Buildings

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Status: The Buildings Criteria is available for use for Certification. 

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What are the Building Criteria 

Climate Bonds Initiative have developed definitions for what constitutes a green activity or investment to facilitate the issuer’s issuance and market screening methodologies that monitor and record issuances across the full spectrum of labels (the GSS+).  This in turn indicates the pathway to raising capital to support decarbonisation in various sectors and hard to abate industries. Energy use according to Ritchie (2020) accounts for more than 70% Greenhouse Gas Emissions with Industry at 24.2%, Transport 16.2% and Buildings 17.5%.[i] Read more in our FAQs.

Financial instruments (bonds and loans) linked to these eligible assets, activities and entities will be aligned with the Paris Agreement and the goal of keeping global temperature rises to no more than 1.5oC above pre-industrial levels.

They are divided into three different types: 

• Commercial Buildings: buildings used for office space.
• Residential Buildings: buildings used for housing that includes single family, multi-family, and mixed use where more than 50% of the asset is residential. Subcategories of residential buildings have unique emissions performance profiles. Existing instruments such as local building codes, energy rating schemes (e.g. US Energy Star) and energy labeling schemes (e.g. Energy Performance Certificates in the EU) are leveraged as emission performance proxies (using the proxy methodology). 
• Upgrade Projects: Commercial, residential and some other types of buildings can be eligible for Certification, if they achieve an emission reduction of 30%-50% (depending on bond term) from a baseline.

The criteria were developed by the Low Carbon Buildings Technical Working Group, which is detailed below.

The first green bond certified under the Low Carbon Buildings criteria was issued by the ANZ Bank in May 2015, with proceeds of A$600m allocated to green buildings, wind energy and solar energy loans in Australia, New Zealand and parts of Asia.

Over 80 Climate Certified Bonds linked to Low Carbon Buildings have been issued since then, representing approximately a quarter of all the bonds so far.

 

 

 

 

 

 

TECHNICAL WORKING GROUP - Members

 

Investor Confidence Project (Environmental Defense Fund) Panama Bartholomy Director	Hermes Real Estate Tatiana Bosteels Head of Responsible Investment	Better Buildings Partnership Chris Botten Programme Manager	Clean Energy Finance Corporation Simon Brooker Executive Director
Investor Confidence Project (Environmental Defense Fund) Luís Castanheira Technical Director	Green Building Council Australia Jorge Chapa Head of Market Transformation	Verco Robert Cohen Technical Director	UNEP Finance Initiative Annie Degen-Neuville Special Advisor Long Term Finance and Energy Efficiency Coordinator
International Energy Agency John Dulac Buildings Sector Lead - Energy Technology & Policy	European Bank for Reconstruction  and Development Alexander Hadzhiivanov Associate Director, Sustainable Resource Investments	International Finance Corporation Prashant Kapoor Principal Industry Specialist	thinkstep Johannes Kreissig Vice President Building & Construction
Observatoire de l'Immobilier Durable LoÏs Moulas CEO	Buildings Performance Institute Europe Oliver Rapf Executive Director	EEVS Insight Alex Rathmell Director	Climate Strategy & Partners Peter Sweatman Chief Executive
Geophy Teun van den Dries Founder & CEO	Flux Consultants Ché Wall Director  TWG Lead Specialist	BRE Group Alan Yates Technical Director, Sustainability	European Commission (Joint Research Centre) Paolo Zancanella Officer

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Biographies of current members of the Technical Working Group are available here.

TECHNICAL WORKING GROUP - Past Members

• Tooraj Arvajeh, Chief Engineering Officer, BlocPower
• Thomas Boermans, Principal Consultant, Ecofys
• Catherine Bremner, Global Head of Sustainable Finance Solutions, ANZ
• Matthew Deegan, Director, Unity Finance
• Asari Efiong, Senior Policy Manager, European Commission 
• Hilary Elliot, Operations Manager, NPL Centre for Carbon Measurement
• Jacob Halcomb, Coordinator, Sustainable Buildings and Construction Programme, UNEP
• Matthias Kopp, Head of Low Carbon Business & Finance Sector, WWF
• Niall McCarthy, Executive Director, Eureka Funds Management
• Bettina Redway, Deputy Treasurer, State of California
• Brian Rice, Investment Officer, CalSTRS
• Victor Rojas, Senior Manager - Clean Energy Finance, Environmental Defense Fund
• Yamina Saheb, Senior Energy Policy Analyst, Openexp
• Kirsten Spalding, Director, Ceres
• Robert Tromop, Energy Efficiency Consultant
• Paolo Zangheri, Scientific Support Officer, European Commission (Joint Research Centre)

 

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Disclaimer: The Climate Bonds Standard Board operates legally as an advisory committee of the Climate Bonds Initiative Board and oversees the development of the Climate Bonds Standard. Neither the Climate Bonds Standard Board nor any organisation, individual or other person forming part of, or representing, the Climate Bonds Standard Board (together, "CBSB") accepts or owes any duty, liability or responsibility of any kind whatsoever to any issuer which wishes to apply for any of its bonds to be certified under the Climate Bonds Certification Scheme ("Scheme"), or to any issuer whose bonds may at any time be certified under the Scheme or to any other person or body whatsoever, whether with respect to the award or withdrawal of any certification under the Scheme or otherwise. All advice or recommendations with respect to any certification under the Scheme or otherwise that CBSB provides to the Climate Bonds Initiative Board is provided to it in an advisory capacity only and is not to be treated as provided or offered to any other person.

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Financial instruments (bonds and loans) linked to these eligible assets, activities and entities will be aligned with the Paris Agreement and the goal of keeping global temperature rises to no more than 1.5oC above pre-industrial levels.