Industry leaders release recommendations to accelerate the decarbonization of Canada’s commercial real estate buildings

Toronto, Canada – December 4, 2024 – REALPAC, the Canada Green Building Council® (CAGBC), and the PLACE Centre at the Smart Prosperity Institute have jointly released Decarbonizing Canada’s Commercial Buildings: The Owner & Investor Perspective, a report that highlights the barriers to decarbonizing Canada’s commercial buildings, with ten actionable recommendations to accelerate progress. This collaborative report underscores the critical need for the commercial real estate industry to work together with all levels of government, utilities, the appraisal community, and financial institutions to achieve ambitious climate goals.

Canada’s commercial real estate industry is a cornerstone of the economy, contributing $148 billion to GDP and employing over one million Canadians. Operational emissions from buildings account for 18 percent of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions. Commercial building owners know they have an important role to play in helping to achieve Canada’s climate goals and have already made progress reducing energy consumption and emissions. At the same time, the industry needs more collaboration and support to pursue deeper carbon reductions.

Key Highlights from the Report:

• Barriers: The report identifies six core barriers to decarbonization across the sector: technology, capital, valuation, energy, people, and data standards and disclosure, requiring urgent action from government, utilities, the appraisal community, financial institutions and industry stakeholders to overcome.
• Recommendations: The report provides ten recommendations, emphasizing the need for recognizing decarbonization investments in property valuations, expanding access to long-term low fixed-rate debt financing for retrofits and new developments, and ensuring building owners and investors have access to complete and standardized data. These targeted actions are essential to reducing barriers, driving investment, and aligning the commercial real estate sector with Canada’s low carbon goals.
• Economic opportunities: Decarbonization investments offer significant potential to future-proof assets, reduce operational costs, and mitigate regulatory and market risks. However, unlocking these benefits requires stronger financial incentives from governments, financial institutions, and utilities, and policy alignment across all levels of government, the appraisal community, utilities, and the commercial real estate industry.

Call to Action

REALPAC, CAGBC, and the PLACE Centre urge government leaders, utilities, financial institutions, and industry stakeholders to adopt the recommendations in this report. Achieving meaningful progress will require bold action, including policy changes, investment in clean energy infrastructure, and a shared commitment to a low-carbon future.

Learn more at decarbonizebuildings.ca.

Media Contacts:
For CAGBC: media@cagbc.org

For REALPAC:
Darryl Neate
VP Sustainability, REALPAC
dneate@realpac.ca