Possibilities for achieving the vision of near net zero emission in building sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Increase of greenhouse gases concentration in the atmosphere, mainly carbon dioxide, which leads to global warming, indicates the need to take actions to reduce use of energy from carbon sources. The building sector is the largest consumer of energy, and thereby the largest emitter of greenhouse gases. In this paper the possibilities of achieving "near net zero emission" vision, in the residential sector, by the year 2050, were analysed. The necessary policies and technical energy efficiency measures were analysed, that could be applied in the building sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina by 2050. Large amount of energy is used for space heating and hot water, mainly from fossil fuels, which significantly contributes to air pollution and global warming. Specific energy consumption for space heating in Bosnia and Herzegovina is several times higher than in EU countries with the similar climate conditions. Therefore, it is necessary to reduce energy consumption significantly, ie to increase energy efficiency. It is also necessary to deploy the potential of renewable energy use in buildings and to use buildings as energy producers. In this way, in the long term, energy costs in buildings would be significantly reduced, as well as dependence on energy imports and the need for building of new capacities for energy generation. From other side, employment would be increased while emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases would be reduced. In this paper, due to the availability of reliable data on energy consumption for the Sarajevo Canton, the necessary policies and measures to promote energy efficiency were analysed, that could be applied in the residential sector in the Sarajevo Canton.