Accelerating decarbonization in the built environment is essential for a sustainable future, writes the consulting company McKinsey in its new report “Building value by decarbonizing the built environment”. The built environment ecosystem consists of real estate and infrastructure, such as homes, offices, factories, and highways. It is responsible for about a quarter of the world’s greenhouse-gas emissions, according to a statement.
McKinsey’s analysis of the most effective solutions available today shows that companies across the built environment could derive value immediately from less-emissive technologies and solutions. “Further decarbonization levers would be cost-effective by 2030 if they are industrialized—that is, produced and implemented at scale with a focus on quality, cost, and time to market,” write the analysts.
The report highlights 22 levers that can potentially reduce overall emissions from the built environment by up to 75 per cent if implemented at scale in the next five to ten years due to their “high abatement potential, cost-effectiveness, and applicability across archetypes and regions”. For example, space heating and water heating emissions compose three-quarters of operational emissions on average for residential buildings, it writes. Heat pumps alone can reduce these emissions by about 60 per cent.
“Because the built environment encompasses the whole planet, the movement toward its decarbonization needs to be global in scope,” writes McKinsey. It explains that the built environment accounts for 14.4 metric gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalent of emissions around the world annually. Approximately 26 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions come from the construction and operation of the built environment. ce/em
