How to measure emissions from Downstream leased assets: Buildings electricity

What counts as Downstream leased assets: Buildings electricity

Electricity consumed in buildings the organisation owns but leases out to tenants, where the organisation retains reporting responsibility under Scope 3 Category 13 (downstream leased assets) rather than the tenant's own Scope 1/2 boundary.

This category exists because a landlord's Scope 1 and 2 boundary usually only covers energy it controls directly — spaces let to tenants under their own supply contracts typically fall outside operational control and instead need reporting as downstream leased assets. Check which consolidation approach your organisation uses: under operational control, tenant-metered electricity in leased space belongs here in Category 13; under a financial control or equity share approach, some or all of it may already sit inside your own Scope 2 figures, in which case it should not be duplicated here. This page is specifically for electricity — gas is reported separately on the downstream leased assets: buildings: gas page, and vehicles leased out by the organisation sit on their own page.

What activity data you need

Collect the most specific physical unit available. Unit definitions are in Appendix I — Description of Units.

• kWh

Which emission scope it falls under

Downstream leased assets: Buildings electricity activity data typically maps to Scope 3 Category 13 under the GHG Protocol. Confirm organisational boundary and ownership before reporting.

Common sub-types

• Electricity: Average
• Electricity: EU (average)
• Electricity: Non-OECD Europe and Eurasia (average)
• Electricity: UK grid
• District heat and steam: Biogas (AD): 100%
• Electricity: US: Average
• Electricity: Solar PV Consumed
• Electricity: Solar PV Exported

Common questions

Which buildings count as downstream leased assets for electricity reporting?

Any building, or part of a building, that the organisation owns but leases to a tenant under an arrangement where the tenant — not the landlord — is treated as controlling the energy use, typically under an operational control consolidation approach.

Do I need this data if my tenants already report their own Scope 1 and 2 emissions?

Yes, in most cases. Tenant reporting under their own boundary doesn't remove the landlord's separate obligation to report the same energy use as a downstream leased asset under Scope 3 Category 13, unless your organisation uses a financial control or equity share approach where it's already counted in Scope 2.

How do I get electricity data from tenants who hold their own utility accounts?

Request it through the lease agreement's data-sharing or reporting clause, or ask tenants directly for their invoiced kWh for the period; where this isn't available, sub-metering or floor-area apportionment of the whole-building supply is the fallback.

What should I do if a leased building isn't sub-metered separately from the rest of the site?

Apportion the whole-building electricity reading between let and owner-occupied space using floor area or occupied hours as a reasonable basis, and record that basis so it can be reviewed or refined later.

Does this category overlap with my organisation's own Scope 2 electricity reporting?

It can, depending on your consolidation approach. Confirm whether tenant-let space is included in your Scope 2 boundary (financial control/equity share) or excluded from it (operational control) before reporting the same electricity in both places.