Buildings Criteria - Low carbon New Buildings Guidance to Scope 3 Accounting and Reporting Draft for public consultation

This guidance document from the Climate Bonds Initiative provides a framework for companies in the Low-carbon Buildings Sector to account for and report Scope 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. It aligns the GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain Standard with the specific needs of the building and construction value chain, identifying target reporting categories for various stakeholders such as developers, asset managers, and architecture firms.

• The guidance is designed to help companies in the Climate Bonds Low-carbon Buildings Sector report Scope 3 emissions in a consistent manner, adhering to the GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Accounting and Reporting Standard.
• The document utilizes the GHG Protocol's classification of emissions into three scopes: Scope 1 (direct emissions from owned or controlled sources), Scope 2 (indirect emissions from purchased energy), and Scope 3 (all other indirect emissions in a company's value chain).
• Scope 3 emissions are divided into 15 categories, split between upstream and downstream activities. Upstream categories include purchased goods and services (Cat 1), capital goods (Cat 2), and fuel- and energy-related activities (Cat 3), while downstream categories include the use of sold products (Cat 11) and end-of-life treatment of sold products (Cat 12).
• The guidance identifies specific 'intended users' within the building value chain who are required to report Scope 3 emissions, including architecture/engineering firms, property developers, property/asset managers, owner-lessors, owner-occupiers, and construction firms.
• The document maps Life Cycle Stages of a built environment project to specific GHG Protocol reporting categories. Stages A1-A5 (embodied emissions) are reported under Categories 1, 2, and/or 4; operational emissions (B1, B2, B3, B6) and renovation embodied emissions (B4, B5) map to Categories 1, 10, and 13; and end-of-life embodied emissions (C1-C4) map to Categories 5 or 12.

APA

Climate Bonds Initiative (n.d.). Buildings Criteria - Low carbon New Buildings Guidance to Scope 3 Accounting and Reporting Draft for public consultation. https://www.climatebonds.net/files/drupal-files/files/standards/guidance-note-new-buildings-criteria-ghg-accounting-v0-1-draft-for-public-review.pdf

Chicago

Climate Bonds Initiative. Buildings Criteria - Low carbon New Buildings Guidance to Scope 3 Accounting and Reporting Draft for public consultation. n.d. https://www.climatebonds.net/files/drupal-files/files/standards/guidance-note-new-buildings-criteria-ghg-accounting-v0-1-draft-for-public-review.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate Bonds Initiative |title=Buildings Criteria - Low carbon New Buildings Guidance to Scope 3 Accounting and Reporting Draft for public consultation |url=https://www.climatebonds.net/files/drupal-files/files/standards/guidance-note-new-buildings-criteria-ghg-accounting-v0-1-draft-for-public-review.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climatebondsinitiativendbuildings, author = {{Climate Bonds Initiative}}, title = {{Buildings Criteria - Low carbon New Buildings Guidance to Scope 3 Accounting and Reporting Draft for public consultation}}, institution = {Climate Bonds Initiative}, url = {https://www.climatebonds.net/files/drupal-files/files/standards/guidance-note-new-buildings-criteria-ghg-accounting-v0-1-draft-for-public-review.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }