Editing IPCC:AR6/WGIII/Chapter-9 (section)

=== 9.8.3 Other Environmental Benefits of Mitigation Actions ===

<div id="h2-26-siblings" class="h2-siblings"></div>

Apart from the health benefits mentioned above, mitigation actions in the buildings sector are also associated with environmental benefits to ecosystems and crops, by avoiding acidification and eutrophication, biodiversity through green roofs and walls, building environment through reduced corrosion of materials, and so on ( [[#Thema--2017|Thema et al. 2017]] ; [[#Mzavanadze--2018b|Mzavanadze 2018b]] ; [[#Knapp--2019|Knapp et al. 2019]] ; [[#Mayrand--2018|Mayrand and Clergeau 2018]] ), while some negative effects cannot be excluded ( [[#Dylewski--2016|Dylewski and Adamczyk 2016]] ).

Also, very important are the effects of mitigation actions in buildings on the reduction of consumption of natural resources, namely fossil fuels, metal ores, minerals, and so on. These comprise savings from the resulting reduced consumption of fuels, electricity and heat and the lifecycle-wide resource demand for their utilities, as well as potential net savings from the substitution of energy technologies used in buildings – production phase extraction ( [[#European%20Commission--2016|European Commission 2016]] ; [[#Thema--2017|Thema et al. 2017]] ). [[#Teubler--2020|Teubler et al. (2020)]] found that the implementation of an energy efficiency scenario in European buildings will result in resource savings (considering only those associated with the generation of final energy products) of 406 kg per MWh lower final energy demand in the residential sector, while the corresponding figure for non-residential buildings was estimated at 706 kg per MWh of reduced energy demand. On the other hand, [[#Smith--2016|Smith et al. (2016)]] claim that a switch to more efficient appliances could result in negative impacts from increased resource use, which can be mitigated by avoiding premature replacement and maximising recycling of old appliances.

Mitigation actions aiming to reduce the embodied energy of buildings through using local and sustainable building materials can be used to leverage new supply chains (e.g., for forestry products), which in turn bring further environmental and social benefits to local communities ( [[#Hashemi--2015|Hashemi et al. 2015]] ; [[#Cheong--2019|Cheong and Storey 2019]] ). Furthermore, improved insulation and the installation of double- or triple-glazed windows result in reduced noise levels. It is worth mentioning that for every 1 dB decrease in excess noise, academic performance in schools and productivity of employees in office buildings increases by 0.7% and 0.3% respectively ( [[#Kockat--2018|Kockat et al. 2018]] b). [[#Smith--2016|Smith et al. (2016)]] estimated that in the UK the annual noise benefits associated with energy renovations in residential buildings may reach £400 million in 2030 outweighing the benefits of reduced air pollution.

<div id="9.8.4" class="h2-container"></div>

<span id="social-wellbeing"></span>