Accelerating the Decarbonization of Buildings: The Net-Zero Carbon Cities Building Value Framework

The World Economic Forum's Building Value Framework addresses the financing barriers to net-zero buildings by expanding the definition of value beyond traditional financial metrics to include social, environmental, and systemic performance outcomes. The framework emphasizes three key strategies for maximizing value: bundling decarbonization technologies, investing in digital tools for data-driven management, and utilizing buildings to provide services to the broader city ecosystem. These insights are supported by case studies in Brussels and Turin and are operationalized through a nine-point checklist for asset owners and investors.

• Buildings are a primary driver of urban and global emissions, with construction and operation accounting for 38% of global emissions and 50-70% of emissions within cities.
• Operational emissions, stemming from systems like HVAC, lighting, and IT servers, constitute approximately 75% of building emissions, while embodied carbon from materials and construction makes up the remaining 25%.
• Financing remains a major obstacle to sustainable building investment, with 53% of respondents in a World Green Building Council report identifying higher upfront costs, whether real or perceived, as the primary barrier.
• The Building Value Framework encourages linking non-financial outcomes—such as user satisfaction, socio-economic improvement, and systemic value efficiency—to financial metrics like reduced vacancy risk or increased rental income.
• Bundling complementary decarbonization technologies increases aggregate impact and system resilience; for example, combining solar PV and geothermal wells can minimize operating emissions and lower costs more effectively than using either technology alone.
• Digitalization and data fluency amplify the benefits of low-carbon technologies by enabling predictive maintenance, automated building management, and optimized resource deployment across portfolios.
• Buildings can accelerate city-wide decarbonization by providing ecosystem services, such as demand or frequency response to the grid and smart EV charging, which reduces the need for disruptive grid upgrades.
• To meet Paris Agreement goals, the annual renovation rate of building stock in Europe must increase from the current 1-1.5% to between 2-5%.

APA

World Economic Forum (2022). Accelerating the Decarbonization of Buildings: The Net-Zero Carbon Cities Building Value Framework. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Accelerating_the_Decarbonization_of_Buildings_2022.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Accelerating the Decarbonization of Buildings: The Net-Zero Carbon Cities Building Value Framework. 2022. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Accelerating_the_Decarbonization_of_Buildings_2022.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Accelerating the Decarbonization of Buildings: The Net-Zero Carbon Cities Building Value Framework |date=January 2022 |url=https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Accelerating_the_Decarbonization_of_Buildings_2022.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2022accelerating, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Accelerating the Decarbonization of Buildings: The Net-Zero Carbon Cities Building Value Framework}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2022}, month = jan, url = {https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Accelerating_the_Decarbonization_of_Buildings_2022.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }