Cushman & Wakefield on ‘Decarbonizing’ Buildings

LONDON – According to Cushman & Wakefield, retrofitting existing property to be energy efficient can help reduce carbon emissions. The firm notes that roughly 80% of the buildings that will exist in 2050 have already been built, so changing standards for new construction will only do part of the job.

The company analyzed one million assets – 6.6 billion square meters across 143 countries – to show that reducing carbon emissions is a vital component to preventing irreversible climate change. The analysis estimates that the cost to decarbonize the global real estate market would be about $18 trillion. However, do so would see the commercial real estate industry achieve 6.2 gigatons, or 75%, of carbon reduction annually.

“Not only is decarbonizing existing real estate essential to addressing climate impact, but it also offers an environmentally responsible way to reduce the cost of owning and managing commercial property,” says John Forrester, CEO, Cushman & Wakefield. As regulations “become more stringent, needs to reduce or offset carbon emissions will increases.”

Software to cut carbon emissions

Cushman & Wakefield says it launched C&W Green Buildings, a proprietary digital software assessment tool that can help identify custom decarbonization, retrofitting and cost savings opportunities for real estate investors and owners. The software was created through an exclusive partnership with CFP Green Buildings (CFP).

The tool filters 120 building characteristics to assess current carbon emissions and energy efficiency at a property. The firm says some of the things considered include:

• Country
• Climate and location
• Cost of energy
• Materials
• Labor
• Local emission factors
• Carbon prices
• Building age
• Size

The tool is currently being rolled out in markets within North America, Europe and Asia Pacific.

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