This guidance provides clarity for the property and construction industry on the procurement of high-quality renewable energy and carbon offsets for net zero buildings and organisations in the UK.

It includes a set of principles which should be used to both evaluate the quality of renewable energy procurement routes, including how to create additionality – driving a material increase in the UK’s renewable energy capacity. It also outlines how the environmental integrity of an offset should be determined, the existing carbon standards that provide this assurance of integrity, and how domestic carbon standards can play a role within organisational net zero strategies.

This guidance is intended to be used by building developers, designers, owners, occupiers and policy makers. Given the complexities of certain elements, it will be of most use to energy procurement, facility management and sustainability professionals within these organisations. It is applicable to all building types, sizes, and ownership scopes where annual public disclosure of energy use, generation and carbon offsets is possible.

This guidance is designed to support UKGBC’s landmark report ‘Net Zero Carbon Buildings: A Framework Definition’. As this new guidance will supersede some information contained within the April 2019 version of the Framework Definition, UKGBC has produced a primer document which seeks to provide clarity on the levels of building performance expected for net zero claims, and acts as an initial foundation for future discussions on net zero verification.

For more information and to download the full report visit the UKGBC website