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CO2 is the most emitted greenhouse gas and is mainly produced by human activity. In fact, about 75% is emitted in cities and 40% of global carbon emissions is produced by the building sector. Therefore, buildings are very important in terms of CO2 emissions. This importance is also reflected in the works that have been developed on this subject. This manuscript reviews the research that has shown or calculated the amounts of CO2 emitted in buildings. For a better understanding of the scope of the investigations, a classification is presented. With this, it is intended to help researchers interested in this area by summarizing the studies carried out to date on the amounts of CO2 emitted depending on the type of building. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

More than half of the world's population lives in cities. A large part of the emissions and energy consumption corresponds to buildings, both in the residential sector and in the service sector. This means that a large part of the measures taken by governments to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions are focused on this sector. With this background, this paper studies energy consumption in city buildings and the CO2 emissions they produce. It only makes use of publicly available data. The analysis is made from the point of view of income per inhabitant, and the results are obtained per inhabitant and household. To facilitate the analysis of the results, an index has been defined. The main contributions of this work are to analyze energy consumption and emissions due to buildings, study them from the point of view of the income of their inhabitants, and consider cities individually. The proposed methodology has been applied to the case of Spain. A total of 145 Spanish cities that have more than 50,000 inhabitants have been studied. The results show that the higher the income, the higher the consumption and emissions. Electricity consumptions are almost inelastic, while those of thermal origin are greatly influenced by the level of income. Regarding CO2 emissions, the percentage of emissions of electrical origin with respect to total emissions is higher than that of thermal origin. In addition, the lower the income, the higher the percentage of emissions of electrical origin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

More than 50% of the world's population lives in cities. Its buildings consume more than a third of the energy and generate 40% of the emissions. This makes cities in general and their buildings in particular priority points of attention for policymakers and utilities. This paper uses population density as a variable to know its influence on energy consumption and emissions produced in buildings. Furthermore, to show its effect more clearly, the influence of the climate was eliminated. The usual energy consumption in buildings is thermal and electrical. The study was carried out at the city level, both per inhabitant and per household. The area actually occupied by the city was considered. The proposed method was applied to the case of Spanish cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants. The results show that the higher the population density, the higher the energy consumption per inhabitant and household in buildings. The consumption of thermal energy is elastic, while that of electrical energy is inelastic, varying more than 100% between extreme groups. Regarding CO2 emissions, the higher the population density, the higher the emissions. Emissions of electrical origin barely vary by 2% and are greater than those of thermal origin. In addition, the proportion of emissions of electrical origin, with respect to the total, decreases with increasing population density from 74% to 55%. This research aims to help policymakers and utilities to take the appropriate measures that favor the use of renewable energies and reduce CO2 emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a result of the increase in city populations, and the high energy consumption and emissions of buildings, cities in general, and buildings in particular, are the focus of attention for public organizations and utilities. Heating is among the largest consumers of energy in buildings. This study examined the influence of the income of inhabitants on the consumption of energy for heating and the CO2 emissions in city buildings. The study was carried out using equivalized disposable income as the basis for the analysis and considered the economies of scale of households. The results are shown per inhabitant and household, by independently considering each city. Furthermore, to more clearly identify the influence of the population income, the study was also carried out without considering the influence of the climate. The method was implemented in the case of Spain. For this purpose, Spanish cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants were analyzed. The results show that, both per inhabitant and per household, the higher the income of the inhabitants, the greater the consumption of energy for heating and the greater the emissions in the city. This research aimed to help energy utilities and policy makers make appropriate decisions, namely, planning for the development of facilities that do not produce greenhouse gases, and enacting laws to achieve sustainable economies, respectively. The overall aim is to achieve the objective of mitigating the impact of emissions and the scarcity of energy resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]