1.5°C-Aligned CO₂ Budgeting Tool for Buildings

INTRODUCTION TO THE 1.5°C-Aligned CO₂ Budgeting Tool for Buildings This Excel-based CO₂ budgeting tool accompanies the paper "A Framework for 1.5°C-Aligned Carbon Budgets in Architecture ", published in Buildings and Cities (doi.org/10.5334/bc.664) . It provides an open, transparent, and adaptable framework to calculate science-based, function-specific whole-life carbon budgets for buildings, in line with a 1.5°C climate trajectory. The tool operationalizes guidance from CRREM (Carbon Risk Real Estate Monitor) and SBTi (Science-Based Targets initiative), integrating both embodied and operational emissions. It is designed to support architects, engineers, and policymakers in setting climate-aligned carbon targets from the earliest design stages. Methodological Basis: The tool calculates cumulative carbon budgets over an assumed 50-year building life cycle, with the total budget allocated upfront. It uses an absolute contraction approach, ensuring alignment with global carbon budget constraints under the 1.5°C scenario. How to Use This Tool: The Tool tab allows users to input project-specific data (e.g., building functions, floor areas, and completion year). Carbon budgets are automatically calculated based on the weighted contribution of different building typologies, using data from the Data tab. Data and Licensing: All data used in this tool are derived from publicly available sources (CRREM, SBTi, DGNB) and adjusted for the German context. While the included data is adjusted for the German context, the methodology can be adapted to other regions by substituting local emission factor datasets. This tool is distributed under a CC-BY 4.0 license. Users are free to reuse, adapt, and share the tool with appropriate credit to the authors. The dataset is formatted to promote FAIR data principles. Disclaimer:Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy and usability of this tool. However, it is provided “as is” without any warranty, express or implied, including but not limited to warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement. The authors and their affiliated institutions accept no liability for any loss or damage arising from its use. Citation and Contact:If you use this tool in your research or practice, please cite the accompanying paper and acknowledge the authors. Please cite this tool as:Betti, G., Spaar, I., Bachmann, D., Jerosch-Herold, A., Kühner, E., Brandes, T., Yang, R., Avhad, K., & Sinning, S. (2025). 1.5°C-Aligned CO₂ Budgeting Tool for Buildings (Version 1.0) [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15773791 Please cite the related paper as:Betti, G., Spaar, I., Bachmann, D., Jerosch-Herold, A., Kühner, E., Yang, R., … Sinning, S. (2025). A framework for 1.5°C-aligned GHG budgets in architecture. Buildings and Cities, 6(1), 996–1009. https://doi.org/10.5334/bc.664 For feedback, questions, or collaboration, please contact Giovanni Betti g_betti [at] hotmail.com