# Energy Efficiency Policies to Face Buildings' Climate Change Effects in Paraguay
## 3 Review of Paraguayan Actions
### Energy Efficiency Overview of the Situation in the Building Sector  
Energy Consumption Evolution  
According to [PERSON] [32], Paraguay is one of the Latin American countries where the residential sector absorbs the largest share of final energy consumption. Additionally, Paraguay represented one of the countries with a greater increase in the share of electricity in final energy consumption during the period 2000 to 2012 with a growth of 5%. This increase is attributed to demographic change, industrialization, development of information and communication technologies, and the use of a greater number of household appliances. The author points out that, in general, the use of household appliances represents the largest proportion of electricity consumption and, during the period 2000 to 2012, the proportion of households with air conditioning has increased by 14 points, which could also have influenced the increase in electricity consumption. In 2011, the residential sector represented the main net electricity consumer sector with almost 34% of the total and the main use of electricity in this sector regarded air cooling (see Figure 4) [34]. By 2017, this percentage increased to 42.6% together with an increase of 4% (related to 2016) of households using mechanical cooling systems [60]. The Commercial, Public and Services sector represents only 6% of the total net consumption of the country, but the main use of electricity in this sector is for air cooling and ventilation with 29% of its total electricity consumption [38]. Between 2010 and 2014, Paraguay's final energy consumption raised by 2% per year, where the sector with the highest growth was the Commercial, Public and Services with a compound annual growth rate of 7% [61]. These data are important to define priorities for the implementation of EE measures and the identification of potential savings sectors. For example, due to the mainly warm climate of Paraguay, the measures concerning climate control, occupancy sensors and the application of measures aiming to improve the thermal performance of buildings represent strategies with the potential to decrease energy expenditure thus avoiding the use of mechanical cooling and ventilation systems. The per capita electricity consumption raised 2.5 times between 1990 and 2011, since electricity consumption represented 5.5% of final energy consumption in 1990, while in 2011 it reached 14.8%. This growth was due to the increase in electrified households and the use of electrical appliances. The residential sector presented a sustained increase in energy demand during this period, which was satisfied with the surplus of hydroelectric energy. However, the trend indicates that electricity consumption will continue to increase, at the same time as the possession of electrical appliances, where the number of households with air conditioners stands out, which in turn, will increase the use of electricity for space cooling/heating (see Figure 5) [52]. Additionally, according to [PERSON] [62], the growing trend of energy consumption is due to the improvement of living standards, and the increase of devices/possessions in households due to the demand for higher levels of comfort. The author points out that energy consumption in the residential sector depends on the increasing number of dwellings, the country's climate, the dwellings' characteristics and the thermal performance of its facilities and lighting. It is also underscored that the number of housing in the Department of Central in Paraguay, has increased by almost 2% during the period from 2006 to 2014, a value that is constantly increasing throughout the country. The 2016 National Energy Balance (Balance Energetico Nacional, BEN), updated data on the energy situation of the country indicating that the final consumption of energy in 2016 grew 6.5% concerning the previous year and the 2016 energy intensity (final energy consumption per unit of Gross Domestic Product) grew 2.5% compared with 2015.