The incoherence of emissions accounting principles and Net-Zero targets in the buildings sector

The buildings sector’s energy demand and CO2 emissions are rising despite various energy standards and carbon disclosure initiatives. Drawing from the author’s experience as the former buildings sector lead at the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), this paper investigates the suitability of the initiative’s methodology and workflow for decarbonizing the sector. The paper demonstrates the incompatibility of current emissions accounting principles with the buildings sector and how this allowed companies to ‘artificially’ achieve emissions-reduction targets without tangibly improving the environmental performance of buildings. Given the sector’s limited share of renewable energy, the paper critiques the initiative’s disregard of buildings energy demand and questions how ‘science-based’ its interpretation of Net-Zero is. The paper introduces an alternative proposal whereby energy efficiency targets for buildings are derived from that share and, to be 1.5°C-aligned, companies within the sector must demonstrate that buildings they own, finance, or design comply with these targets.The uncritical application of emissions accounting principles to the buildings sector allows real estate companies to ‘artificially’ achieve their emissions-reduction targets through buying and selling properties.Without reducing the growing energy demand of the buildings sector, it is unlikely that the entirety of that demand could be supplied by the sector’s share of renewable energy, and thus a portion of it must be supplied through fossil fuels.This impedes the realization of a truly Net-Zero buildings sector and questions the extent to which the foundational principles of SBTi can be termed ‘science-based’.SBTi should develop energy efficiency targets for buildings that are derived from the sector’s share of renewable energy. To be 1.5°C-aligned, companies must demonstrate that the buildings they own, finance, or design comply with these targets.