BREEAM for net zero carbon organisations
With so many organisations now aiming for net zero carbon, how can BREEAM help you?
Achieving net zero carbon for an organisation requires a diverse array of measures. Carbon emissions from a building's operational energy alone account for around 25% of global carbon emissions, with the construction sector as a whole estimated to contribute 38% of global emissions. Developing a thoughtful and effective organisational pathway to net zero carbon is vital for owners and operators in the real estate sector.
According to the United Kingdom Green Building Council (UKGBC), 92% of professionals in the building sector view net zero as the primary economic growth opportunity for the built environment. BREEAM offers robust measurements and helps minimise carbon emissions at the asset level, forming a critical foundation for the steps to net zero carbon.
Breaking down net zero: the basics
A key difference between net zero carbon and carbon neutrality is that scope 3 emissions (upfront and downstream, i.e., embodied emissions and end of life) are mandatory for net zero carbon. The term "net zero carbon" is widely used in promotional literature and is sometimes synonymous with "climate action" or "carbon reduction." Reducing emissions is the process, and achieving net zero carbon is the goal. For instance, if a science-based target requires a 5% reduction in emissions in one year for a specific type of building and country to achieve net zero carbon, and Building A reduces by 4% while Building B reduces by 6%, only Building B is on track to meet the target.
The scope of net zero carbon definitions varies significantly. Organisations often have a limited scope and claim to be "net zero carbon," when in reality they are far from accepted industry standards. The topic faces many of the same challenges as other areas of sustainability. When assessing net zero carbon claims, it's crucial to consider the scope. For example, in buildings, the assessment may pertain solely to operational carbon, or it may include considerations for embodied carbon and end-of-life aspects. This is one reason why third-party verified schemes, such as BREEAM, are essential for providing impartiality in sustainable building assessments.
It's important to note that some aim for net zero carbon immediately, while others target 2040, 2050, and various dates in between. The scope varies, often influenced at the corporate level rather than the asset level. One of the most popular detailed corporate targets comes from the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTI), which uses the following parameters:
- Achieve a scale of value-chain emission reductions consistent with pathways that limit warming to 1.5°C with no or limited overshoot.
- Neutralise the impact of any source of residual emissions that cannot be eliminated by permanently removing an equivalent amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide.
BREEAM is helping set the stage for a net zero carbon future
BREEAM standards promote holistic sustainability, covering a broad spectrum of environmental, social, and economic themes. The BREEAM rating system, which has been addressing climate change impacts for over 30 years, assesses performance across these areas in a balanced manner.
Reducing energy use is essential for organisations aiming for net zero carbon. For those involved in constructing, outfitting, or refurbishing buildings, the embodied carbon in materials and products is highly significant.
BREEAM’s benchmarking and certification standards enhance an asset's sustainability by minimising energy demand and carbon emissions during construction, operation, and end-of-life. It effectively measures a building's energy needs and an organisation's overall carbon footprint, demonstrating the extent of carbon emission reductions for assets.
The future of BREEAM
Version 7 of BREEAM is focused on updating energy and carbon, by balancing aspiration and implementation, and supporting the introduction of new opportunities wherever clients are on their net zero carbon and sustainability journey. From early stages to build transparency, through to innovative best practice, BREEAM can help meet sustainability objectives.
Key focuses include achieving whole life carbon reduction and net zero carbon in buildings, while addressing the increased demands throughout the supply chain. We emphasise robust risk management, asset management, and adherence to ESG. Our approach facilitates data collection and establishes a foundation for an in-depth exploration of net zero carbon alignment.
To ease reporting and demonstrate progress toward net zero carbon goals, we are introducing a dedicated module that harnesses your BREEAM data. This module will assess how close you are to range net zero carbon definitions and and offers in-depth carbon reporting and insights. This will simplify workflows and can accelerate your journey towards net zero carbon. We will also be providing net zero carbon certification at the building level, to bring the third-party assurance in BREEAM to the net zero carbon arena.
Net zero carbon and BREEAM
For more than 30 years, BREEAM has been helping buildings achieve significant reductions in carbon emissions at every stage of the building lifecycle, with approximately 50% of the credits available in BREEAM’s building certification addressing the reduction of carbon. The certification encourages the improvement of an asset’s core sustainability performance in many ways, including by working to minimise energy demand and carbon emissions from the construction phase through in-use operation and end-of-life.
Specifically, the following tactics have been put in place across the BREEAM family of standards to help guide organisations on their journey toward net zero operations:
- Accurately measuring the asset’s energy use and the associated carbon emissions.
- Recognising performance that exceeds existing energy performance benchmarks and regulations.
- Focusing on minimising the asset’s energy consumption through the improved fabric to reduce energy demand, using more energy-efficient building services and equipment and encouraging the use of on-site renewables.
- Recognising building features and practices that facilitate efficient energy management practices that avoid wasting energy during operation, eg. commisioning of building services, accessible controls and submetering energy use.
- Recognising demand-side management capabilities to enable a higher proportion of renewable energy generation in the grid supply mix.
- Minimising the embodied carbon impact associated with building materials and the construction process.
- Maximise the use of recycled and reused materials in building and disassembly at the end of life (circularity).
- Minimising operational emissions associated with water use and fugitive refrigerant gasses.
Reducing carbon emissions as far as possible is an essential first step for achieving credible net zer carbon status, and BREEAM is a valuable resource that can be leveraged to demonstrate emission reductions across a protfolio.
Elevating efforts: moving a step beyond emissions reduction
In addition to measures that are directly aimed at reducing assets' carbon emissions, other aspects of BREEAM further address carbon reduction through assessment categories such as Land Use and Ecology, Resilience and Transport.
Under Land Use and Ecology, for example, BREEAM promotes nature-based solutions that encourage the protection and enhancement of ecological features like trees, which increase the biodiversity of the areas surrounding a building. When executed correctly, these measures solve many challenges simultaneously - building resilience while effectively mitigating the risks of climate change.
New Construction
BREEAM’s New Construction assessment includes both building resilience and adaptation to climate change. While prioritising the minimisation of the impacts of global warming through mitigation measures, the sector also must adapt to current warming levels and be prepared to face higher temperatures in the future.
Adaptation plays a key role in building resilience, which is why BREEAM places a particular emphasis on areas such as flood and surface water management in this assessment. BREEAM incorporates adaptation plans into its New Construction assessment to ensure that BREEAM-certified buildings are designed to withstand the challenges of a changing climate.
Operational energy
BREEAM’s New Construction assessment priorities the reduction of energy and carbon emissions through a triple metric approach that measures an improvement in energy performance beyond building regulations — for both regulated and unregulated energy. Specifically, BREEAM’s approach takes into account demand, primary energy and carbon emission metrics. The New Construction standard also rewards projects that incorporate detailed energy modelling to predict operational energy use based on expected occupancy.
Under New Construction, BREEAM’s Energy assessment category further addresses the efficiency of unregulated equipment and services, as well as the installation of submeters to facilitate effective energy management during operation. Similarly, the standard’s Management category tests the performance of the building fabric and commissions building services. This section aims to implement practices that encourage sustainable environmental design and performance throughout the project, from concept and construction to the handover and aftercare phase of a project. Credits for addressing refrigerants, a significant contributor to climate change, can be found in the Pollution category, while in New Construction, the Water category addresses water consumption, which can result in indirect carbon emissions.
Embodied carbon
Embodied carbon refers to carbon emissions arising from the production of construction materials and products — including transportation, as well as direct emissions from production processes such as cement production. This is an important consideration for both new build and refurbishment projects, as the impacts of construction materials can be higher than the energy impacts over the lifetime of the building, especially for high-performing buildings. As the grid decarbonises and the uptake of electric heat pumps increases, the importance of monitoring and evaluating embodied carbon relative to energy impacts will only continue to grow.
BREEAM addresses embodied carbon in its Materials category, where it rewards the use of Life Cycle Analysis (LCA). The New Construction standard considers embodied carbon and the sustainability of materials in the context of the whole life cycle of the building, taking into account maintenance and replacement cycles that may influence decision-making.
BREEAM In-Use
BREEAM’s In-Use scheme for existing buildings is divided into two primary parts for assessment: Asset Performance and Management Performance.
Asset performance: asset performance focuses on the energy efficiency of the building envelope, installed services and systems. Two-thirds of the credits in the In-Use Energy category are dedicated to this area. Credits are also awarded for the deployment of on-site renewables, controls and demand-side management capability.
Management performance: management performance focuses on actual carbon emissions generated per square meter/foot, taking into account all fuel sources. The carbon emission factor for the local grid electricity, other fuels and any on-site renewables are included in this evaluation, while off-site generation, Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) and carbon offsets are not considered.
Up to five exemplary credits are available for buldings that generate more energy than they use on an annual basis, making them "carbon negative". Addional credits are also available for the annual reduction of carbon emissions over a three-year period, as well as for energy monitoring and reporting activities. Embodied carbon assessments during the in-use phase is limited to maintanance.
BREEAM's In-Use assessment focuses on the fabric efficiency of the bulding envelope, building services and operational carbon emissions per unit area.
Refurbishment and Fit Out
BREEAM’s assessment of carbon in Refurbishment and Fit Out follows a similar approach to that of New Construction but with a specific focus on the carbon impacts arising from the elements of the asset that have been refurbished or fitted out.
Conclusions and key takeaways
How can BREEAM help organisations on their journey to net zero carbon?
In the race to combat climate change, the pivotal role of corporations in driving net zero strategy cannot be understated. The climate science, responsibility, impacts, risk management and opportunities are some of the drivers for both the pledges and actions to achieve net zero carbon. As governments and industries worldwide acknowledge the urgency of curbing GHG emissions, creation of tight carbon (co2e / GHG) budgets for the whole economy is another common indicator for the need to transition to sustainable building practices. The path to achieving net zero carbon emissions is critical, with far-reaching implications for our societies, ecosystems, and quality of life.
To simplify the array of net zero carbon initiatives and definitions, BRE is collaborating widely to enable effective, and efficient action on climate change to net zero carbon.
A holistic tool for carbon reduction
In our industry’s duty to help mitigate against climate change, BREEAM emerges as a powerful tool, offering a holistic perspective on carbon reduction. BREEAM's integrated approach comprehensively assesses carbon impacts, positioning it as an effective means for organisations to turn their net zero ambitions into reality.
While setting ambitious targets is a step in the right direction, it's important to recognise that it is cumulative carbon emissions that truly shape our impact on the environment. All pledges must be followed by action. The IPCC has set carbon budgets that serve as a crucial guide for avoiding catastrophic climate change, and BREEAM is building these into our products. Most organisations base net zero carbon commitments on carbon budgets that give a 50% chance of success. While these budgets are tight, they aren’t delivering the level of risk management that most stakeholders desire. However, these commitments do provide a demonstration of progress, and as such, are being increasingly demanded by investors. By encouraging organisations to think beyond targets and embrace a comprehensive, integrated perspective on carbon reduction, BREEAM empowers organisations to make substantive contributions to the global net zero progress.
Towards a sustainable future
The journey towards net zero carbon emissions requires a unified effort from all sectors of society. Corporations like IPCC and BRE hold the key to accelerating progress. With 38% of emissions from our sector, and the solutions (including BREEAM) in your hands, the building sector holds the key to meaningful action on climate change, to deliver a net zero carbon built environment as a key part of a net zero carbon economy. Multiple standards and carbon reporting are being implemented into BREEAM, which gives you a range of tools to deliver on both your and your stakeholders requirements.
The path forward demands not only ambitious commitments but also a deep-seated understanding of the cumulative impact of carbon emissions. Whatever your horizon (i.e. 2030,2040 or 2050), early action is key to deliver tight carbon budgets more realistically, efficiently and effectively.
BREEAM's role in this journey is pivotal: providing a robust framework to help translate net zero ambitions into tangible outcomes. As we navigate the challenges and opportunities on the road to a sustainable future, collaboration between industry leaders, governmental bodies, and frameworks will each play a vital role in the journey to net zero carbon. We collectively hold the key to more sustainable future and BREEAM will enable and accelerate progress towards a sustainable net zero carbon.
Want to know more?
BREEAM serves as a powerful tool for showcasing the sustainability of your buildings, acting as a bridge that takes you from transparency to best practice. It creates a comprehensive framework that showcases various aspects of sustainability through our in-depth understanding of carbon. With a shared objective and a diverse range of approaches, BREEAM unifies efforts towards a common purpose, a sustainable built environment.
Use the links below for additional net zero carbon resources:
Train with BRE Academy
Net zero carbon buildings
Driving global alignment between sustainability initiatives
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Contributors
Martin Kemp, Sustainability Product Manager at BRE Group
Christine Pout, Principal Consultant at BRE Group
Alejandro Romero, Principal Consultant at BRE Group
Tamsin McCabe, BREEAM Product Manager at BRE Group
Tim Wiseman, Bespoke and Applications Specialist at BRE Group
James Honour, BREEAM Principal Technical Services Specialist at BRE Group
Nick Dunbar, Sustainability Content Writer at BRE Group.
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