Stories
Stories
Your Path to Carbon Reduction
Implementing a Carbon Reduction Strategy to help you achieve your corporate sustainability goals
Sustainability at the Forefront
Achieving Goals
Large corporations are making big commitments regarding things like carbon neutrality, but real estate portfolios are often not well aligned with corporate sustainability goals. To combat this, companies are focusing on buying their way to their net zero goals through purchasing carbon offsets.
What if you could use your current and future building portfolio to invest in carbon reduction that helps achieve goals? Whether your goals are focused on achieving decarbonization, meeting company set ESG criteria, regulatory requirements, or just doing the right thing for the environment, DPR has the sustainability experts, processes and tools to set you up for success.
Building the Way
To Your Goals
Implementing a Carbon Reduction Strategy throughout the Project Lifecycle
Before You Build
Planning, design and preconstruction strategies to consider for carbon reduction goals. Learn More →
During Construction
Meet your carbon reduction goals during construction with these strategies. Learn More →
After Construction
Strategies to consider for building use and maintenance to meet carbon reduction goals. Learn More →
39%
Percentage of annual global CO2 emission coming from building operations, building construction industry or other construction industry. 27% of that is from building operations.
* Building Construction Industry and Other Construction Industry represent emissions from concrete, steel, and aluminum for buildings and infrastructure respectively.
Rethinking the Built Environment
With the built environment alone generating 40% of annual global CO2 emissions, the AEC industry has a critical role to play in lowering the global carbon footprint. One of the reasons being concrete, steel, and aluminum, which are mostly used in building, are responsible for 23% of the global emissions. There is incredible opportunity for embodied carbon reduction in these high-impact materials through policy, design, material selection, and specification.
As we look to change course, focus is needed on emissions generated through building materials and construction processes, known as 'embodied carbon,' which are projected to be close to half of the total emissions from the building sector by 2050.
Unlike operational carbon emissions, which can be reduced over time with building energy upgrades and the use of renewable energy, embodied carbon emissions are locked in place as soon as a building is built. It is critical that we get a handle on embodied carbon now if we hope to achieve zero emissions by 2040.1
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2020. Carbon Leadership Forum
42%
Percentage of companies in the Fortune Global 500 with significant climate goals.
47%
Percentage of organizations with ≥$1B in revenue which rank environmental topics as a higher priority than all other ESG goals.
Leading Change
42% of companies in the Fortune Global 500 have now delivered a significant climate milestone or are publicly committed to do so by 2030, up 11% from last year.
This is no longer just a part of corporate social responsibility plans because it is the right thing to do, but a tangible goal tied to financial incentives and disincentives with some companies. There is also a potential for market share loss by doing nothing, making Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) a growing factor in decision making at the highest levels.
And this is happening across markets with advanced technology/mission critical, life sciences, higher education, healthcare, and commercial customers alike requiring their physical infrastructure to be more sustainable. Not planning for this early can lead to missed opportunities.
Breaking It Down
With $4.6B in green project revenue in 2022, and our commitment to drastically reduce our own carbon emissions, DPR has the technical building expertise to help navigate the changing landscape and additional regulation on carbon.
But the work isn’t done when we turn over a building to an owner. The life cycle of a building itself has the potential to leave the deepest carbon footprint. That’s why we counsel clients and provide them with tools to maintain sustainable practices long after the ribboncutting ceremony.
We don’t blindly recommend green strategies to customers, recognizing that strategies are not sustainable unless they satisfy people, planet, and prosperity.
Photo: The sustainability goals for UT's latest cGMP warehouse exceeded any that had ever been attempted on a facility of this type, requiring extensive collaboration to inform real time cost estimating for different green strategies. Photo Credit: Danny Sandler
Breaking It Down
With $4.6B in green project revenue in 2022, and our commitment to drastically reduce our own carbon emissions, DPR has the technical building expertise to help navigate the changing landscape and additional regulation on carbon.
But the work isn’t done when we turn over a building to an owner. The life cycle of a building itself has the potential to leave the deepest carbon footprint. That’s why we counsel clients and provide them with tools to maintain sustainable practices long after the ribboncutting ceremony.
We don’t blindly recommend green strategies to customers, recognizing that strategies are not sustainable unless they satisfy people, planet, and prosperity.
Photo: The sustainability goals for UT's latest cGMP warehouse exceeded any that had ever been attempted on a facility of this type, requiring extensive collaboration to inform real time cost estimating for different green strategies. Photo Credit: Danny Sandler
State & Local Regulations on Embodied Carbon
Countries, states and even smaller jurisdictions across the world are implementing their own regulations that are important to be aware of. For example, the Buy Clean California Act (BCCA) is just one of many states are imposing embodied carbon limits. These set limits for global warming potential (GWP) of major construction materials including structural steel, concrete reinforcing steel, concrete flat glass and mineral wool board insulation.
To see regulations in your area, check out the Carbon Leadership Forum.
Regulations & Incentives
Aside from being the right thing to do, changes to regulations and updates to incentives are further encouraging companies to focus on embodied carbon.
- The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) (2022): This legislation contains $500B in new spending and tax breaks, with $2.15 billion allocated to the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) for the acquisition and installation of construction materials and products with lower levels of embodied carbon. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has defined this as the 20% of products with the lowest embodied carbon. Investing in low embodied carbon materials and setting standards for the same, sends clear demand signals to manufacturers and contractors; and provides incentives to developers to take advantage of certain funding and tax initiatives.2
- US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Disclosures for Public Companies: The SEC proposed a new rule that, if adopted, would require public companies to report on their climate-related risks, emissions, and net-zero transition plans.3
Understanding Carbon Jargon
Breaking Down Climate Change Terminology
Commit |
Net Zero is the balance between produced emissions and emissions removed from the atmosphere on an annual basis. | Carbon Neutral when emissions produced are offset by carbon credits or natural carbon sinks. | Carbon positive & negative removing more carbon than we add and the next step after net-zero. | Regenerative are buildings that positively contribute to the environment, offsetting more than they consume. | ||
Analyze | EPD objective, comparable, and third-party verified data about products/services' environmental performance from a life-cycle perspective. | Life-Cycle Analysis (LCA) a scientific process used to quantify greenhouse gas emissions and environmental impacts over the full life cycle of a product. | Whole Building LCA is a process used to quantify the emissions and impacts associated with a building or project across its full life-cycle. | Embodied Carbon is total greenhouse gas emissions created to produce a built asset (manufacturing, transportation, etc.). | Operational Carbon is the collective CO2 emissions created for a built asset to run, including water, transportation, refrigerant leakage, etc. | |
Reduce | Carbon Offsets tradable “rights” or certificates linked to activities that lower the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere. | Carbon Credits are permits and work as part of a 'cap and trade' program. Companies are still expected to reduce emissions over time. | Carbon Sequestration is to capture CO2 from the atmosphere and store it in trees or wood buildings. | Carbon Capture & Storage removes CO2 emissions from fossil fuel power stations and industrial processes that use or produce coal and gas. |
Carbon Reduction Strategy
Getting Started
Covering all the bases to maximize carbon savings can be complicated, but having a partner with the right expertise can simplify the process and help get the intended results.
- Understand your organization's overall carbon reduction goals
- Include carbon budgets in the owners program requirements and basis of design
- Provide specifications requiring environmental project declaration or meeting certain embodied carbon thresholds
- Engage DPR's in-house team team to perform whole building life cycle analysis studies
- Discuss low carbon and design strategies early in the programming stages
Posted on September 16, 2024
Last Updated September 18, 2024
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