A Spectrum of Real Estate Decarbonisation

Our Spectrum enables us to map real estate assets to one of four categories (Compliant, Advancing, Leading or Visionary) based on the decarbonisation outcome it achieves, relative to the relevant Science-Based Target.
The Spectrum recommends actions that are likely to aid the achievement of these outcomes. As you move down the Spectrum, these approaches become more sophisticated (and rely less on offsets)
The ultimate goal is to achieve assets that are True Zero, i.e. zero emissions without the need for third-party offsets.
Where offsets are used to achieve ‘Net Zero’, this should be reported transparently – but offsets cannot be used to achieve alignment with the SBTs.
The dotted line around ‘True Zero in Construction’ reflects the fact that this is currently very difficult to achieve in most circumstances.

Buildings can only be considered ‘True Zero in Operation*’ when they are actually occupied, given the key role tenant activity plays in the ultimate carbon footprint of a building. However, new buildings can be designed for True Zero using predictive energy modelling.
Our spectrum covers both key aspects of a building’s whole-life carbon¹: embodied (specifically upfront embodied; here) and operational (here).
For both aspects, we group the decarbonisation actions required into three areas: measure; reduce demand; and use renewables.
In the following pages, we look at all of these areas in more detail, including the specific actions that can improve performance.

¹ See Appendix A for carbon definitions