Leveraging Property Intelligence for a Net Zero Future

The journey to global net-zero carbon emissions requires structured and reliable data.

Properly sourced and analysed data is pivotal to develop and implement effective climate mitigation strategies. As the adage goes: ‘you can’t improve what you don’t measure’.

Geoscape Australia is enhancing the quality and availability of this essential data.

Geoscape Australia’s Data Contribution

At Geoscape Australia, we champion data-centric solutions. In the climate risk space, we are empowering organisations to make informed decisions for a greener tomorrow. We continuously update our database with new insights on the built environment including solar installations, building metrics, and environmental shifts.

Location Intelligence for Measuring Building Emissions

In addressing climate change, it’s crucial to identify Australian buildings with high greenhouse gas emissions. As per the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water¹, buildings represent about 19% of Australia’s total energy use and 18% of its direct carbon emissions. Improving building energy efficiency is vital, offering reduced energy costs, better occupant health, and lower carbon emissions.

Directly measuring climate emissions through blending data on energy consumption/creation, building design, construction materials and their condition will logically result in the highest quality results. That said, at the industry’s current level of maturity, reliable and ongoing emissions measures of this type are not available at a national scale.

Location Intelligence uses indicators like building size and energy generation potential to evaluate environmental impact. Simplistically, two buildings of the same size can have different emissions profiles based on the presence and type of solar panel systems. A building with efficient solar panels will generally have lower emissions compared to one without solar panels or with less efficient systems. This information helps us estimate the emissions from buildings and pinpoint which ones need improvements to become more energy efficient.

Let’s look at an example from Chatswood in New South Wales. The data for buildings and solar energy used here comes from Geoscape Australia:

In this visual, buildings likely to be emitting more greenhouse gases are shown in warmer colours, while those with lower emissions are in cooler colours.

We can see in this case, commercial, industrial, and educational buildings generally release more greenhouse gases than residential ones in the area.

This might not necessarily be the case for other areas. An important takeaway here is that every location is unique, so accurate measurement is crucial.

Net-Zero and the Financial Sector

As the financial sector shifts towards sustainability, regulators around the world are integrating climate concerns into their guidelines. Australian financial organisations are leading this change by joining the Global Net-Zero Banking Alliance, with the goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. This commitment highlights a growing global trend and sets an example for other national regulators.

In response to this, the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority (APRA) is addressing climate-related financial risks. These risks include decreasing asset values, rising insurance claims, and supply chain disruptions. In partnership with the Financial Stability Board’s Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), APRA’s goal is to manage risks effectively for a stable and efficient financial system. This strategy is key to bringing environmental issues into financial planning, helping institutions make smart decisions. It allows financial groups to choose their own paths in investing and insurance, backed by strong risk analysis.

A recent Deloitte study² highlights a major challenge for organisations committed to achieving net zero emissions: the difficulty in obtaining data. This is largely because their biggest emission sources are often the activities of the businesses they finance, insure, or invest in. Establishing standards and measuring these emissions is particularly challenging. Available data is usually limited to the company’s headquarters, with scant information on other assets like factories, warehouses, and facilities. This lack of detailed data on the spatial distribution of business loan exposures presents a significant opportunity for improving data quality.

Location Intelligence for Emissions Measurement 

Quantifying emissions is a complex process for organisations. To do this effectively, they need to bring together a variety of different data types, such as information about their assets, climate risks they face, and details about their energy use and production. The key is to connect all this data to specific locations, which can be achieved through location intelligence. Location intelligence helps make sense of data that would otherwise seem unrelated. Working with experts in location intelligence can make this complex job much simpler.

For example, using the unique identifiers for buildings, property, and addresses provided in Geoscape location data (such as ‘GNAF-ID’, which already underpins customer address data in major banks and insurers in Australia), organisations can bridge data gaps, link to new data, derive new insights, pinpoint asset locations with precision, and make informed estimates about energy consumption, solar energy production, and gas connectivity.

As well as this, one of Geoscape’s core capabilities is connecting property intelligence data to customer data using their address information and other relevant details through our advanced geocoding and address verification (AV) systems.

This enables a more integrated and comprehensive analysis. When these assets are cross-referenced with environmental risks, potential vulnerabilities can be identified, offering a holistic view of the interconnected factors affecting properties and customers.

Furthermore, an added benefit of these unique identifiers is that organisations can connect spatial and non-spatial data effectively, streamlining data management. This practice leads to more consistent and transparent reporting.

Achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 is a shared vision and with collaborative efforts and data precision, this goal is within reach. Properly harnessed location intelligence can play a key role in achieving this net-zero future.

References

1 https://www.dcceew.gov.au/energy/energy-efficiency/buildings

2 https://www2.deloitte.com/au/en/pages/financial-services/articles/road-net-zero.html