Property carbon emissions fell fourfold during pandemic

Carbon emissions fell by fourfold over the past year, according to new research, but largely because offices were unoccupied. ULI Greeprint Center for Building Performance found that emissions had reduced by 12.4% over the past year, four times the annual average of 3.5% in previous years. The report found that many landlords had taken advantage of buildings being unoccupied during the pandemic to carry out works to reduce emissions. Investment in ESG projects was also increased, with a quadrupling of building certifications issued in 2020, mainly in industrial, office and residential properties. However, it is likely that the annual report, which benchmarks 11,991 properties in 30 countries, actually shows the impact of Covid-19 on emissions. Reductions were larger than previous years, but this was because many of the buildings benchmarked were vacant. As a result carbon dioxide emissions were down 12.4%, water consumption 8.1%, energy consumption was down 12.5%, electricity use down 12.4%, natural gas use down 8.9%, landfill waste down 11.7% and waste diversion down 6.6%. What is perhaps more surprising is that the reductions were not a lot higher. ULI Greenprint senior VP Marta Schantz said: “The remaining years of this decade are critically important for keeping global warming below 1.5°C. Global emissions dipped briefly during the pandemic, but rebounded quickly. There is no complacency among the most responsible owners, investors and developers. Greenprint members took the opportunity of lower occupancy levels to conduct energy efficiency retrofits and up their game on energy efficiency.” To send feedback, e-mail piers.wehner@eg.co.uk or tweet @PiersWehner or @EGPropertyNews Photo by Sylvia Westermann/imageBROKER/Shutterstock