Financing Building Decarbonization

RMI's analysis of US building emissions reveals that building operations account for 23% of annual carbon emissions, with single-family homes (58%) and commercial buildings (37%) being the primary contributors. The report argues that current green capital flows are insufficient and should be redirected from large commercial buildings toward the retrofit of existing buildings, specifically targeting single-family homes and small-to-medium commercial properties to achieve meaningful climate goals.

• Building operations are responsible for 23% of the total annual carbon emissions in the United States, with the vast majority of these emissions coming from existing buildings, which have an annual addition or renovation rate of less than 1%.
• Single-family homes are the largest source of building emissions at 58%, while commercial buildings account for 37%, with 56% of those commercial emissions originating from small and medium-sized buildings.
• Current green capital flows are inadequate for sector decarbonization; the report concludes that investment should shift from large commercial buildings toward the retrofit of existing buildings, particularly single-family homes and small-to-medium commercial buildings.

APA

RMI (2024). Financing Building Decarbonization. https://rmi.org/resources/financing-building-decarbonization-leveraging-a-sector-wide-carbon-model-to-prioritize-capital-flows/

Chicago

RMI. Financing Building Decarbonization. 2024. https://rmi.org/resources/financing-building-decarbonization-leveraging-a-sector-wide-carbon-model-to-prioritize-capital-flows/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=Financing Building Decarbonization |date=6 March 2024 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/financing-building-decarbonization-leveraging-a-sector-wide-carbon-model-to-prioritize-capital-flows/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2024financing, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{Financing Building Decarbonization}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2024}, month = mar, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/financing-building-decarbonization-leveraging-a-sector-wide-carbon-model-to-prioritize-capital-flows/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }