Standard

The Climate Bonds Standard and Certification Scheme is a labelling scheme for Entities, Assets and Debt Instruments. Rigorous scientific criteria ensure that Certified investments in climate mitigation are consistent with the 1.5owarming limit in the Paris Agreement. The Scheme is used globally by bond issuers, governments, investors and the financial markets to prioritise investments which genuinely contribute to addressing climate change.

Location Specific Criteria for Residential Buildings & Calculator

 

Country State State/Sub Category Proxy Brochure

 

  

Australia

 

New South Wales Single & multifamily

BASIX Energy 40​ 
Within the context of RMBS transactions in Australia, Maximum Weighted Average Life can be substituted for Maximum Tenor

PDF

 

 

Australia

 

Tasmania Single & multifamily Building code Australia (BCA) 2013 ​​
Within the context of RMBS transactions in Australia, Maximum Weighted Average Life can be substituted for Maximum Tenor
PDF

 

  

Australia

 

Victoria Single & multifamily Building code Australia (BCA) 2011
Within the context of RMBS transactions in Australia, Maximum Weighted Average Life can be substituted for Maximum Tenor
PDF

 

  

Australia

 

All States except Western Australia House or apartment

Australian Residential Rooftop Solar Proxies for the Certification of houses or apartments using solar rooftop installations

Rooftop Solar Proxy Spreadsheet 

The Simplified Solar Rooftop Proxy is valid until June 2022. If there are any questions, please contact standards@climatebonds.net

PDF

  

Australia

All states Residential

Australian Residential Proxy for Green Star Homes

Certified by the GBCA and comply with Renewable Energy Pathway A or B and do not include a swimming pool.  Further detail is availabe here

 

 

 

Belgium

 

Country wide  Single & multifamily Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of A
OR
Flemish building code after 2014
 
 
 
  
 
China
 
Country wide Single & multifamily Evaluation Standard for Green Building rating of 3 Star  

 

Colombia

 Country Wide Social Housing Buildings Consejo Colombiano de Construcción Sostenible (CCCS) PDF

 

Colombia

Country Wide Residential Buildings Consejo Colombiano de Construcción Sostenible (CCCS) PDF

 

Finland

 

Country wide Single & multifamily

Use E - value shown on EPC - Please refer to PDF for more details. Also, properties built after Janaury 1st 2015 qualify. 

The tenor of the bond is to be a maximum of 10 years.

PDF

 

     

France

 

Metropolitan France Single & multifamily

New residential buildings complying with Thermal Regulation RT2012 and built with a construction permit issued after 1 January 2013

PDF

 

Germany

Country wide Single & multifamily Energieausweis (EPC) rating of A OR B​​ PDF

 

Hungary

 

Country wide Single & Multifamily

Residential buildings in Hungary are eligible for certification if their specific primary energy consumption (Fajlagos Primer Energiafogyasztás) published on an Energy Performance Certificate (Energetikai tanúsítvány) dated after Jan 1 2016, lies below the hurdle rate established for the midpoint of the term of the bond.

 

PDF

 

India

Country wide Residential Buildings certified under the IGBC Green Homes ® Rating system v3.0. See additional information in the brochure. PDF

 

Ireland

 

Coutrywide  Single & multifamily
House or Apartment meeting trajectory requirements for CO2 emissions as shown on BER certificates.
 
New buildings constructed after 2015 are automatically eligible if the mid-point of the bond term is no later than 2032.
 
Upgrade and retrofit of asset: minimum 30% reduction in CO2 emissions, depending on tenor of bond, based on reduction in the CO2 emission figure from BER certificates.
PDF

 

Mexico

 

 

Country Wide Single & Multifamily
Ecocasa-certified residential buildings that achieve a minimum of 20% reduction in CO2e emissions against the baseline, measured using the DEEVi tool. The version of Ecocasa elegible is the current version as of 1 June 2020. 
 
The tenor of the bond is to be a maximum of 10 years.
 

 

  

Netherlands

 

 

Country wide Single & multifamily​

Post 2012: Dutch Building Decree 2012 
&
Netherland Normalisation Institute (NEN) 7120 standard
----------
Pre 2012: Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) Rating A ​

----------

Upgrade and Retrofit: Improvement of at least two EPC levels to at least C. Ie E > C, D > B, or C > A, correspond to at least 30% reduction in CO2 emissions

PDF

 

  

Norway

 

Country wide  Single & multifamily

House or Apartment: Energimerking (EPC) rating of A, B OR C
OR
Houses: TEK (Building Code) 2007, or TEK 2010
Apartments: TEK (Building Code) 2010

Houses and Apartments: TEK (Building Code) 2017 ​

 

 

Poland

Country wide Single & multifamily 

 

Assets meeting trajectory requirements for primary energy demand
Assets qualified by year of construction (TC2017/2021)
Upgrade and retrofit of asset: 30-50% improvement in CO2 emissions, depending on tenor of bond, based on reduction in the CO2 emission figure from EPCs from before and after the retrofit, which meet the requirement of Technical Note 2014 (issued after July 2015) 

 

PDF

 

 

South Africa 

Country wide Single & multifamily New and refurbished residential buildings complying with SANS10400-XA standard   

 

 

Spain

 

Catalonia House or apartment

Residential buildings in Catalonia are eligible for certification if their carbon intensity (Emissiones de CO2) published on an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) (Qualificació Energètica) lies below the hurdle rate established for the midpoint of the term of the bond. See emissions calculator below.

PDF

Sweden

Country wide House or apartment

House or Apartment meeting trajectory requirements for CO2 emissions as shown on Energy Performance Certificates

The trajectories are different depending on whether the EPC's are created before or after Version 2.6. (See PDF)

PDF

Switzerland

Country wide (Canton-dependent)  
  • 3 standards: Minergie A, Minergie P and Minergie. There is a minimum threshold that must be met for all requirements. It has not yet been determined how long the proxy would be valid for, however it is currently acceptable for a default maximum tenor of 10 years. All certified buildings are to meet a minimum index. (See PDF).
PDF
 
 

United Kingdom

 

England and Wales

Single & multifamily

Single & multifamily

Environmental Impact (EI) rating of A or B​ or Emissions Intensity Target Dependent on the Tenor of the Bond as part of the Energy Performance Certificate programme PDF
 
 
 
United States​
 
California  Single & multifamily California building code Title 24 compliant (Updated 2022-03-23)

PDF

 
 
 
United States​

 

New York  Single & multifamily

Multifamily housing: NYSERDA’s relevant programs (e.g. the New Construction - Housing (NC-Housing) Program) or one of New York State Homes and Community Renewal’s Clean Energy Incentive offerings.

​​1. Tier 3 NC-Housing

2. Carbon Neutral Ready + Health NC-Housing

Additionally, any building constructed after December 2022 must not use fossil fuels for heating, hot water, cooking or on-site electricity generation other than back-up power requirements.

PDF

   

International 

 

 

International

 

LEED Gold OR Platinum
TOGETHER WITH
30% improvement above the levels in ASHRAE 90.1

Only able to be used where a local proxy has not been established

10 year limit on bond tenor. Date of LEED certification must be within 5 years before bond issuance

 

 

     

International 

 

 

International

 

EDGE certified​

Only able to be used in developing countries. 10 year limit on bond tenor

 

 

     

International 

 

 

 

International

  Net Zero subject to confirmation of local country schemes   

  

International 

 

 

International

  Living Building Challenge Certified  

 

 

See our Residential CO2 Target Calculator.

For locations where buildings emissions performance data does not exist, or is too limited to be representative of the market, the Low Carbon Building Criteria Technical Working Group has established a series of proxies. These proxies undergo extensive reviews to ensure that they are representative of buildings in-line with a zero-carbon building sector in 2050. 

For issuers looking to use locally available tools, rating systems, or performance schemes as proxies for meeting the Low-Carbon Building Standard, see the Proxy Methodology document for additional guidance. 

 

Please note if you would propose for the Certification to use a building code or rating system from your building, which is not listed in this table, then it may take the Working Group up to two weeks to evaluate whether the proposed code / system may be used for Certification.

 

The tool below calculates the performance (i.e. carbon intensity) target a property asset should achieve in order to be eligible for Climate Bonds certification under the Residential Property criteria.

An equivalent calculator is also available for Commercial Property CO2 Target Calculator.

The tool calculates the performance target based on three factors:

  1. the city’s baseline performance (the top 15% of the market),
  2. the year the bond is issued, and
  3. the term of the bond. 

The first factor is based on data Climate Bonds has collected while the second and third factors are set by the user by sliding the two buttons along the bar at the bottom of the horizontal axis of the chart.  

The user can view the city’s baseline performance by hovering over the starting point of the 2050 zero-carbon trajectory line on the chart.

We welcome questions or feedback on the tool.


Climate Bonds would like to thank Flux(link is external) for their support without which this body of work would not have been possible.

Building Graph Residential

Select from the dropdown list the location where the property asset is based. As sufficient data becomes available for other cities globally, they will be added to the list. Please note that at present, all baselines relate to office buildings. As data becomes available for other building types, they will be added to the calculator.
Year
Carbon intensity kgCO2/sqm p.a
  • Drag the first button along the bar to set the year the bond is issued
  • Drag the second button to set the year the bond matures.
  • For instance, if the bond is issued in 2017 and has a term of 5 years, the first button should be set at 2017 and the second button should be set at 2022 (2017+5=2022).
  • The calculated carbon intensity target is displayed at the top of the chart. To achieve certification under the Commercial Property standard, a property asset must achieve a carbon intensity of this level or below.