Blue Module supports measuring CO2 risks property via CRREM
Blue Module has implemented CRREM in its ESG software. CRREM is an increasingly important standard to measure and benchmark building-level data against the UN Paris Climate Agreement, where the goal is net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050.
'Our ESG process and project management software now makes it much easier for owners to collect the data per individual property to benchmark their property against the UN Paris Climate Agreement,' said Jan Willem de Graaf, Founder and CTO of Blue Module.
'Stranded' buildings
CRREM was developed by the Institute for Real Estate Economics (Austria), GRESB and TIAS in Tilburg, among others. The CRREM standard is being used by a growing number of investors to assess their portfolios for Parisian alignment, identify buildings at high risk of 'stranding', and analyse the impact of retrofits. Investors have been warned that buildings will be stranded in the coming years due to poor sustainability scores and increasing government regulation on CO2 emissions. The mandatory C-labelling of office buildings in the Netherlands is just a harbinger of this.
The application developed by Blue Module gives owners instant insight into which buildings are most exposed to climate-related risks and how this could affect your portfolio over time - on a country and global level. De Graaf: 'Each country in Europe has a different route towards 2050 in this respect. For example, Belgium has stricter standards than the Netherlands and Norway's CRREM curve is a fraction of that of the Netherlands. Of course, this also has everything to do with how energy is generated in different countries.' Norway has a lot of renewable energy and Belgium gets energy from nuclear power plants that do not emit CO2. Compared to these 2 countries, the Netherlands is more dependent on energy from oil and gas and so the task of achieving the Paris Goals is also greater.
Each property type has its own curve
Within CRREM, the different property types residential, office, retail, commercial have their own curves. These differences are also supported by Blue Module.
The real estate sector is responsible for about 38% of energy consumption and 29% of all greenhouse gas emissions in the EU, and therefore plays a crucial role in the EU's efforts to make the economy greenhouse gas free. An ambitious renovation policy could reduce energy demand by up to 46% by 2030 (European Commission). To improve the energy consumption of buildings, the real estate sector should pay increasing attention to limiting direct and indirect emissions resulting from the construction phase of new buildings or renovations, and, where applicable, decommissioning at the end of the economic lifecycle.
