At COP31 in Antalya, the World Championship for Energy Savings takes its place within the International Sustainable Buildings Competition.
At COP31 in Antalya, the World Championship for Energy Savings takes its place within the International Sustainable Buildings Competition — a global initiative led by the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (GlobalABC) and the COP31 Presidency, in the spirit of the Chaillot Declaration. The Competition brings governments, industry and practitioners together to showcase and accelerate excellence across the entire building lifecycle.
The International Sustainable Buildings Competition recognises excellence through two distinct, complementary streams. They share the COP31 stage but are entered separately and judged on their own criteria:
Designed by Türkiye and coordinated by the GlobalABC, the YeS Honor Awards celebrate exemplary green building projects across sustainable design, indoor environmental quality, material selection, and energy performance features. Applications are open to projects in categories spanning new and existing buildings.
Supported by the GlobalABC and national governments, the WCES identifies the buildings achieving the strongest measured energy and carbon performance, using real metered data rather than design intent. National leagues select their champions, who then compete for global titles.
The WCES is the measured-performance stream of the Competition. It runs on its own methodology and timeline (national leagues, three performance pathways, verified data) and culminates in the WCES award ceremony, held at COP31 in Antalya under the umbrella of the International Sustainable Buildings Competition, alongside the YeS Honor Awards. Together, the two streams come together to celebrate sustainability efforts in buildings around the world, in both exemplary design (YeS) and proven, in-use performance (WCES).
For the WCES, this is the final stage. Only Climate Region Champions qualify to be named World Champion. World Champions are selected by the GlobalABC jury and crowned at the International Sustainable Buildings Competition during COP31.
No. They are separate applications, with different criteria, processes, and deadlines. Entering one does not enter you in the other. If your goal is recognition for measured energy and carbon performance, apply to the WCES through this site. To apply for the YeS Honor Awards, visit the YeS platform.
The two streams have different calendars — check the one that applies to you:
| WCES | YeS Honor Awards | |
|---|---|---|
| Applications | 1 April – 31 August 2026 | 15 April – 15 October 2026 |
| Data assessed | Reference data from January 2022 onwards; monitoring data to mid-2026 (the NEW pathway only needs monitoring data, from January 2024 onwards). | Project submission per YeS rules. |
| Recognition | Ceremony at COP31, Antalya | Ceremony at COP31, Antalya |
| Apply via | Submit a building | YeS Honor Awards site |
