Dispatches in Decarbonization: Net Zero Is a Math Problem — And Measurement Is the Missing Link
This article first appeared in Mahesh Ramanujam’s monthly LinkedIn newsletter, Dispatches in Decarbonization, on November 24, 2025. Subscribe on LinkedIn to receive these updates.
Over the past two weeks at COP30 in Brazil, one theme has become unmistakably clear: harmonization.
Last week’s ISO–GHG Protocol announcement reinforced this message with its COP30 Action Agenda — especially Axe 6, “Unleashing Enablers and Accelerators” — calling for consistent carbon markets and unified accounting standards. By 2028, both organizations have committed to strengthening the system that underpins credible reporting, transparent markets, and interoperable regulation.
For those of us working in green building or net zero strategy, harmonization is not a “nice-to-have” — it is the backbone of scale. Without common rules, our sector plans in fragments. When carbon accounting is aligned, organizations can move faster, set stronger targets, and achieve deeper emissions cuts.
Net Zero At It's Core: A Math Problem
A core challenge for our industry is that while everyone is talking about net zero, most organizations don’t know how close or far they are from true net zero. The building sector has long chased labels without clarity on whether those reflect real progress across waste, water, energy and emissions (Scopes 1, 2, and 3). Plaques and PR still dominate motivation, and while that can be a good thing, it often leads to inconsistent results.
What we need is one shared foundation: measurement.
The value proposition for net zero is fundamentally a math problem. After all, if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. Numbers and quantification turn ambition into something predictable, plannable and real. Without real data, we’re left guessing — and guessing won’t get the world to 2030 or 2050 targets.
Meeting the Market Where It Is
The reality is that the market is uneven. Some organizations are well on their way to net zero with ambitious goals and equally ambitious action. Others have started making progress but are constrained by resources. Many haven’t yet begun. But we as a community of practitioners need to be able to meet people where they are. So, the right question isn’t, “Are you net zero?” The real question to ask is, “Have you started on net zero — today — with real measured numbers?”
Every organization needs a starting line. And as practitioners, we must make that starting line accessible. The path from Zero to 100 must be three things at once: traceable, trackable, and verifiable. That’s the shift that GNFZ is trying to lead.
Progress over Perfection.
Math over Marketing.
Buildings don’t need another rigid, expensive system that takes years to produce results. They need:
Immediate action using the data they already have
A credible, data-backed plan — not theoretical guidance
Milestone recognition that reflects real-world advancement
Future proofing against regulatory and climate risk
Efficiency gains, smarter operations, and stronger stakeholder confidence
Efficiency is no longer the frontier. Going beyond efficiency is.
How GNFZ Moves Organizations from Awareness to Action
Our core tool is our net zero certification platform for buildings and businesses — designed with decades of LEED experience and purpose-built to remove the barriers slowing decarbonization.
Our certification platform turns awareness into action because it is helps you to quantify, plan, implement, and track — and then certify — the outcome. The platform and our certifications:
Are grounded in the GHG Protocol
Are recognized by GRESB
Map real Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions
Deliver an immediate, actionable emissions assessment
Validate a credible net zero plan within weeks
Link investment decisions to measurable savings
Provide milestone recognition for progress
Certify outcomes — but treat certification as the byproduct, not the goal
The real value is credible visibility for investors, customers, regulators, and internal leadership. And beyond the platform, GNFZ convenes a global network of practitioners and innovators advancing solutions to accelerate building and business decarbonization at scale.
Meeting the Paris Agreement and upcoming climate deadlines requires full engagement from all of us. And it requires new models that meet the middle and bottom of the market where they are — in a way that is affordable, incremental, scalable.
GNFZ is committed to building that global network with the recognition that we must move faster and smarter than we ever have before. We need to fully commit to the notion that the definition of sustainability as we knew it 5 and 10 years ago has completely evolved and that it is going to take a truly global network working together to accelerate net zero from aspiration to action.
Net Zero Isn’t Abstract. It’s Measurable.
Every building can begin today with a pathway grounded in its own data. Progress will look different across geographies and portfolios — but the destination is the same. What matters is measurable movement forward.
And you don’t have to do it alone.
Join the GNFZ Network
If you haven’t already joined GNFZ, I’d love to welcome you in.
By joining the GNFZ network you gain:
Access to GNFZ’s net zero certification platform, which is free to use and test out to enter data in
Tools to quantify, plan, implement, and certify your decarbonization progress
Entry into a global community of AEC, sustainability, and corporate leaders
Early access to resources, events, and implementation guidance
A direct pathway to measurable net zero action — no matter where you’re starting
How to join and ways you can engage:
Anyone who supports the pursuit of a zero emissions world is ready to join GNFZ network. Take one or some of these steps to advocate for a net zero future by learning, engaging, partnering, and certifying.
Register a pilot project and see how far away (or beyond!) you are on the track to net zero
Become an official GNFZ Partner to offer net zero support to your clients
Explore the GNFZ platform and enter project data (it’s free to sign up and use)
Access free educational resources, guides, and videos on our Insights page and on the platform’s educational portal
Attend an upcoming webinar or event (our next one on December 11 explores the potential of zero-carbon social housing in Mexico)
Advocate for and advance our mission of accelerating a zero-emissions world
Let’s build the future of credible, measurable net zero together.