Why are sustainable retrofits the fastest path to net-zero buildings?

Buildings are the world’s biggest consumers of energy, generating up to 37 percent of global CO2 emissions. Improving building energy efficiency is critical to reducing emissions; it offers one of the biggest opportunities to help meet global decarbonization ambition.  

About 50 percent of the buildings that exist today will still be in use in 2050 and roughly 70 percent of global building-related CO2 emissions are related to energy consumption and operational carbon emissions. Retrofitting existing buildings allows us to reduce their operational carbon emissions while limiting the amount of embodied carbon emitted. 

The good news is that the technology and services are available today to make meaningful progress toward net zero. Our recent research and modeling, based on a large office building (built in the early 2000s in northern mid-west US), shows that Schneider breadth of building and power technologies and renewable energy solutions can reduce up to 66 percent of a building’s operational carbon emissions. 

The challenge is that these solutions need to be implemented at least three times faster. We need business leaders to move from ambition to action and therefore we designed a simple three-step approach “strategize, digitize and decarbonize” with 10 associated priorities to help accelerate action and achieve net-zero building ambitions. 

To meet emissions targets, we must focus on solutions that are adaptable to various building types and climates and rapidly deployable with minimal disruption to existing building operations. 

While complete envelope and building system retrofits may be necessary in the long-term to achieve full decarbonization, the level of investment and disruption can be significant.  A technology-first approach that relies on modern digital and power management solutions is faster to implement, lower in upfront carbon, and more effective from both an ROI and lifecycle carbon perspective.  

These digital technologies exist today. They make energy more visible, drive efficiency and eliminate energy waste, and decarbonize the built environment taking a whole-lifecycle carbon approach. The convergence of electric and digital, what we call Electricity 4.0, is the fastest route to a net zero carbon world. 

How do we turn net-zero carbon ambition into action? Discover the 3-step approach

Before cutting carbon emissions, it’s important to understand the different types of carbon emissions that a building must manage to reach net zero. These categories are defined as emissions scopes (scope 1, 2, 3, and saved and avoided emissions) and highlight how reducing emissions from each scope can uniquely impact a sustainability strategy for a building. There are a few important factors to consider on the net-zero building journey: decarbonization, electrification and energy transition, energy security, digitalization and stranded assets risk.  

Always the best to start with setting up the strategy and that is what we propose – strategize. The first step is assessing your current situation at both the portfolio and building levels and creating a plan to deliver measurable results. 

1. Creating a decarbonization roadmap – you need to determine a carbon emission baseline, assess digital technology to identify gaps and inform the roadmap, assess technical and economic feasibility to prioritize actions, and modeling building retrofit scenarios to develop a roadmap and timeline. 

We’ll help you establish a strong plan with extensive expertise on carbon offsets and renewable energy markets, setting up reporting to align with various industry frameworks, and addressing decarbonization across your organization with assessments, roadmaps, and signature supplier engagement programs. 

The second step is digitize. Digital builds a smart future and with this step you can create a single source of truth for your energy and resource usage to make data-driven decisions and report on progress toward your goals. 

1. Track embodied carbon – Includes building information modeling (BIM) 

1. Measure and monitor energy and carbon – Includes: centralize energy supply and utility data, gain visibility of primary energy usage, and implement cloud-based analytics. 

The third step – decarbonize - is where most of the action takes place. You’ll reduce your carbon footprint at scale across your portfolio and strengthen your business, leveraging the insights from previous steps. 

1. Reduce energy and carbon – Includes: utilize building and power management systems, access space utilization data, optimize equipment performance through predictive maintenance, and leverage AI for real-time optimization 

1. Purchase offsite renewables – Includes: use power purchase agreements (PPAs), purchase energy attribute certificates (EACs) 

1. Electrify transport – Includes: converting fleet vehicles to electric, installing EV charging stations, managing EV charging loads 

1. Upgrade building electrical infrastructure – Includes: optimize electrical designs, modernize electrical distribution 

1. Install on-site renewables – Includes: install renewable energy, store distributed energy on-site, manage loads dynamically 

1. Limit embodied carbon – Includes: purchase low or no-carbon products, conduct circularity assessment, extend equipment life through better lifecycle maintenance 

1. Offset residual carbon emissions – Includes: purchase of carbon offsets 

As an Impact Company, Schneider Electric is committed to providing leading decarbonization solutions to help achieve net-zero buildings.