How low can we go? What is the scope for reducing emissions from commercial real estate?
Published 15 July 2009
Summary
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the built environment is necessary, urgent and can produce a high return on investment. Investa Property Group reduced the emissions intensity of its commercial office portfolio by 39 kg.CO2-e /m2 (or 24 percent) between 2004 and 2008.
In this first working paper from the Investa Sustainability Institute, we look at the results of Investa’s eco-efficiency program and investigate how Investa’s results compare with the Australian commercial office sector and with commercial real estate worldwide. The barriers to local and global comparisons are identified and the need for research to establish international benchmarking is outlined.
We then look at the broader question of what difference it would make if Investa’s experience was applied on the larger scale. What are the opportunities for profit and the planet? The analysis shows that if Investa’s reduction of 24 percent over four years was found to be replicable in other countries and across other commercial building forms, it would produce an annual saving of 660 MT CO2-e – enough to offset 110 percent of Australia’s total greenhouse gas emissions.
Not only is it possible for others to replicate Investa’s eco-efficiency, but an analysis of thirteen Investa buildings shows that only half the potential reduction may have been extracted from the Investa portfolio to-date. A future action research agenda based on testing the technical, economic and market greenhouse gas emission reduction potential for Investa buildings is outlined. It is proposed that the IPCC estimates of these emission reduction potentials are, in fact, conservative and Investa’s second phase of efficiency investment will test this proposition.
In future papers, we will also investigate a series of related issues such as the co-benefits (including job creation) associated with a focus on efficiency and draw out the implications for responsible investment and public policy.
Roussac, A.C. and Kuiper, G. (2009). "How low can we go? What is the scope for reducing emissions from commercial real estate?", Working Paper 1, Investa Sustainability Institute, Sydney Australia.
