Built Environemnt - Our Responsibility, Our Opportunitiy
Buildings are responsible for a third of global emissions - 26% from operations and 7% from construction. To achieve net-zero by 2050, all new buildings need to be net-zero from 2030. A significant leap from less than 5% of new buildings today.
Planning for climate change 7%
The International Energy Agency has warned us: we’re off track for net-zero by 2050, with emissions still rising. The time for incremental change is over — to meet the 2050 target for all buildings to be zero carbon, every new building needs to be all electric, highly efficient and ready to be powered by a renewable grid. To achieve net-zero by 2050, all new buildings need to be net-zero from 2030. A significant leap from less than 5% of new buildings today.
26%
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Buildings are responsible for a third of global emissions 26% from operations and 7% from construction.
We have the tools to decarbonise, let’s use them The Commonwealth Government’s Trajectory for Low Energy Buildings and the Climate Change Authority’s NetZero Built Environment Sector Pathway point in the right direction: “The built environment sector has a clear and potentially rapid decarbonisation pathway, with the required technologies being almost all commercially available now. A net-zero built environment would have high energy performance, be well-adapted to climate change impacts, and be highly liveable.” - Climate Change Authority, Built Environment Sector Pathway. We commend the Building Ministers Forum for pushing operational and embodied carbon measurement. But, without aligning the National Construction Code (NCC) with the necessary trajectory to zero emissions, we risk missing our targets and stifling innovation.
T3 Collingwood, VIC | Jackson Clements Burrows Architects | Photographer: Tom Blachford
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ARCHITECTURE INDUSTRY DECARBONISATION PLAN 2025-2030