Efforts to Address Scope 3 Emissions Must Remain Front & Center for the CRE Industry
Today, the Biden Administration announced its long-awaited federal definition of zero-emissions buildings. The Global Network for Zero (GNFZ) is proud to have contributed guidance along the way. You can read our comments here: https://www.globalnetworkforzero.com/insights/comment-net-zero.
We applaud the focused effort to set minimum standards for builders and developers to claim their projects are truly zero emissions. In fact, eight green building certification programs have already indicated they will include these guidelines in their certifications. The announcement from the Department of Energy states that “at a minimum, a building that achieves zero operational emissions from energy use must be: energy efficient, free of on-site emissions from energy use, and powered solely from clean energy.”
Any movement toward lower emissions in the building sector is welcome, but let’s not lose sight of other areas of even greater opportunity. Namely, I’m talking about efforts to address Scope 3 emissions.
As I have said many times, failure to address the broader emissions footprint of a building or organization is not just a missed opportunity but also threatens to put us on a path that will miss global emissions reduction targets. We can’t afford to do that. To have true value, certifications must go beyond the bare minimum. That is exactly why GNFZ’s net zero certification for buildings is Scope-3 centric, starting with an incremental approach to emissions reduction performed on a global scale.