Press Releases

Brookfield and the First RESET Net Zero & Carbon Neutral Office Interior

Brookfield has completed a ground-breaking new office that serves as a living lab for measuring health and sustainability.

RESET

Nov 8, 2022

As one of the world’s largest landlords and investors in renewable energy, Brookfield has the opportunity to affect positive change at a large scale for its most important stakeholders: tenants. The new office design serves as an example of what is possible for those tenants.

A New Vision

Brookfield set-out to establish a new kind of baseline for their interior fit-out: one in which all high impact sustainability data is measured and reported: from the materials used in construction to daily operations. The office is not only targeting net-zero carbon (scope 1 & 2) in a downtown location, it is also carbon neutral in construction and pursuing six RESET performance certifications.

A significant part of making sustainability visible and measurable was the addition of solar panels on the roof of One East, Brookfield’s flagship property in which the new office resides.

Screen Shot 2022-10-26 at 2.20.13 PM

An uncommon sight in most city centers, the panels were installed to make net-zero carbon tangible for occupants: putting on display its source of renewable energy. Surplus energy will be used to help other tenants reduce their scope 1 & 2 emissions.

Yet, for Brookfield, addressing operational carbon was not enough. Serving as its own tenant, Brookfield chose to lead by example, measuring not only carbon emissions but also circularity and health.

“For new construction, unlocking deep reductions in carbon emissions requires looking at carbon, circularity and health together. When materials are toxic, no one wants to reuse or recycle them, let alone biodegrade them. Circularity (reuse, recycling, regeneration) is then compromised and old products are wasted. Excess new products are then made and carbon emissions go up.”

- Raefer Wallis, Founder and CEO of RESET

To provide guidance and third-party validation, Brookfield leveraged the RESET Standard: a data-driven standard for health and sustainability in real-estate, enabling Brookfield to measure performance in ways that were previously impossible.

RESET was used to measure and certify the performance of the new office in construction and operations, across six areas of impact with the following outcomes:

Construction (Embodied Impact)

Carbon:

41% reduction in carbon emissions from construction (compared to standard offices*)

Circularity:

10% recycled content (4.0 times better than standard offices*)
34% recyclability or biodegradability at the end of life (5.9 times better than standard offices*)
22% total circularity (5.3 times better than standard offices*)
Additionally, 73% of the furniture was reused from the previous office

Health:

13% of all product chemistry was known and 100% free of red-listed chemicals (2.0 times better than standard offices*)

Special target Achievement: Carbon Neutral

100% of remaining carbon emissions from construction offset via certified emission reduction (CER) credits

*Based on aggregated RESET project data.

Use (Operational Impact)

Energy:

Standardized and audited real-time monitoring of direct energy use

Health & Air Quality:

Standardized and audited real-time monitoring and benchmarking of air quality

Health & Water Quality:

Standardized and audited real-time monitoring and benchmarking of water quality

Special Target: Net Zero Carbon

Standardized and audited metering of renewable production and carbon reductions, and continuous tracking against energy use (scopes 1 & 2).

Net Zero Carbon and Carbon Neutrality

The Brookfield office has been operating net-zero carbon on scope 1 & 2 emissions since its first day of use.

Brookfield Solar

Following the 41% reduction in embodied carbon, remaining emissions from construction were offset via carbon emission reduction (CER) credits granted by the Carbon Exchange Center.

As a result, the Brookfield office is one of the first in the world to attain Total Carbon Neutrality across scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions for interior fit-out.

What’s more, carbon neutrality was achieved while delivering a healthy office interior. All key materials were screened for harmful chemical content and/or emissions. On a continuous basis, real-time monitoring ensures air quality and water quality are maintained within the RESET Standard.

Finally, the entire fit-out was completed at a material cost 44% lower than similar offices.

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For further insight into the leading materials and products that helped the Brookfield office achieve these results, please see the top 8 brands behind the top 10 products below:

Top 8 Manufacturers:

Milliken

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