Dublin, Ireland, heating, cooling and control improvements at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland delivered verified energy savings of 40.5 per cent, equivalent to approximately 876 megawatt-hours (MWh), in 2023 compared with a 2019 reference period.

The project also uses a financing model in which the energy services provider is paid from the savings achieved through the improvements.

In Bangladesh, HAMS Garments Limited in Gazipur recorded a verified 78 per cent reduction in operational carbon dioxide emissions and energy savings of 2,420 MWh between August 2024 and July 2025, compared with its reference year. Efficiency improvements, operational controls, staff training and solar generation contributed to the results. Staff operating procedures were also introduced to avoid unnecessary energy use while maintaining production and workplace comfort.

China's CCFED Sci-Tech Innovation Building in Guangzhou was the third WCES recipient. Efficient systems, solar power and passive ventilation helped the building keep its normalised energy consumption between April 2025 and March 2026 at 61.5 per cent of its allocated WCES energy budget, within the scope assessed by the competition.

The WCES platform includes 74 published buildings across 16 countries, covering more than 1.8 million square metres. It assesses energy performance across building operations, renovation and new construction.

A push for more energy-efficient buildings

The awards highlight the potential for changes in building design and everyday operations to reduce energy demand. Measures such as insulation, natural ventilation, efficient heating and cooling systems, solar generation and better energy management can improve building performance.

Buildings account for more than a third of global energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions, according to UNEP. The organisation has called for wider adoption of existing solutions to make the sector more energy-efficient and reduce its climate impact.

The awards also come as countries consider the Antalya Compact for Energy Efficient Buildings, which supports two of COP31's global targets for 2035: reducing the operational energy intensity of the global building stock by 25 per cent and accelerating electrification.

The compact provides a framework for action on building performance, renovation, electrification, national strategies, energy-system flexibility, finance and capacity-building.

The winning projects offer examples of how these measures can be applied across different building types, from occupied homes and factories to public offices, hotels and community spaces. Scaling up such approaches will require stronger policies, investment and partnerships, as well as continued measurement of energy performance.