Drivers of the Business Case The Business Case Strengthening the Case: Social Value The Social Value Case Future-Proofing The Value Proposition The built environment sector is critical to achieving a more sustainable future due to the impacts it does, and will, create. These include: • 75% of annual global greenhouse emissions from the built environment, with buildings accounting on its own for 37% 11 12 • Around 50% of emissions from new buildings will be from embodied sources, and half from operational sources, between 2020 and 2050 13 • 40-50% of resources extracted for global materials are used for housing, construction and infrastructure 14 • Building materials account for half the solid waste generated every year worldwide 15 • 230 billion square metres of new buildings will be constructed in the next 40 years 16 • 75% of the infrastructure needed by 2050 still needs to be built 17 • 7% of the global population is employed in the construction workforce 18 • 90% of our time is spent inside buildings, and our cities, infrastructure and urban ecosystems shape our quality of life 19 • 68% of the world’s population will live in cities by 2050 20 • Green buildings will represent a $24.7 trillion investment opportunity by 2030 21 . It is estimated that over the next four decades, global building floor area will double, adding the equivalent of a city the size of Paris every week in new building construction 26 . Most of this growth will take place in residential construction in emerging markets including Africa, East and South Asia, and the Pacific 27 . In addition, there is a worldwide deficit of 330 million homes, which is expected to grow to 440 million homes by 2025, including in regions such as Latin America, Middle East and Africa 28 . We cannot tackle climate change without addressing buildings, which account for close to 40% of emissions, and our cities that host the majority of our population 29 . Switching from fossil fuels to clean energy sources, optimising resource consumption and prioritising deep energy efficiency retrofits can provide local governments and property owners with an opportunity to enhance the quality of life and resilience of communities. A sustainable built environment will also improve health and reduce infrastructure to enhance the quality of life and resilience of communities. The built environment represents one of the biggest global investment opportunities of the next decade, an avenue to enhance sustainable development and human quality of life, and — if tackled correctly — reduce emissions and combat the climate crisis 30 . A WORLD GREEN BUILDING COUNCIL REPORT | 13