What is carbon neutral?
Contrary to what many may think, carbon neutral does not mean not emitting CO2 into the atmosphere in order not to worsen the greenhouse effect. This would be impossible, since practically all activities carried out in the world emit greenhouse gases.
Neutral carbon is related to practices implemented to not increase the amount of CO2 currently emitted, thus resulting in a neutralization – a null effect on global warming.
Another way to offset CO2 emissions into the atmosphere is through the purchase of carbon credits. It basically works as follows: an organization that works with reforestation, for example, can calculate how much CO2 it has removed from the atmosphere and sell the credit to an entrepreneur who needs to offset his greenhouse gas emissions.
Although the carbon credit market is not new and until then an object of interest to large industries, Thierry Botto, Director of Transactions at Cushman & Wakefield, explains that there is a growing movement in this practice: "we are seeing a growing interest from services that do not have an industrial park and want to offset the emissions caused by the use of their offices and the displacement of their professionals''.
Carbon neutral in property management
Recently, Cushman & Wakefield presented at the 16th Edition of the ABRAFAC Award its work ‘‘Contributions to carbon neutral property management’’, and exposed one of the managed business complexes where sustainability actions were implemented. The study aimed to explain the implementation of viable actions in business complexes, with the aim of moving towards the zero carbon ideal: ''the project in question was one of the examples, but initiatives of integrated management of solid waste, energy and water efficiency they can be replicated in different types of projects, such as logistics warehouses and large properties'', says Operations Manager and project manager, Gianlucca Oliveira.
In the Faria Lima region, in São Paulo, another corporate building also draws attention due to the adoption of practices to contribute to neutral carbon: ''energy chargers, rational use of water with a treatment plant for reuse, ecological roof with rainwater absorption and reduction of heat islands in the city and efficiency of systems and equipment, with around 14% energy savings, are some of the actions implemented in this building'', adds Stela Hirata, Director of Property Management at Cushman & Wakefield.
Both examples represent trends in the current world and indicate that these actions are likely to be the path to the continuity of large centers. Contributions to carbon neutral property management are needed today, as they not only bring technological innovations, but also allow us to collaborate with the environment and mitigate the effects of climate change.
In addition to the intangible benefits generated for planet Earth, the necessary investments in infrastructure and labor for effective control of waste and management of electricity and water consumption can be offset by the savings obtained by the property in the long term.
Carbon neutral at Cushman & Wakefield
In response to climate change, humanity has made progress in adopting measures to adapt to climate change, and, in this scenario, Cushman & Wakefield has also put into practice its own initiatives in the search for the reduction and neutralization of the emission of Greenhouse Gases.
The company is committed to the environment and aims to deliver products and services with high standards of socio-environmental care: ''as a real estate services company, the environmental impacts caused are mainly derived from the consumption of energy, water and waste generation in the offices and also on business trips'', says Cynthia Franco, Corporate Sustainability Consultant at Cushman & Wakefield.
Learn about some of the initiatives adopted by Cushman & Wakefield to contribute to carbon neutral:
• Management of energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption and waste generation through data collection and monitoring
• Holding of educational events and training for employees on environmental issues
• Calculation and reporting of consumption and emission of greenhouse gases annually
• Communication of environmental performance to stakeholders
In addition, Cushman & Wakefield recently committed to greenhouse gas emission reduction targets to comply with the Paris Agreement through the Science Based Targets (SBTi) initiative, with the following targets:
• Target 1: reduce absolute greenhouse gas emissions from offices and corporate operations by 50% by 2030
• Goal 2: Engage key customers, large property owners and occupiers to join the SBTi initiative by 2025
• Target 3: through the corporate ambition for 1.5 degrees, achieve zero carbon emissions in the value chain by 2050
With these goals, it is expected that, through global commitment, the increase in the average temperature of the planet will not exceed 2°C.
The fact is that either through initiatives implemented to reduce and offset carbon emissions into the atmosphere or even through the purchase of carbon credits, as mentioned, contributing to environmental causes has become increasingly possible with the help of specialized consulting.
Interested in implementing carbon neutral initiatives on your property? Get to know Cushman & Wakefield's Design and Development services and understand how they can help you with this and other sustainability actions.
