Dispatches in Decarbonization: Better Buildings As the First and Fastest Engine for Change
This article first appeared in Mahesh Ramanujam’s monthly LinkedIn newsletter, Dispatches in Decarbonization, on August 26, 2024. Subscribe on LinkedIn to receive these updates.
A lot has changed in the five years since David Wallace-Wells published his book The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming, but one line is never far from my mind: “Humans, like all mammals, are heat engines; surviving means having to continually cool off, as panting dogs do. For that, the temperature needs to be low enough for the air to act as a kind of refrigerant, drawing heat off the skin so the engine can keep pumping.”
For me, his description resonated. My childhood growing up in 1970s Chennai was hot — and is a core part of why I’m so passionate about ensuring the net zero movement touches every corner of the world. Today, there are children in Chennai who are experiencing even hotter temperatures. Situations like these are unacceptable — especially when we know that changes from businesses and buildings within impacted communities can make all the difference.
We still aren’t where we need to be — in India or globally. We are rapidly approaching the five year mark of the Paris Agreement’s targets. The growth in net zero commitments has certainly been promising. But acceleration — and particularly acceleration at scale — remains slow moving. Let’s face it: National targets for emissions are tricky. They have to include every sector and piece of infrastructure and human behavior that contributes to the footprint of a nation. It’s understandable that you hear targets of 2050, 2060, and even 2070 for India. When we consider the size of the population and the fact that the built environment makes up approximately 40% of the world’s emissions, we are talking about an enormous task. And our needs are often outpaced by the veracity with which the climate is changing.
The good news is there's a promising, albeit challenging path forward. It’s been a little over two years since we founded the Global Network for Zero (GNFZ), and given the stakes I’ve just laid out, our focus on accelerating a zero emissions world has never been more relevant. Nations who are a part of the Paris Agreement have targets they must hit in five years — and that’s just to meet the 2030 goals of 45% emissions reduction. Meeting the 2050 goals of nations pursuing net zero will be an even more complex endeavor.
Businesses and organizations within each signatory country will have to play their part. For example, we will need more of what EcoOnline’s recent survey has revealed: That more than 80% of American companies “are proactively building net-zero programs — without waiting for legislation.” In fact, that promising trend is exactly why, at GNFZ, we are working to ensure these entities have the best possible resources to take the lead and to continue this momentum with or without the more rigorous compliance specifications.
And we’re making sure that organizations understand that the most straightforward and realistic way to to start is with their own buildings. Leaders around the world have expressed a need for a clear definition of what net zero truly means, particularly when it comes to their buildings. At GNFZ, we define net zero as the elimination of Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions.
Eliminating Scope 3 emissions can be intimidating because value chain emissions are difficult to tackle, which is precisely why most other certification bodies don’t offer Scope 3 solutions. But because acceleration is only possible with this as the heart of the equation, we have made it the differentiating, central focus of our methodology.
As such, I’m proud to report that GNFZ is meeting the needs of clients around the world. From Latin America, Europe, the U.S., India, the Middle East, and Asia, we work with clients at any level of experience to help them address and tackle their emissions. We have newcomers to net zero and we have LEED Platinum projects. We have clients who have leveraged other certification standards but are now looking to move beyond to zero. In other words, we keep our promise “to leave no business, no building, and nobody behind.”
Inclusivity and accessibility were top of mind during GNFZ’s founding for many reasons — not the least of which is that acceleration requires scale, scale requires inclusivity, and inclusivity requires accessibility. Together they yield the results that prioritize people, planet, and profit concurrently. And of course, given my own personal experience and my desire to democratize net zero practices to swiftly change the experiences of today’s children, that comprehensive call to action will remain a steadfast part of our work.
I hope you’ll join us.