Published

2 years ago

November 7, 2023

Alice Rush

Buildings account for about 40% of global CO2 emissions, so it’s no wonder why so much focus goes toward green building systems and reduced emissions from corporate structures. Reducing this structural carbon footprint can help counter climate change and push us toward the goals outlined in the Paris Agreement and other climate action pacts.

To help you plan and work toward lowering emissions from corporate buildings, you can look to a GHG emissions reduction audit checklist for building owners. These audit checklists and GHG inventory management can all help you reach your carbon emissions goals.

Continue reading for more about these audits and the actions you can take to reduce your building’s emissions.

How Do You Reduce GHG in Buildings?

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG emissions) in buildings starts when construction begins and continues throughout the building’s lifespan. Let’s review how to reduce emissions in both stages to minimize a building’s environmental impact.

GHG Emissions Reduction Audit Checklist for Building Owners During Construction

Starting on the right foot regarding GHG emissions reductions for building owners begins at the construction phase. Of course, none of this will apply if we’re talking about an existing building. However, if you’re constructing a new building, these tips can help lower the carbon footprint of erecting a new building.

Reuse Old Buildings

Old Buildings Recycle Rennovate to Control Emissions source

Instead of commissioning a new building, you can reduce emissions by reusing an old building. In fact, by doing this, you can save 50% to 75% of the embodied carbon emissions — the emissions associated with the materials and construction process — relative to new construction.

So, when considering a new building, think to yourself, “Is there an existing building we can renovate to fit our needs?” If so, you can reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by rehabilitating the old building. Plus, you can use some of the character in older commercial buildings to your advantage in the design phase.

Remember, that when reusing older buildings, you’ll likely have some extra work for efficiency improvements, but the emissions savings will easily offset that need.

Use Low-Carbon Concrete

Concrete production isn’t known for its GHG emissions, but its sheer weight and the amount that goes into a new building make it the most significant embodied carbon source in many projects. In fact, cement accounts for a whopping 7% of all global emissions and 50% to 85% of the embodied carbon in a building project.

You can reduce your building’s carbon footprint by opting for lower-emission concrete, such as those with fly ash, slag, or calcined clays. You can even opt for lower-strength concrete where it makes sense.

Limit Carbon-Heavy Materials

Materials with big carbon footprints, such as metals, plastic, and foam, can be a part of the construction process but seek low-carbon alternatives where possible to help with the decarbonization of your project.

So, consider a wooden instead of a steel structure to reach your building’s GMG emissions reduction goals. Or maybe opt for wooden siding instead of vinyl.

Reuse Materials

During the construction or renovation process, don’t immediately scrap all the old materials. Many of those materials, such as metal, bricks, concrete, and wood, are reusable. And each item you reuse directly reduces your project’s emission factors. Plus, it’s a more cost-effective way to build.

Focus on Recycled Materials

Recycled materials can help greatly lower the GHG emissions in your building or renovation project. For example, new steel can have five times the carbon footprint of recycled steel. On top of lowering your carbon footprint, recycled materials are often less expensive than new materials.

Minimize Finished Materials

Finishings like vinyl flooring or carpeting add to the carbon footprint of your project. Instead of going with these finishings, choose materials that don’t need finishings, such as polished concrete for the floors.

GHG Emissions Reduction Audit Checklist for Building Owners After Construction

After construction, you are still responsible for keeping the ongoing building emissions as low as possible, whether through improved energy efficiency, reduced waste, or improved sustainability. Let’s review some action plans building owners can take to ensure they improve their energy conservation and the building’s ongoing GMG emissions remain low.

Update Heating and Cooling

Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) make up 40% to 60% of all building carbon emissions, so this area is ripe for cutting. First, ensure you have an efficient system installed, such as some of the newer passive heating and cooling setups.

It’s also a good idea to have a programmable system. You can program it to a warmer setting during off-hours and a comfortable setting during occupancy hours.

Also, most buildings have outdoor air ventilation to keep the inside fresh, but the issue is this system runs constantly and always needs to be heated or cooled. You can counter this by installing air-quality sensors that detect when ventilation is necessary and activate this system only when needed.

This will help reduce your energy consumption, lower overall energy costs, and shrink your building’s footprint.

Perform Lighting Upgrades

Lighting Upgrades Lights on Ceiling of Warehouse source

Up to 40% of a commercial building’s energy consumption goes toward lighting, making this another prime target for reducing building emissions and adding in some cost savings.

Some ways to immediately lower the carbon footprint of your lighting is to install smart lights that only turn on when an area is in use and to replace all inefficient incandescent lights with more eco-friendly LED lighting. You can also add some daylighting to certain areas of the building, taking advantage of the greenest of all lights — the sun.

Install Renewable Energy

Offset some or all of your buildings’ energy use by installing renewable energy, such as solar panels. These energy efficiency measures may have significant upfront expenses, but federal and local government incentives and overall electricity savings can help make up for this cost.

By installing green appliances, you can lower energy consumption and increase energy savings. For example, you can replace old and inefficient boilers and water heaters with more efficient solar water heaters to lower electricity or natural gas usage when generating hot water. You can even swap old hard-wired ventilation fans with solar-powered ones to improve energy performance.

Reduce Water Waste

Sustainable water use can also go a long way in reducing your environmental impact and cutting operational costs. Some ways to help lower water use and waste include retrofitting low-flow water fixtures, reclaiming water systems for non-potable water recycling, and collecting rainwater for use in on-site irrigation and decorative water features.

How Do You Conduct a GHG Inventory?

First, what is a greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory? According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA ), it is “a list of emission sources and the associated emissions quantified using standardized methods.”

The EPA outlines the GHG inventory development process in four steps: scope and plan, collect and quantify data, create a GHG inventory management plan, and set targets, track, and report. Let’s review these four steps in more detail.

Step 1: Scope and Plan

To conduct a GHG inventory, you start by reviewing the organization’s GHG accounting methods and how it reports on these emissions. The organization and its stakeholders must then determine the organization’s emissions boundaries, select a base year to start from, and consider bringing in a third party to verify the improvements.

Step 2: Collect and Quantify Data

In the second step, you’ll identify all the GHG data required and the preferred data-collection methods. Then, you’ll develop procedures, tools, and guidance that adhere to these requirements. After that, gather and review all the facility data, such as electricity and natural gas consumption from the baseline year you chose, and use estimation to fill in any data gaps. From there, you can calculate your emissions.

Step 3: Create a GHG Inventory Management Plan

Next, you‘ll create formal data collection procedures and document processes in the inventory management plan. This will include all institutional, managerial, and technical arrangements made for data collection, inventory preparation, and implementation of steps to manage inventory quality.

This management system ensures a systematic process is in place to help prevent and correct errors and identify where investments net the greatest improvements in inventory quality. However, this system’s main focus is to ensure the credibility of the organization’s GHG inventory data using five key GHG accounting principles, which we’ll cover later.

Overall, your inventory management plan will have seven key steps:

Create an inventory quality team.
Create a quality management plan.
Perform generic quality tests.
Perform source-specific quality tests.
Review final inventory estimates and reports.
Institutionalize formal feedback loops.
Report, document, and archive data.

Step 4: Set Targets, Track, and Report

With the process in place, it’s now time to set your building-emissions-reduction targets relative to the base year you selected and, if you like, bring in a third party to verify your targets are attainable and helpful. You’ll then report all data as needed, publish a public GHG target report, and track your progress toward effective energy management and emissions reductions.

What Is the Standard for GHG Accounting?

Greenhouse gas emissions accounting and reporting must be based on five key principles. The principles are as follows:

Relevance: The GHG inventory must appropriately reflect the company’s GHG emissions and serve internal and external users’ decision-making needs.
Completeness: The organization must account for and report all sources of GHG emissions and activities within the chosen boundaries. It must also disclose and justify any GHG emissions it excluded.
Consistency: An organization’s methodologies must remain consistent to allow accurate and meaningful GHG emission comparisons.
Transparency: Address all relevant issues factually and coherently using a clear audit trail. If relevant assumptions are used, the organization must disclose them and make appropriate references.
Accuracy: Ensure the GHG emissions quantification is neither over nor under the actual emissions and that uncertainties are reduced as much as possible. The organization must also ensure sufficient accuracy so users can decide based on the reported information’s integrity.

How Do You Measure GHG Emissions in a Building?

Emissions from a building can come in all three scopes: scope one, scope two, and scope three. When calculating GHG emissions from a building, you must consider all three scopes, which can make it tricky.

Scope one emissions are relatively simple to track, as these are direct GHG emissions, such as burning fossil fuels. To calculate GHG emissions in this scope, review resource consumption on utility bills, and use a calculator to determine the GHG emissions that amount of consumption made.

Scope two emissions are indirect GHG emissions that stem from the building’s energy usage from the electrical grid. So, if your company’s electricity comes from a coal-fired plant, this would include your building’s share of that plant’s emissions based on your energy consumption.

You can estimate your scope two emissions using a GHG emissions calculator and the building information, such as square feet. Keep in mind, getting a precise number is generally not possible because many power grids include multiple energy sources, including coal, natural gas, nuclear, and solar.

Finally, scope three emissions include GHG emissions from all other sources, including the supply chain and other business operations that are not within the organization’s control. In terms of a building, this can include all embodied carbon too.

Scope three emissions are difficult to track and are generally not in the organization’s control, for this reason, organizations normally aren’t required to report on them. However, monitoring, understanding, and reducing scope three emissions can help you create a green building.

Help Fight Global Warming by Auditing and Reducing Your Building’s GHG Emissions

GHG Emissions Concern Image of New Corporate Building source

Global warming and climate change are critical, and it’s time for everyone to chip in and do their part. This includes building owners reducing their buildings’ carbon footprints. Fortunately, GHG emissions reduction audit checklists for building owners can help in this process by giving you firm steps to follow and the data you need to successfully reduce your structural carbon footprint.

If you’re not yet ready to take on the task of reducing building emissions or already have and want to further decrease your corporate carbon footprint, we have options for you at Terrapass. Check out our voluntary carbon credits, and see how they can help offset any remaining corporate emissions, helping you attain or get closer to being a net-zero carbon emitter.

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Carbon Footprint

Stay in the game: What CSRD means for supplier carbon footprints in 2026

Published

21 hours ago

December 18, 2025

Alice Rush

For years, sustainability reporting sat squarely on the shoulders of large corporations. Smaller suppliers were rarely pulled into the process, and certainly not at a detailed data level. That landscape is changing fast. With the introduction of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), big companies are now expected to publish structured, verifiable climate information—and they can only do this with their suppliers’ support.

Carbon Footprint

Tesla Tests Driverless Robotaxis in Austin While Analysts Predict 1 Million by 2035 Growth, Sending Stocks Up

Published

2 days ago

December 17, 2025

Alice Rush

Tesla (TSLA) is making big progress in testing driverless robotaxis on public roads and attracting attention from analysts and investors. The company started testing its self-driving cars in Austin, Texas, on December 15. No human safety monitor was on board. This was a milestone that Tesla’s leaders said would happen by year’s end. This shift represents a key part of the EV giant’s long‑term strategy for autonomous vehicles and future mobility services.

At the same time, Wall Street firms, including Morgan Stanley, are issuing forecasts about Tesla’s robotaxi plans and their potential impact on the company’s future. Analysts calculate the scale of robotaxi fleets and potential valuation effects over the next decade.

These changes have kept Tesla’s stock in the spotlight for investors and the market, even with challenges in electric vehicle sales growth.

Driverless Robotaxis Hit Austin Streets

Tesla (TSLA stock) began testing its self-driving cars on public roads in Austin, Texas. There were no human drivers or safety monitors in the front seats. CEO Elon Musk confirmed that fully driverless tests are happening. He sees this as an important step toward commercial operation.

Earlier in 2025, Tesla had already launched a limited robotaxi service in Austin using modified Model Y vehicles. Initially, these vehicles included a human safety monitor in the passenger seat to observe system performance.

Over the months, Tesla grew its service area and fleet size. By December 2025, reports showed about 31 active robotaxis operating in the city.

Recent tests without monitors show progress. However, they are still for internal validation, not for daily commercial use. Tesla confirmed that tests aren’t open to paying customers yet. The company hasn’t provided a specific date for when fully autonomous rides will be available to the public.

RELATED: Tesla’s U.S. Robotaxi Launch: A New Catalyst for TSLA Stock Growth?

The Technology Behind Tesla’s Autonomous Effort

Tesla’s autonomous driving push relies on its Full Self‑Driving (FSD) software and onboard sensors. The FSD system can manage various driving situations. It uses cameras, radar inputs, and neural network processing. This differs from some competitors that rely on additional sensors such as LiDAR for redundancy.

In June 2025, Tesla shared its Q2 tech update. The company boosted AI training by adding tens of thousands of GPUs at its Gigafactory in Texas. This expansion supports improvements in FSD, where the company reported its first autonomous delivery. A Model Y drove itself without human help for 30 minutes.

Vehicles with FSD software need regulatory approval to drive on their own. In the Austin pilot, removing physical safety monitors marks progress toward that goal. Achieving fully reliable, unsupervised autonomy is still a challenge. This is true, especially when it comes to safety standards and different road conditions.

Wall Street Eyes Tesla’s Robotaxi Potential, Sending Stock Near Record Highs

Tesla’s autonomous ambitions are closely watched by financial analysts. Morgan Stanley just shared forecasts that say Tesla could greatly grow its robotaxi presence in the next 10 years.

The bank says Tesla might have 1 million robotaxis on the road by 2035. These will operate in various cities as part of its autonomous fleet plan.

Morgan Stanley’s analysis sees active robotaxi units growing in 2026. However, the first fleets will be small compared to the long-term plan. The forecasts show the possible size of the autonomous vehicle market. They also highlight Tesla’s role in this growth. However, there are uncertainties tied to technology and regulations.

Stock markets have reacted to these developments. Tesla’s stock price nearly hit record highs. It rose almost 5% during trading sessions. Investors were excited about progress in driverless testing and the promise of future autonomous revenue. Analysts say Tesla’s value might go up more if its autonomous services and AI products perform well.

Tesla stock december price

Tesla’s Vision for Autonomous Mobility Services

Tesla’s robotaxi initiative fits into its broader vision of mobility services and artificial intelligence (AI)‑driven transport. The company plans to launch purpose-built autonomous vehicles, like the Cybercab. These vehicles won’t have traditional controls, such as steering wheels or pedals. They aim for mass production in April 2026.

Tesla sees a future where owners can add their cars to a decentralized robotaxi network. This could boost fleet availability and usage. This strategy could shift parts of Tesla’s revenue profile away from vehicle sales toward recurring service revenues if adopted at scale. The global robotaxi market could reach over $45 billion in 2030, as shown below.

robotaxi market 2030 — Source: MarketsandMarkets

Analysts say that major technical, regulatory, and safety issues still stand in the way of robotaxis operating widely and making a profit. Building public trust, meeting varied local regulations, and demonstrating consistent safety across different road environments will be key factors in future deployment.

Tesla vs Competitors and Safety Regulations

Tesla is not alone in the autonomous vehicle race. Other companies, such as Alphabet’s Waymo, owned by Alphabet, have been operating fully autonomous services in multiple cities for several years and continue to expand.

The company operates about 2,500 robotaxis across multiple cities. Waymo has logged millions of paid autonomous rides and already meets higher autonomy standards in some regions. In comparison, Tesla operates around 31 robotaxis in Austin, with plans to expand to several major U.S. cities by 2026.

Waymo Robotaxi Fleet and CO₂ Avoidance by City

Tesla chose camera-centric sensors over multi-sensor arrays. This decision shows their focus on scalability and cost. Critics and some experts argue that adding LiDAR or other sensors could improve safety and performance under challenging conditions.

Regulators also play an important role. In some states, pilot autonomously driven services are permitted under special testing allowances. Widespread commercial use needs approval from both state and federal agencies. This ensures that vehicles meet safety and operational standards.

What’s Next for Tesla’s Driverless Fleets

Tesla’s move to test robotaxis without onboard safety monitors in Austin marks a clear technical milestone, though it is not yet a commercial service. The company’s next steps will likely focus on scaling test fleets, improving software robustness, and navigating regulatory approvals to allow expanded operations in other cities in 2026 and beyond.

Morgan Stanley and other analysts think robotaxis might play a big role in Tesla’s growth. They could boost service revenue as traditional vehicle sales slow down. However, forecasts at this stage remain based on long‑range assumptions about adoption, pricing, and regulatory landscapes.

Investor sentiment has been mixed. Stock movements show excitement about tech advances but also worry about short-term vehicle sales and profit pressures in the auto industry.

Overall, Tesla’s autonomous ambitions continue to shape its corporate strategy and public profile. The speed of robotaxi rollout, along with improvements in Full Self-Driving software and AI, will be key to seeing if the company can shift from an EV maker to a driverless mobility platform.

READ MORE: Tesla at a Crossroads: Sales Slump Meets Regulatory Headwinds But Stock Rises, Why?

The post Tesla Tests Driverless Robotaxis in Austin While Analysts Predict 1 Million by 2035 Growth, Sending Stocks Up appeared first on Carbon Credits.

Carbon Footprint

Environmental Groups Urge U.S. Congress to Pause Data Center Growth as Federal AI Rule Looms

Published

7 days ago

December 12, 2025

Alice Rush

More than 230 environmental and public-interest groups asked Congress to halt approvals for and construction of new data centers. They want a temporary national moratorium until federal rules address energy use, water needs, local impacts, and emissions. The request came from Food & Water Watch and was signed by national and local groups across the country.

They said that the fast growth of artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud services is putting big new demands on local grids and water systems. They also said current federal rules do not cover the environmental or social impacts linked to data center growth.

Why the Groups Want a Moratorium

Data centers are using more electricity each year. U.S. data centers consumed an estimated 183 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity in 2024. That was about 4% of all U.S. power use. Some national studies project that number could rise to 426 TWh by 2030, which would be about 6.7% to 12% of U.S. electricity, depending on growth rates.

Global data centers used around 415 TWh of electricity in 2024. Analysts expect double-digit annual growth as AI loads increase.

US data center power demand 2030 — Source: S&P Global

AI-ready data center capacity is projected to grow by about 33% per year from 2023 to 2030 in mid-range market scenarios. Industry groups say global data center capacity could reach over 220 gigawatts (GW) by 2030.

Some groups warn that data center CO₂ emissions might hit 1% of global emissions by 2030. That’s about the same as a mid-size industrial country’s yearly emissions. They say the growth rate is rising faster than the reductions in many other sectors.

An excerpt from their letter reads:

“The rapid expansion of data centers across the United States, driven by the generative artificial intelligence (AI) and crypto boom, presents one of the biggest environmental and social threats of our generation. This expansion is rapidly increasing demand for energy, driving more fossil fuel pollution, straining water resources, and raising electricity prices across the country. All this compounds the significant and concerning impacts AI is having on society, including lost jobs, social instability, and economic concentration.”

When AI Growth Collides With the U.S. Power Grid

Several utilities have linked new power plant plans to data center growth. In Virginia, the largest power company and grid planners see data centers as a key reason for new infrastructure.

In Louisiana, Entergy moved forward with a new gas-plant plan expected to support a large hyperscale data center campus. These cases show how utilities now size new plants with AI-related load in mind.

Some utilities believe these expansions might increase local electricity rates by a few percentage points. This depends on how costs are shared. Regulators in various areas say that extra load can increase distribution and transmission costs. This might lead to higher bills for households.

Several grid operators also report congestion or long waiting lines for new power connections. Northern Virginia, Texas, and parts of the Pacific Northwest now have interconnection queues. In these areas, data center projects make up a large part of the pending requests.

RELATED: Google and NextEra Team Up to Build Gigawatt-Scale AI Data Centers Powered by Clean Energy

Water Use and Siting Concerns

Water demand is another point of conflict. Many large data centers rely on water-cooled systems. A typical water-cooled data center may use around 1.9 liters of water per kWh. More advanced or dry-cooled facilities may use as little as 0.2 liters per kWh, but these designs are not yet common.

One medium-sized data center can use about 110 million gallons of water per year. Large hyperscale sites can use several hundred million gallons annually, and, in some cases, even more. Global estimates suggest data centers could use over 1 trillion liters of water per year by 2030 if growth continues.

data center water use — Source: Financial Times

These demands have triggered local resistance. In parts of Arizona, California, and Georgia, community groups have raised concerns about water use during drought periods. In some cases, local governments paused or limited data center approvals. A single campus can use more water each year than some small towns.

Trump Plans Executive Order on AI Regulation

While groups push for limits on new data centers, the White House is also preparing an executive order that would reshape AI policy nationwide, as reported by CNN. President Donald Trump has said he plans to issue an order that would block states from creating their own AI rules.

The administration aims to create one national standard for AI. This way, companies won’t have to deal with different state regulations.

Drafts of the plan say the order may tell federal agencies to challenge state AI laws. This could happen through lawsuits or funding limits if the laws clash with federal policy. Supporters say a unified national rule could help U.S. companies compete globally and reduce compliance costs.

State leaders and consumer protection groups argue the opposite. They say states have a legal right to pass their own rules on privacy, safety, and data use. Some governors argue that an executive order cannot override state laws without action by Congress. Minnesota lawmakers, for example, continue to write their own AI bills focused on deepfakes and child-safety concerns.

The debate adds another layer to the data center issue. AI systems require massive computing power. If AI keeps growing quickly, analysts expect even heavier pressure on local grids and water systems. Advocacy groups say that this makes federal regulation more urgent.

Scale of AI and Hyperscale Build-out

The U.S. is in the middle of a major build-out of hyperscale and AI-optimized data centers. Industry trackers report that hundreds of new hyperscale facilities are planned or already under construction through 2030. Many of these campuses are designed specifically for AI training and inference workloads.

Major cloud and social media companies have sharply increased capital spending to support this build-out. Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Meta, and other major platforms, combined spending on AI chips, data centers, and network upgrades reached hundreds of billions of dollars per year in the mid-2020s. These spending levels signal how fast demand is growing.

READ MORE: Amazon, X-energy, KHNP, and Doosan Partner on $50B Nuclear Push for AI Data Centers

Some experts track how major technology firms have changed over time. For example, one big cloud provider said its data center electricity use has more than doubled in the last ten years. This increase happened as its global reach grew. This gives a sense of how long-term trends feed current infrastructure pressures.

AI also adds new layers of demand. Training one large AI model can use millions of kilowatt-hours of electricity. Operating a popular chatbot can require many megawatt-hours per day, especially at peak traffic.

Research shows that processing one billion AI queries uses as much electricity as powering tens of thousands of U.S. homes for a day. This varies with the model’s size and efficiency.

AI power use by end 2025

Cities and States Move Faster Than Washington

Local governments have acted faster than federal agencies to respond to public concerns. More than 100 counties and cities have passed temporary moratoria, zoning limits, or new environmental rules since 2023. Examples include parts of Georgia, Oregon, Arizona, and Virginia, where communities plan to evaluate energy and water impacts before approving new projects.

Advocacy groups also argue that federal standards have not kept up. The U.S. does not have national energy-efficiency rules for private data centers. It also does not require detailed, mandatory reporting on energy, water, or emissions for the sector. The groups pushing for a moratorium say Congress must update these policies before more sites break ground.

What the Debate Means for 2026 and Beyond

Congress will review the environmental groups’ request in the coming months. Lawmakers are expected to weigh economic benefits against rising tensions around energy, water, and local resources. At the same time, the White House may release its AI executive order, which could shape how states and companies set their own rules.

With rapid AI growth, rising electricity use, and expanding data center construction, both debates are likely to continue through 2026. Many experts say long-term solutions will require national standards, better reporting, and closer coordination between states, utilities, and federal agencies.