The Decarbonization Blueprint: Reducing Emissions and Creating Value in Existing Buildings report and USGBC’s Corporate Practice Toolkit for High-Performance Buildings come as the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) Limiting Overshoot report calls for urgent action to mitigate the effects of exceeding 1.5°C, a likely near-term outcome.
“The existing building stock represents one of the most immediate levers we have for carbon reduction – and the challenge isn’t awareness, its activation,” said Sarah Zaleski, Chief products officer, USGBC and Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI). “Building tenants, owners and operators are asking for higher performing buildings; what they need is a credible, structured pathway that connects ambition to action. USGBC is meeting that need by providing the frameworks, tools and expertise needed to decarbonize existing buildings and helping companies develop internal policies and align procurement with their goals.”
LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is the world’s most widely used green building rating system. The Decarbonization Blueprint report draws on data from nearly 11,000 LEED for Building Operations and Maintenance (LEED O+M) certified projects across 90 countries, representing 5 billion square feet.
These projects have achieved an estimated 10.3 million metric tons of annual greenhouse gas emission savings and 81.8 million metric tons of cumulative reductions across a comprehensive view of emissions sources. The report highlights, among other measures, how projects are using low global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants to reduce impacts while working to minimize refrigerant leakage, a critical yet less frequently discussed component of decarbonization.
The report also documents how performance-based frameworks can deliver measurable emissions reductions, operational value and long-term decarbonization outcomes at scale. Through data and illustrative examples, it demonstrates that emissions reduction can be achieved and verified across diverse markets and building types.
The Empire State Building in New York is cited as one example of how verified performance is reshaping existing buildings. It is the first LEED v5 Platinum project in New York. Beginning in 2009, Empire State Realty Trust (ESRT) implemented one of the most successful deep energy retrofits of an existing building in the world.
ESRT designed the energy retrofit as part of a broader renovation to demonstrate the business case for large-scale decarbonization of existing commercial assets and published all tools and methods as open-source resources for replication.
The building has achieved a 59% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions since 2007. As of December 2024, it had achieved a 9.6% reduction in energy consumption relative to its 2023 baseline. The Empire State Building aims to be a net zero building by 2030, with an 80% reduction in operational carbon emissions by 2030.
USGBC’s Corporate Practice Toolkit for High-Performance Buildings provides practical guidance and model language to help organizations implement policies, make procurement decisions and undertake building-scale actions aligned with their real estate portfolio goals.
The toolkit consists of the Corporate Policy Guide for High-Performance Buildings and the Corporate Procurement Guide for High-Performance Buildings.
A corporate green building policy establishes internal guidelines that support decision-making across all aspects of real estate, from capital planning and site selection to the design, construction, operation and maintenance of owned or leased assets. Compiling these expectations into a coherent written policy embedded in corporate governance structures is an essential step toward consistent practices that turn one-off green building investments into portfolio-wide strategies.
Corporate sustainability leads, building professionals and other stakeholders can use the free, interactive toolkit to set policies, identify strategies and use sample language to scale portfolio-wide action toward corporate goals such as decarbonization and resilience.
The toolkit covers green building certification, risk and resilience, decarbonization, energy and water, and indoor air quality, among other topics. The guides also feature peer examples to provide context and help make the case to corporate leaders.
“Organizations are facing mounting pressure from investors, tenants, and regulators to demonstrate measurable progress on sustainability, yet many lack the in-house expertise to translate goals into practical company-wide actions,” said Elizabeth Beardsley, senior policy counsel, USGBC. “By making it easier for organizations to establish and execute green building policies, we’re accelerating a market-wide transformation toward high-performance buildings.”
USGBC’s new tools are designed to help more companies access green building strategies by explaining pathways, illustrating outcomes and co-benefits, and providing examples. Green building retrofit projects consistently deliver both operational savings and asset value to owners.
The tools are intended to help companies implement their decarbonization and resilience goals while achieving positive financial outcomes. The Decarbonization Blueprint report also cites studies showing that energy-efficient commercial buildings can command higher sale prices, rental premiums and occupancy rates, translating into higher asset valuations and revenue. Other benefits include reduced exposure to building performance penalties and the potential for reduced insurance premiums.
These financial performance indicators demonstrate how decarbonization can be considered not only an environmental imperative but also a business strategy.
USGBC’s pathways for decarbonizing existing assets are structured to meet organizations at different stages of their journey to high performance, from those beginning to track operational performance to those planning deep reductions across global portfolios.
Frameworks such as LEED O+M and PERFORM, alongside strategic decarbonization plans, standardize measurement, drive operational improvements and maintain documentation trails that support credible ESG disclosures and assurance-ready data.
Both The Decarbonization Blueprint report and the Corporate Practice Toolkit are available on the USGBC website.
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) accelerates and scales the transformation of the built environment to minimize climate impacts and enhance the well-being of people, the environment and communities worldwide. USGBC leads market transformation through LEED and other green building certification and enablement programs, robust educational offerings, an international network of industry leaders, the annual Greenbuild International Conference & Expo, the Center for Green Schools, and advocacy in support of public policy that encourages and enables green buildings and communities. For more information, visit usgbc.org and connect on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI) is the world’s leading sustainability and health certification and credentialing body, independently recognizing excellence in performance and practice globally while promoting adoption of building and business practices that continually and measurably improve health, equity, resilience and environmental wellbeing for all. GBCI administers project certifications and professional credentials and certificates including Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating systems, as well as the PEER standard for power systems, the Sustainable SITES Initiative (SITES), EDGE (Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies), TRUE certification for zero waste and Investor Confidence Project (ICP) for energy efficiency retrofits.
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