Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF) European Building Emission Factor Database

Description

A specified set of emission factors for the measurement of embodied carbon emissions for commercial real estate and mortgages for all countries in the European Union, as well as Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Kosovo and Turkey. Emission factors can be extracted per EPC rating and expressed as tCO2e per unit or floor area, or MWh per unit or floor area. The methodology aligns with the GHG Protocol and is used to enhance transparency in Scope 3, Category 15 (Investments) reporting.

Metadata

Data Type: Activity-based
Publisher Type: Trade Body
Number of Factors: 22,760
Database Format: Webpage, data can be exported in different formats (xls., xml., cvs.)
Last Update: 2023
Update Frequency: Ongoing improvements to database coverage
Cost: Available for free to all financial institutions and further interested stakeholders.
Link: [PCAF European Building Emission Factor Database]

When to use

This tool should be used by financial institutions to estimate the GHG emissions of their building portfolios.

Limitations

Specific to Europe, subregions sometimes not defined. The database is not complete due to instances of lack of data availability, but with new or more granular data becoming available, emission factors are going to be updated and specified over time. Emission factors are based on 2020 data.

Page Contributors: Annie Tarpey, Michelle Steiner