Accelerated Emissions Reductions and Carbon Risk Management in Australian Commercial Buildings: Policy and Technology Perspectives
Abstract
1. Introduction
1.1. Carbon Risks Associated with Commercial Buildings’ Operation
1.2. Why Do We Need to Manage Carbon Risks in Commercial Buildings?
2. Rapid Decarbonisations in Commercial Buildings in Australia: How Practical Is It?
3. Methodology
3.1. Commercial Office Building Archetype and the Quantifiable Characteristics
3.2. Net-Zero Transition and Accelerated Pathway Identification—Current Policy and Technology Drivers and Future Decarbonisation Scenarios
3.2.1. Transitional Decarbonisation Goal (By 2035) Scenario
3.2.2. Whole-of-Life Net-Zero Emissions Goal (By 2040) Scenario
3.3. Building Energy Simulation and Modelling for Operational Energy Analysis
3.4. Operational and Embodied Emissions Accounting and the Decarbonisation Pathway
4. Results
4.1. Operational Energy End-Use Decomposition and Greenhouse Gas Emissions
4.2. Energy Resilience and Demand Flexibility—Implications on the Operational Decarbonisation
4.3. Upfront Embodied Carbon Reduction Potential and Contributions to the Whole-of-Life Net-Zero Emissions
5. Discussions
6. Conclusions and Limitations
Funding
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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| Building Characteristics | |
|---|---|
| Type | Commercial Office building |
| Storeys | 10 |
| Total floor area | 12,000 m2 |
| Floor-to-Floor height | 3 m |
| Zoning | Closed office with three zones (one for shared spaces and two zones for other office spaces). |
| Window-to-Wall Ratio (WWR) | 35% |
| Construction set | Exterior roof with roof membrane, roof insulation, and metal decking. Exterior concrete wall with wall insulation and Gypsum board. Exterior glass window. Interior floors and internal ceilings with acoustic tiles, ceiling air, and lightweight concrete. |
| Insulation | Roof insulation’s thermal conductivity (1/R) = 0.045 W/m·K. Wall insulation’s thermal conductivity (1/R) = 0.0380 W/m·K. Window glass thermal conductivity (1/R) = 0.082 W/m·K. |
| Infiltration rate | 10 ACH at 50 Pa for the chosen construction set. |
| HVAC system | One gas-fired furnace with a heating coil. Two packaged rooftop heat pumps with both heating and cooling DX coils. Heating setpoint:18 °C. Cooling setpoint: 24 °C. |
| Conditioned area to the total floor area | 100% |
| Lights (lighting density) | 9 Watts per square metre floor area (average for all spaces). |
| Electric equipment (plug load density) | 15 Watts per square metre floor area (average for all spaces). |
| Hot water system | Electric water heater (temperature at outlets <50 °C). |
| Emergency power backup | 120 KVA diesel generator (three-phase output) capable of using renewable diesel. |
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© 2026 by the author. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license.
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Baniya, B. Accelerated Emissions Reductions and Carbon Risk Management in Australian Commercial Buildings: Policy and Technology Perspectives. Buildings 2026, 16, 441. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings16020441
Baniya B. Accelerated Emissions Reductions and Carbon Risk Management in Australian Commercial Buildings: Policy and Technology Perspectives. Buildings. 2026; 16(2):441. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings16020441
Chicago/Turabian StyleBaniya, Bishal. 2026. "Accelerated Emissions Reductions and Carbon Risk Management in Australian Commercial Buildings: Policy and Technology Perspectives" Buildings 16, no. 2: 441. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings16020441
APA StyleBaniya, B. (2026). Accelerated Emissions Reductions and Carbon Risk Management in Australian Commercial Buildings: Policy and Technology Perspectives. Buildings, 16(2), 441. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings16020441

