A Summary of the Framework for Common Metrics

With Regard to Global Warming Potential of

Buildings

November 2009

Produced in conjunction with members of

BRE (Global), USGBC, GBCA and Sustainable Buildings Alliance (SBA)

 
Following extensive international co-operation, leading experts from around
the world have developed a universal method of measuring a building’s
carbon footprint.

Developed by the World leading rating tools and supported by the United
Nations Environment Program, this new ‘Common Carbon Metric’ will allow
emissions from buildings everywhere to be consistently assessed and
compared, and improvements measured. It is a vital step in reducing the
contribution of buildings to climate change.

Why focus on buildings?

If carbon emissions from buildings are not heavily reduced, overall carbon reduction
targets will not be met and the consequences for the world’s climate will be very
severe. This is because buildings are responsible for more than a third of global
carbon emissions, and in most countries they form the largest emissions source.

Significantly reducing building emissions is a genuinely realistic and practical goal,

however, and one that could make a real difference to the climate change threat. It
has been estimated, for example, that with proven and commercially available
technologies, the energy consumption in both new and existing buildings could be
cut by 30-50% without significantly increasing investment costs.

Achieving this will require a universal method of measuring carbon emissions that
can be applied worldwide – a Common Carbon Metric – so that all buildings can be
reliably assessed and compared, and improvements authoritatively measured.

While all stages of a building’s life cycle (including construction and demolition)
produce carbon emissions, the operation of a building accounts for 80-90% of
emissions. They results from using energy for heating, cooling, ventilation, lighting
and appliances, etc. It is on the that phase of the life cycle, therefore, that work to
develop a Common Carbon Metric has so far focussed.

Who is behind the Common Carbon Metric?

There are well established methods of assessing and rating the environmental
performance of buildings in several countries. An alliance of Green Building
Councils, GBCA, UKGBC and USGBC and the BRE Trust (the owners of BREEAM),
signed a memorandum of understanding in March 2009 to develop a common
carbon metric. This joined with the work of the SB Alliance whose members of the

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core group working on common metrics included (BRE Global/BREEAM, CSTB,
DGNB, FCAV, ITC, NIST, VTT)

These schemes operate effectively in their regions and all include ways of measuring
carbon emissions, but take varying approaches that make international comparisons
difficult. Recognising the importance of developing a Common Carbon Metric,
virtually all of the leading schemes for rating the environmental performance of
buildings have worked together in 2009 to produce a universally acceptable means
of assessing carbon emissions from buildings. A more holistic assessment of a
building should be made wherever possible, with the carbon metric used for that part
of the assessment, with recognised, accredited tools where practicable

This work has received an important boost from the support of The United Nations
Environment Program’s Sustainable Buildings & Climate Initiative (UNEP-SBCI),
which has also proposed, ‘a common carbon metric to support greenhouse gas
emissions reductions through accurate measurement of energy efficiency
improvements in building operations’.

What is being measured?

Working in close co-operation, the environmental ratings organisations and UNEP-

SBCI have developed a common method of measuring carbon emissions that takes
two complementary approaches. One assesses performance at the building level
(bottom-up), and the other at the regional level (top-down).

The bottom-up approach focuses on the technical detail of a building’s energy use
and resulting emissions. It looks at the operation of building-incorporated services
such as space and water heating, cooling, air conditioning and ventilation, water
provision and sewage, and lifts and escalators. It also assesses services that are not
incorporated, such as computers, printers, washing machines and refrigerators, the
maintenance, repair and refurbishment processes, and transport to and from the
building.

This approach provides the information needed by building designers, engineers and
managers to improve building performance and reduce carbon emissions.

The top-down approach considers a selection of key issues to assess the overall
performance of particular types of building, or of buildings at regional and national
levels. It provides the bigger picture information needed by policy makers.

The actual measurement that has been agreed is the mass of carbon dioxide
equivalent (Kg CO2-eq – i.e. the unit of greenhouse gas emissions based on impacts
over a 100-year period) emitted per square metre per year:

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Common Carbon Metric = kgCO2-eq/m2/annum per building type

In the developing the Common Carbon Metric, a number of principles were agreed
by the participating organisations. For example, the method should be:
Open and transparent – information on how it has been developed must be open to
all, and its application must be demonstrably consistent and fair.
Pragmatic and flexible – for example, the metrics are suitable for a variety of
building types, and meet the need for local variations in presenting results. They can
be used accurately for any scale of development.
Auditable – the measurement results must be independently assessed for accuracy
as part of a comprehensive, third-party green building certification process.
Realistic – limits in time, budgets and data mean it will seldom be possible to
include absolutely all contributions to a building’s emissions. Therefore a cut-off rule
will ensure consideration of at least 90% of emissions.

Part of a wider assessment

It is important that although we measure and reduce the impact of carbon in new and
existing buildings, any assessment should be undertaken as part of a wider
assessment of the building to ensure all its impacts are understood and reduced.

What happens now?

The use of Common Carbon Metric to measure emissions from the operation of
buildings will now be tested and further refined over a 12 month pilot period.

The measurement of carbon emissions resulting for the other phases – construction
and demolition – of a building’s life cycle will shortly be addressed. It will then be
possible to assess the building in three modules: ‘before use’, ‘in use’ and ‘after use’,
with each being reported on individually.

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