Climate risk assessment of buildings: An analysis of operating emissions of commercial offices in Australia

Building climate risk assessment involves benchmarking a building's energy use intensity against decarbonisation pathways to mitigate the impacts on climate change. Various climate risk assessment tools and frameworks are used for commercial buildings in different jurisdictions. This study reviewed 20 climate risk assessment tools based on their availability, application and underlying framework. Due to being the only available tool that sets global targets with local benchmarks in Australia to assess the risks associated with energy use in commercial offices, Carbon Risk Real Estate Monitor (CRREM) was chosen. Using the CRREM tool, 431 commercial office buildings across Australia are benchmarked and the results were compared based on climate zones, jurisdictions, locations and sustainability ratings. Results revealed that 58.2% (n = 251) of buildings met the energy use targets. Most energy-efficient offices are found in the VIC state, within the Central Business District of Melbourne. Conversely, improvement is needed in Darwin, Northern Territory. The buildings at climate risk (41.8%, n = 180) need to reduce their on-site energy intensity by an aggregated net performance gap of 5484 kWh/m2/year in total. This significant shortfall highlights the critical imperative for all buildings to swiftly align with decarbonisation pathways, ensuring they meet 2050 climate change targets.