A guide to decarbonizing the built environment

The built environment accounts for approximately 40% of global energy use and emissions, necessitating urgent transformation across urban planning, transportation, construction, and finance. Key priorities include the adoption of electric vehicles, the use of digital twins to reduce energy inefficiency in buildings, and the retrofitting of existing building stocks. The author emphasizes that the real estate sector must collaborate with other public and private entities to address the social and environmental crises driven by climate change.

• The built environment is a major contributor to climate change, accounting for roughly 40% of total global energy use and emissions.
• Cities are highly vulnerable to climate change, with 14 of the 17 largest cities globally located on coasts, and they collectively produce 75% of global emissions.
• Concrete production is a significant source of pollution, contributing 8% of total global emissions, which necessitates a radical change in how new buildings are designed and constructed.
• Digital twins are an effective tool for reducing emissions because typical buildings use 3.8 times more energy than their designed usage.
• Financial markets are increasingly pricing climate risk into real estate, with sustainable finance growing exponentially and affecting the cost and availability of debt and equity.

APA

Rose, M. E. (2022). A guide to decarbonizing the built environment. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/stories/energy-transition/decarbonizing-the-built-environment/

Chicago

Rose, Mark Edward. A guide to decarbonizing the built environment. World Economic Forum, 2022. https://www.weforum.org/stories/energy-transition/decarbonizing-the-built-environment/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Rose |first1=Mark Edward |title=A guide to decarbonizing the built environment |publisher=World Economic Forum |date=17 January 2022 |url=https://www.weforum.org/stories/energy-transition/decarbonizing-the-built-environment/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rose2022guide, author = {Rose, Mark Edward}, title = {{A guide to decarbonizing the built environment}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2022}, month = jan, url = {https://www.weforum.org/stories/energy-transition/decarbonizing-the-built-environment/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }