sintali-web-logo-black-1sintali-web-logo-black-1sintali-web-logo-black-1sintali-web-logo-black-1
  • About Sintali
    • About Us
    • Careers
    • Our Services
    • Our Partners
    • Sustainability
  • EDGE Certification
      • EDGE
      • About EDGE
      • Our Approach
      • Zero Carbon Portfolio
      • Pricing
      • Technical Queries
      • Expedited Reviews
      • Get a Quote
      • EDGE Training
      • EDGE Experts Training
      • Book Training
      • Request Training
      • Resources
      • Case Studies
      • FAQs
      • List of Banks
  • Green Finance
  • Training program
    • EDGE Experts Training
    • Book Training
    • Request Training
  • Resources
    • Blog
    • News
    • Webinars
CONTACT US

Why Focus on Buildings in Your Sustainability Strategy?

Published by Eleni Polychroniadou on March 28, 2022
Categories
  • Blog
Tags

There are so many sustainability commitments in the market right now. Just some of the acronyms you might have come across are Science-Based Targets (SBTs), the Climate Pledge, Race to Zero, RE100, to name but a few.

Most climate commitments are related to a company’s total carbon footprint. In other words, companies commit to quantifying their total greenhouse gas emissions (otherwise known as the carbon footprint) and then reducing that over time in relative or absolute terms.

As a quick re-cap for those less familiar with the terminology, under the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, which was developed to standardise frameworks around the world to measure and manage greenhouse gases, emissions are split into three categories: scope 1, scope 2 and scope 3 emissions.

Scope 1 covers the company’s direct greenhouse gas emissions, so the emissions directly from operations that are owned or controlled by the company.

Scope 2 covers the footprint of the indirect greenhouse gas emissions from the generation of purchased or acquired electricity, steam, heating, or cooling consumed by the company.

Scope 3 covers all indirect emissions (not included in scope 2) that occur in the value chain of the reporting company, including both upstream and downstream emissions.

At a corporate level, typically targets are most stringent for scope 1 and 2 emissions as those are in a company’s direct control, though lately more emphasis is being placed on scope 3 as it represents a larger portion of greenhouse gas impact for most companies. 

So where do buildings come in?

Buildings contribute to a company’s overall carbon footprint, though the exact amount will depend on a few factors such as what type of company it is, whether the buildings it occupies are leased or owned and operated by the company, and what other greenhouse gas emitting activities it is involved in.

For example, a real estate company might have most of its total carbon footprint coming from buildings whereas a food services company might have a much smaller percentage of its total carbon footprint coming from buildings because of the impact of its supply chain and operations.

Regardless of that though, every single company will have to consider the impact of its infrastructure when it is looking at reducing its carbon footprint.

So, it isn’t a question of if you should consider your building but rather what to do and what level of priority you assign to it.  

Why start with buildings?

In the world of sustainability, everything is a competing priority. There are limited hours in a day, limited budget, and about 1,000 things to do and achieve. So why should a company prioritise the impact of its buildings over something else? 

The short answer: there are easy wins when you focus on your buildings.

Companies looking at setting out plans to meet net zero will need to address scope 1 and scope 2 emissions. While switching to renewable energy can help meet many targets and address the topic of buildings in a decarbonisation plan, reducing the total energy consumption is equally important, particularly as the transition to a greener grid is in progress.

Focusing on the energy efficiency of buildings, for example, can provide easy wins for emissions reductions and provide additional business benefits such as reduced operational costs. When every decision around sustainability is scrutinised by C-level executives, the board, and investors, the ability to quantify impacts easily and to prove additional benefits beyond the environment can go a long way. 

What’s even possible with buildings? 

It will depend on how much control a company has over its building stock but there are many elements, from green leases to retrofitting the building to improving the energy efficiency impact of the building to switching to the procurement of 100% renewable energy for the buildings to only occupying or developing green-certified buildings. 

It’s hard to generalise what a company should focus on to reduce its carbon footprint because every industry and organisation will be different. What is certain though is that all companies will need to review the impact of their buildings, and they may be surprised by what they find!

Share
1
Eleni Polychroniadou
Eleni Polychroniadou
Eleni Polychroniadou is the Commercial Director and a Co-Founder at Sintali. In her role, Eleni leads the commercial division of the organisation and drives business development activities to help the EDGE market grow internationally.

Related posts

January 31, 2023

Green Building: A portfolio approach


Read more
December 15, 2022

Sintali brings you a Year in Review


Read more
November 4, 2022

How to make infrastructure projects bankable in Africa


Read more


Recent News

  • Green Building: A portfolio approach
  • Sintali Co-Founder named one of 2023’s most inspiring female entrepreneurs
  • Sintali brings you a Year in Review
  • Sintali partners with consulting company Zero Energy Building to accelerate the uptake of EDGE in Greece
  • Case Study: Aga Khan Academy, Bangladesh

Blog Archive

  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • July 2020

Categories

  • Blog
  • Events
  • Knowledge Hub
  • News
  • Uncategorized
CONTACT US

Sintali Limited
Cardinal Point Park Road
Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire
WD3 1RE, United Kingdom

Tel: +44 (0)204 522 8601

sales@sintali.com
STAY CONNECTED

Follow us on social media and get updates in real time


JOIN THE COMMUNITY

Stay up to date with the latest from Sintali

© 2022 Sintali Limited
Website design by Create + Deploy
  • Home
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Cookie settingsACCEPT ALL
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.

CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-advertisement1 yearThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Advertisement".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.

Functional

Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.

Performance

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

Analytics

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

CookieDurationDescription
_ga2 yearsThis cookie is installed by Google Analytics. The cookie is used to calculate visitor, session, campaign data and keep track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookies store information anonymously and assign a randomly generated number to identify unique visitors.
_gid1 dayThis cookie is installed by Google Analytics. The cookie is used to store information of how visitors use a website and helps in creating an analytics report of how the website is doing. The data collected including the number visitors, the source where they have come from, and the pages visted in an anonymous form.

Advertisement

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.

Others

Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.

CookieDurationDescription
_gat_gtag_UA_176578450_11 minuteNo description
asp_transient_idsessionNo description

SAVE & ACCEPT
Powered by CookieYes Logo