RICS Contributes to Report on Decarbonization Delivered to US Policymakers

RICS, as part of our continued efforts to support decarbonization in the built environment, works with partners and stakeholders from across industries to address the impact of building on the climate.  As a member of the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) Consultative Council, RICS has contributed to the NIBS Moving Forward Report which is issued annually to US policy makers, including the White House, to highlight pressing issues facing the building sector and related industries.

The report examines embodied and operational carbon and greenhouse gases in existing buildings and new construction, providing recommendations directly to President Joe Biden.  While many of these recommendations align with discussions RICS is having with policymakers around the world, there was a specific call for the administration to “ensure all actions and mandates work from a common definition of decarbonization with a focus on shared, publicly available data”. This approach is supported explicitly by RICS’ efforts to promote transparency and consistency in reporting on carbon and cost.  RICS’ contributions to the report highlight our work in the following areas:

• The RICS Whole life carbon assessment (WLCA) for the built environment has now become the world-leading standard for carbon measurement in the built environment. The second edition of the WLCA is planned to be released in the summer of 2023.
• RICS, as part of the International Cost Management Standard (ICMS) Coalition, has developed the world’s first integrated taxonomy for life cycle cost and life cycle carbon emissions to contribute positively to efforts to decarbonize the construction sector in the most cost-effective way. Professionals are empowered to deliver a globally consistent method for carbon life cycle reporting across construction projects.
• RICS, with a consortium of professional bodies, is developing a Built Environment Carbon Database (BECD). The schema of this database can be used to develop a national benchmarking database for early cost and carbon advice on new and existing assets. While this solution is currently available only for the UK, the intention is to develop this globally.

Collaborative efforts like this in the US and internationally continue to place RICS and members at the forefront of helping reduce the impact of the built environment on the growing climate crisis.

For additional information of about what RICS is doing to help support decarbonization in North America, please reach out to Michael Zuriff at mzuriff@rics.org.