Scaling Progress: The International Living Future Institute Announces Strategic Collaboration With Four Major Companies To Advance Carbon Verification in Buildings
ILFI is enhancing its renowned carbon certification program with support from corporate giants Amazon, JLL, JPMorgan Chase, and Prologis. This work aims to update and relaunch the program, ensuring that it remains the industry’s most rigorous and continues to drive progress in building decarbonization.
June 26, 2024 /3BL/ - The International Living Future Institute (ILFI) Zero Carbon Certification offers organizations a valuable tool to demonstrate credible climate action. Certified buildings are third-party verified after a 12-month performance period to be energy efficient, combustion-free (or actively phasing out combustion), powered by renewables, and built with lower embodied carbon than typical buildings. Launched in 2018, ILFI’s program is considered the leading performance-based certification program for embodied and operational carbon in the real estate sector. The current version of the certification is geared toward new construction and major renovation projects.
Now, ILFI is advancing the research and the standard -- and collaborating with four industry-leading companies to help make it happen. Amazon, JLL, JPMorgan Chase, and Prologis are providing support and expertise as ILFI develops the next version of the program, including the addition of a certification pathway for existing assets.
With support from these companies, ILFI is developing new guidance, including explicit guidance for existing building assets seeking certification without undertaking major capital projects. With greater applicability for more projects, the program update will drive further adoption of the market toward lower carbon buildings and operations. Through this collaboration, ILFI will extend its certification program to apply to existing assets, further accelerating credible decarbonization efforts in the real estate sector.
“This project represents a critical step forward for the building decarbonization movement,” says ILFI CEO Lindsay Baker. “We are thankful to be working with leading companies to craft these clear and rigorous pathways to achieve meaningful climate action. With the new standard, we aim to accelerate change and enable large-scale adoption and impact, and rise to the challenge that the UN Paris Agreement calls for. As noted by the Buildings Breakthrough announcement at COP28, the adoption of clear carbon accounting and verification methods is critical to transforming our industry. This work is urgent and possible. We are proud to be embarking on this project with our corporate supporters and in alignment with other certification and standards organizations around the world.”
Amazon
“Amazon is proud to support ILFI in updating their verification program to include guidance for existing buildings,” said Chris Roe, Amazon’s Director of Worldwide Environment, Carbon. “There are few sustainable building certification options that focus on decarbonizing existing buildings, and we see ILFI’s new program as important for the industry and for companies such as Amazon as we work toward meeting our Climate Pledge commitment to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2040.”
JLL
“Based on our research, we know that 80% of existing office buildings will still be in use in 2050, presenting a critical need for us to focus on decarbonizing our current portfolio and supporting our clients in meeting their goals,” said Erin Meezan, Chief Sustainability Officer at JLL. “There are multiple pathways to make buildings more sustainable and meet net-zero goals, and this new certification will increase transparency and accountability around decarbonization efforts. We’re thrilled to collaborate with such esteemed partners and contribute our industry expertise to an initiative that will accelerate action across the commercial real estate industry.”
JPMorgan Chase
“We are proud to have worked with ILFI over the past two years on our Zero Carbon pilots, including the world’s first Zero Carbon Certified branch. JPMorgan Chase is now considering Zero Carbon standards alongside other sustainability and responsible design practices for many of our upcoming retail and corporate projects,” said Raymond Quartararo, Managing Director, Head of Global Design and Construction, JPMorgan Chase. “We have long been an advocate for advancing more scalable standards, and with this new effort, we can do so in a way that advances the real estate sector’s decarbonization journey while supporting the communities and customers we serve.”
Prologis
"Decarbonizing our industrial real estate portfolio is both a challenge and an opportunity to drive meaningful climate action at scale,” said Susan Uthayakumar, Chief Energy and Sustainability Officer at Prologis. “By collaborating with ILFI and other leading businesses, we aim to establish new guidance to help companies achieve verifiable carbon reductions for new and existing buildings. This partnership will help our customers in their sustainability journey as well as help Prologis reach our net zero goals by 2040."
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ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL LIVING FUTURE INSTITUTE (ILFI)
The International Living Future Institute’s mission is to cultivate a society that is socially just, culturally rich, and ecologically restorative. To do this, the organization envisions a living future and shows that it works better in practice and policy. ILFI is premised on the belief that providing a compelling vision for the future is needed to reconcile humanity’s relationship with the natural world. ILFI’s programs have shaped more than 55 million square feet of real estate development across the United States and around the world. Learn more at http://www.living-future.org.
MEDIA CONTACT
Kira Gould
kiragould@kiragould.com
