Launch of UKGBC's 'Guide to Scope 3 Reporting in Commercial Real Estate

What is Scope 3 Reporting?

Inspired by the WorldGBC campaign’s Advancing Net Zero, UKGBC launched a programme in 2018 in the UK to drive the transition to a net zero carbon-built environment called Advancing Net Zero. As part of this programme UK Green Building Council launched a new guidance last week called Scope 3 Reporting in Commercial Real Estate. The launch event was held in RICS HQ  and was well attended by CRS sector as well as several consultancies specialising to emission reporting and CRE.

UKGBC’s Guide to Scope 3 Reporting

Why is it important?

This guidance was launched to enhance the knowledge about Scope 3 reporting as there is currently a limited understanding on the scale of scope 3 emissions in the Corporate Real Estate (CRE) sector, as identified by UKGBC through stakeholder workshops and surveys.

Many CRE companies have become well-versed in reporting and reducing the impacts of their own operations, known as and scope 1 and 2, but eliminating all climate impacts requires them to consider the emissions arising up and down their value chains – otherwise known as scope 3 emissions. This is due in large part to a lack of sector-specific guidance for scope 3 reporting using current CRE standards. This has led to limited scope 3 reporting and missed opportunities for driving emissions reductions. And as the Scope 3 emissions are typically over 85 % of the overall CRE emissions it is important that these are captured.

Typical Scope 3 emissions are for example:

• A building developer reporting emissions from construction materials used in a new building

• A building owner reporting emissions from the energy use of a tenant

The UKGBC guidance provides consistent reporting approaches that have been developed in line with currently available resources and in consultation with stakeholders. The guidance is intended to meet the suggested sector-specific guidance requirements, as set out in the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG). It builds on the GHG Protocol to promote additional completeness and consistency in the way CRE companies account for, and report on, scope 3 emissions. No means the UKGBC work will end here regarding the Scope 3 reporting, but this is seen as a start for future development of more specific guidance and calculation tools.

 Read the detailed Scope 3 Reporting in Commercial Real Estate guidance.

How to report Scope 3 emissions?

You can easily report Scope 3 emissions with One Click LCA. The software supports both detailed Scope 3 materials and construction process reporting for construction projects, as well as a portfolio Scope 3 reporting approach. This is powered by the simplified carbon calculation tool Carbon Designer, an add-on to One Click LCA software.

The Scope 3 assessment can be combined with BREEAM UK 2018 Mat 01 credit, worth up to 10 credits for new and refurbished assets. Combining this assessment with Mat 01 LCA requires the Mat 01 LCA to be performed in the required project design stages. The final Scope 3 results are achieved by One Click LCA’s Copy & Merge functionality, which allows combining the various part of building analyses into one encompassing the whole building.

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