In this context, one acronym is cropping up more and more in low-carbon real estate strategies: CRREM, which stands for Carbon Risk Real Estate Monitor.

Still relatively unknown outside of investor circles, CRREM is gradually establishing itself as a useful framework for determining whether a building, real estate portfolio, or multi-site property is on a trajectory compatible with climate goals. In other words: Does a real estate asset still consume and emit too much to remain aligned with a low-carbon trajectory by 2030, 2040, or 2050?

For property owners, asset managers, real estate departments, and energy managers, CRREM provides a complementary perspective to French regulatory requirements, such as the Tertiary Sector Decree. While the Tertiary Decree sets targets for reducing final energy consumption, the CRREM helps project an asset’s carbon risk and transition risk over time.

The challenge is therefore simple: it’s no longer enough to simply track consumption; we must understand where buildings stand on a long-term energy-carbon trajectory.

What Is CRREM?

CRREM, or the Carbon Risk Real Estate Monitor, is an international initiative dedicated to decarbonising the real estate sector. Its objective is to provide real estate stakeholders with pathways for reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, adapted to different countries and building types.

In practical terms, CRREM makes it possible to compare the performance of a real estate asset with a target pathway compatible with international climate objectives. This comparison helps identify buildings that may become at-risk assets, sometimes referred to as stranded assets.

A building may be considered exposed to transition risk when its carbon intensity exceeds the expected pathway for its sector, country or building type. This may lead to several consequences: reduced rental attractiveness, higher renovation costs, increased pressure from investors, financing difficulties or a decline in asset value.

CRREM should therefore not be viewed as a simple reporting tool. Above all, it is a decision-support tool that helps organisations prioritise assets, structure renovation plans and direct investment towards the buildings most exposed to risk.

Why Is CRREM Becoming Important for Real Estate?

The building sector accounts for a significant share of energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. At both international and European level, carbon neutrality objectives therefore require the existing building stock to undergo rapid transformation.

Most of the buildings that will still be in use in 2050 already exist today. The challenge is therefore not limited to new construction. It mainly concerns renovation, operation, maintenance, energy efficiency and the continuous monitoring of consumption.

This is precisely where CRREM is valuable. It makes it possible to move from an annual snapshot of consumption to a dynamic analysis of an asset’s trajectory.

Let us take a simple example: two buildings may currently have relatively similar energy consumption. However, one may be heated with gas, while the other may already be partly electrified or powered by a less carbon-intensive energy source. Their CRREM pathways will therefore not be identical. Similarly, an office building, healthcare facility, retail property or logistics asset will not be assessed in the same way.

CRREM therefore introduces a more detailed perspective. The question is no longer simply how much energy a building consumes, but whether its level of consumption and emissions remains compatible with its expected pathway.

How Does a CRREM Pathway Work?

CRREM is based on an intensity-based approach. Energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions are related to the building’s floor area in order to produce indicators that can be compared across assets.

The principle can be summarised as follows:

CRREM makes it possible to identify a tipping point: the date when a building’s carbon intensity exceeds the maximum level compatible with the reference pathway. The closer this date is, the more closely the building needs to be monitored.

This approach is particularly useful for multi-site real estate portfolios. It makes it possible to rank assets according to their level of exposure, rather than treating all buildings in the same way.

What Data Is Needed to Use CRREM?

The quality of the results depends directly on the quality of the available data. This is a critical point: a carbon pathway is only meaningful if consumption, floor area, building use and emission factors are reliable.

This data collection stage is often the real starting point. Without consolidated data, it becomes difficult to establish a credible pathway, monitor progress or justify decisions to an investor, executive committee or CSR team.

CRREM and France’s Tertiary Decree: Two Complementary Approaches

In France, CRREM is often discussed alongside the Tertiary Decree. The two frameworks are related, but they do not serve exactly the same purpose.

The Tertiary Decree is a French regulatory requirement. It requires covered tertiary buildings to progressively reduce their final energy consumption, with targets for 2030, 2040 and 2050. Consumption must be reported annually on the OPERAT platform.

CRREM, on the other hand, is not a French regulatory requirement. It is an international energy and carbon pathway framework, primarily used by real estate stakeholders, investors and asset managers to assess transition risk.

The two approaches are highly complementary. The Tertiary Decree helps structure a process for reducing energy consumption. CRREM helps assess whether these efforts are actually placing assets on a coherent, long-term low-carbon pathway.

A building may therefore improve its energy consumption while remaining exposed to carbon risk if its energy mix remains highly carbon-intensive or if its reduction pathway is not sufficiently ambitious.

Who Is CRREM Relevant To?

CRREM is primarily relevant to stakeholders who need to manage real estate assets from a long-term perspective. It can be useful for:

• Real estate companies and property investment firms seeking to anticipate the risk of carbon-related asset devaluation.

• Investors wishing to assess the climate exposure of their portfolios.

• Property departments that need to prioritise renovation projects across several sites.

• Energy managers looking to prioritise the highest-impact measures.

• CSR departments seeking to strengthen the credibility of their carbon pathway.

• Local authorities and public-sector organisations managing large tertiary property portfolios.

• Multi-site operators wishing to align energy performance, compliance and their low-carbon strategy.

CRREM is particularly valuable when the portfolio is diverse, including offices, healthcare facilities, public buildings, retail properties, logistics sites, educational establishments or mixed-use buildings. The more complex the portfolio, the more important reliable data becomes when prioritising efforts.

How CRREM Changes Building Energy Management

CRREM encourages real estate stakeholders to move beyond occasional monitoring. It promotes a more continuous, forward-looking and strategic approach.

First, it requires organisations to gain a better understanding of their assets. To position a building on a pathway, organisations need to know how much energy it consumes, which energy sources it uses, what floor area is concerned, which uses explain variations and which measures have already been implemented.

It also strengthens the link between energy performance and property value. Poor carbon performance may gradually become a risk factor, leading to more costly renovation works, reduced attractiveness to tenants, increased investor pressure and difficulties demonstrating ESG alignment.

Finally, CRREM provides a prioritisation framework. Not all buildings require the same investments at the same time. Some may benefit from quick optimisation measures, such as adjustments, the detection of anomalies, improved scheduling, usage monitoring or user awareness initiatives. Others may require more extensive work, including envelope renovation, equipment replacement, electrification, the use of renewable energy or the modernisation of technical systems.

CRREM therefore makes it possible to move from the general question, “How can we reduce our consumption?” to a more operational one: “Which assets should we prioritise in order to reduce our carbon risk?”

Limitations to Keep in Mind

Like any framework, CRREM must be used carefully. It does not replace an energy audit, a technical assessment or a detailed asset strategy. Instead, it complements these approaches.

The first limitation concerns data quality. Missing data, an inaccurate floor area or estimated consumption may distort the interpretation of a pathway. This is a common challenge for multi-site portfolios: data may be scattered, bills incomplete, meters inconsistent and responsibilities divided between owners and tenants.

The second limitation concerns interpretation. Exceeding a pathway does not mean that a building should immediately be abandoned or sold. It mainly indicates that a risk exists and needs to be analysed. The appropriate response may be a gradual action plan, a phased renovation or improved building operation.

Finally, CRREM focuses primarily on the operational phase of a building. Real estate decarbonisation must also address other issues, including embodied carbon in materials, major renovation works, life-cycle impacts, climate adaptation, occupant comfort and resilience.

For this reason, CRREM should be integrated into a broader approach to energy management and ESG performance management.

How Can Organisations Move from CRREM Analysis to Action?

Identifying carbon risk is useful, but the main challenge is to reduce it.

To take action, organisations generally need to follow four steps.

1. Consolidate Energy Data

The first step is to centralise consumption data, floor areas, meters, bills and data for each energy source. This consolidation provides a reliable overview of the portfolio and helps identify the buildings with the highest consumption.

Without this foundation, pathways remain theoretical.

2. Understand Uses and Anomalies

High consumption is not always caused by poor building design. It may result from incorrect settings, unusual use, operational drift, a leak, ageing equipment or operation outside occupied hours.

Energy monitoring must therefore provide the right level of detail: site, building, meter, use or piece of equipment.

3. Prioritise Measures

Not all measures have the same impact. Some are quick to implement and generate immediate savings. Others require a larger budget and must be integrated into a multi-year pathway.

The objective is to create a realistic improvement plan covering operational optimisation, maintenance, user awareness, remote meter reading, renovation, equipment replacement, HVAC control, building-envelope works or renewable energy generation.

4. Monitor Results Over Time

A carbon pathway cannot be managed just once a year. Regular monitoring is required to measure savings, verify that measures are producing the expected results and adjust the strategy if consumption begins to rise again.

It is this continuous monitoring that turns CRREM analysis into a genuine management tool.

The Role of an Energy Management Platform Like Ubigreen Energy

For organisations managing several buildings, the challenge is not only to understand the relevant frameworks. It is also to have sufficiently reliable data to take action.

An energy management platform makes it possible to centralise consumption data, monitor indicators, detect anomalies, structure action plans and measure progress over time.

With Ubigreen Energy, property departments, energy managers and asset managers can consolidate multi-site and multi-utility data, visualise consumption, monitor regulatory targets and manage energy-efficiency improvement measures.

This approach is particularly useful in a CRREM context because the quality of the pathway depends directly on the quality of the energy data. The more reliable the data, the more actionable the carbon-risk analysis becomes.

Ubigreen also supports organisations concerned by the Tertiary Decree, with a dedicated offering to structure data, monitor the 2030, 2040 and 2050 targets, prepare OPERAT-compatible exports and manage the energy-efficiency improvement plan.

In other words, Ubigreen does not position itself as a simple monitoring tool. The platform helps organisations move from a reporting obligation to an approach focused on energy and asset management, aligned with growing expectations regarding ESG, carbon pathways and real estate performance.

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