Development of a greenhouse gas emissions benchmark considering building characteristics and national greenhouse emissions reduction target

To achieve the national greenhouse gas emissions targets (GERT) based on the nationally determined contributions (NDC) by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2050, the scope of the emission trading scheme (ETS) needs to be extended to include the building sector as well as the industry sector. In this regard, the development of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions benchmark considering both the national GERT and the characteristics of the building sector is considered to be an important factor. Thus, this study developed the GHG emissions benchmark considering the national GERT and the building characteristics. The three groups by region (i.e., central and southern regions) were established using a decision tree method based on elapsed years. The developed GHG emissions benchmarks by group were found to satisfy both national GERTs based on NDC by 2030 (i.e., 32.80%) and carbon neutrality by 2050 (i.e., 88.10%). Therefore, the proposed GHG emissions benchmarks can be a more reasonable alternative compared to the GHG emission benchmarks based on Korean-ETS and EU-ETS in terms of achieving the national GERT and relieving the economic burden. The developed GHG emissions benchmarks provide valuable insights and references for helping policy-makers adopt the ETS in the building sector for achieving GERT.