Carbon Neutral Buildings Program

Working with a client, BGIS has developed a comprehensive and novel Carbon Neutral Buildings Program to prioritise portfolio decarbonization. With consideration of all the elements of service delivery, such as procurement, energy management, and portfolio planning, BGIS was able to develop a uniform methodology that changed how both decarbonization innovation is applied and the consulting industry’s approach to carbon reduction. BGIS’s Carbon Neutral Study Program is key to supporting their client’s achievement of Net Zero by 2050, and that’s a key we should copy.

 

The Carbon Neutral Program BGIS developed to support their client’s carbon reduction targets is both innovative and replicable and therefore worth paying attention to.

It was designed (utilizing the Carbon Neutral methodology BGIS co-created with their client) to achieve several strategic objectives. BGIS wanted a program that would align the client’s real property portfolio with the client’s commitment to decarbonization. The program needed to prioritise decarbonization projects as part of the portfolio planning process as well as demonstrate that decarbonization at a portfolio level is achievable. The goal was to come up with a plan that met the client’s laudable goals and represented the best value.

Leveraging the options methodology, BGIS developed a comprehensive Carbon Neutral Study Program that was able to baseline the current performance of the portfolio and establish a robust carbon reduction options data set, to enable future strategic planning activities. This data set was applied to the client’s buildings portfolio across the country, representing more than 75% of the portfolio emissions. This allowed the BGIS team to identify trends and opportunities while establishing archetypal work plans. The development of the Carbon Neutral Buildings Program represented something that hadn’t been done before on this scale. The BGIS team was entering new and uncharted territory.

The Carbon Neutral Study program strives away from the traditional approach. The team’s consultant who undertook the first studies ended up having a measurably different set of assumptions and expectations than those held by the BGIS team. This caused friction, delays, rework, negotiation, and compromise. It also forced the team to determine what was essential to the development of their strategic plan and what they could do without. Nevertheless, the team carried on.

Applying innovative carbon reduction strategies to a diverse portfolio can be challenging, while integrating priorities and fiscal responsibility. With consideration of all the elements of service delivery, such as procurement, energy management, and portfolio planning, BGIS was able to develop a uniform methodology that changed both how decarbonization innovation is applied and the consulting industry’s approach to carbon reduction.

BGIS’s Carbon Neutral Buildings Program is key to supporting their client’s achievement of Net Zero by 2050.