Vonovia Nachhaltigkeitsbericht 2022 - Nachhaltig handeln

Carbon Emissions

Greenhouse Gas Balance

					2022 by Country
Key Figures	Unit	2020	2021	2022	Germany	Austria	Sweden

Greenhouse Gas Balance				305–1, 305–2, 305–3, 305–4, 305–5

Emissions Scope 1+2+3

Total portfolio + business operations	t CO₂e	1,053,362	1,021,851	1,161,014	1,054,237	73,682	33,095
of which issues portfolio¹⁾	t CO₂e	1,021,319	988,942	1,125,235	1,019,431	73,308	32,496
of which emissions from business operations¹⁾	t CO₂e	32,043	32,910	35,779	34,806	374	599

Intensities¹⁾
Emissions per rental space Portfolio	kg CO₂e/m²	37.1	36.1	31.5	33.0	42.2	10.6
Emissions per rental unit Portfolio	kg CO₂e/ME	2,419	2,352	2,019	2,065	3,331	781
Emissions per million € segment revenue	t CO₂e/Mio. €	234	190	180	196	106	90

Emissions Scope 1+2

Total portfolio + business operations	t CO₂e	904,241	878,003	909,438	833,223	45,578	30,637
of which emissions portfolio	t CO₂e	877,216	850,106	880,370	804,807	45,360	30,203
of which emissions from business operations	t CO₂e	27,025	27,897	29,068	28,416	217	435

Scope 1 (Direct Emissions)

Total portfolio + business operations	t CO₂e	487,058	468,980	547,110	523,096	23,595	418

Scope 1 Portfolio

Combustion processes of stationary plants	t CO₂e	466,848	448,790	526,253	502,760	23,493	0
of which heat natural gas (ME)	%	87.5	88.6	92.0	92.9	74.0	–
of which heat fuel oil (ME)	%	9.8	9.4	7.0	6.1	25.1	–
of which heat coal (ME)	%	2.8	2.0	1.0	1.0	0.2	–
of which heat other (ME)²⁾	%	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.8	–

Scope 1 Business Operations

Combustion Processes of Business Operations	t CO₂e	20,211	20,190	20,857	20,337	102	418
of which mobile plants	%	94.6	94.5	92.8	92.8	52.1	100.0
of which stationary plants	%	5.4	5.5	7.2	7.2	47.9	0.0

Scope 2 (Indirect Emissions from Energy Purchases)³⁾

Total portfolio + business operations	t CO₂e	417,183	409,023	362,328	310,126	21,983	30,219

Scope 2 Portfolio

Energy supply⁴⁾	t CO₂e	410,369	401,316	354,117	302,047	21,867	30,203
of which district heating (ME)	%	92.9	93.8	92.9	95.1	79.4	80.3
of which heat electricity (ME)	%	5.1	4.2	4.1	3.6	15.7	0.6
of which electricity (common areas)⁴⁾	%	2.0	2.0	2.8	1.3	4.7	16.4
of which heat other (ME)²⁾	%	0.0	0.0	0.2	0.0	0.1	2.7

Scope 2 Business Operations

Energy supply (location based)	t CO₂e	6,814	7,707	8,211	8,079	115	16
of which electricity	%	49.6	49.8	70.9	70.9	61.8	100.0
of which district heating	%	50.4	50.2	29.1	29.1	38.2	0.0
Energy supply (market based)	t CO₂e	1,437	1,726	1,015	1,015	0	0
of which electricity⁶⁾	%	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	–	–
of which district heating⁷⁾	%	–	–	–	–	–	–

Scope 3 (Other Indirect Emissions)

Total portfolio + business operations	t CO₂e	149,120	205,577	376,929	272,608	100,796	3,525

3.1 Emissions from purchased goods and services⁸⁾	t CO₂e	n.a.	61,729	125,354	51,594	72,693	1,067

3.3 Fuel and energy-related emissions (not Scope 1+2)⁹⁾	t CO₂e	113,325	109,543	223,795	202,040	19,366	2,388
Portfolio	t CO₂e	109,018	105,240	217,950	196,357	19,300	2,293
of which upstream natural gas (ME)	%	89.5	90.4	53.1	55.0	39.5	0.0
of which upstream district heating (ME)	%	–	–	41.4	40.4	45.0	100.0
of which upstream heating oil (ME)	%	8.6	8.2	3.5	3.1	7.7	0.0
of which upstream electricity (ME)	%	–	–	1.2	0.8	5.7	0.0
of which upstream coal (ME)	%	1.9	1.4	0.4	0.4	0.0	0.0
of which upstream electricity common areas	%	–	–	0.4	0.3	1.4	0.0
of which upstream heat Other (ME)²⁾	%	–	–	0.1	0.0	0.8	0.0
Business operations	t CO₂e	4,308	4,304	5,845	5,683	67	95
of which upstream diesel (mobile)	%	88.3	87.7	64.6	65.5	3.5	55.1
of which upstream electricity (stationary, location based)	%	–	–	13.3	13.3	26.5	0.0
of which upstream district heating (stationary, location based)	%	–	–	10.5	10.5	29.6	0.0
of which upstream natural gas/heating oil (stationary)	%	5.9	6.0	5.9	5.8	25.0	0.0
of which upstream gasoline (mobile)	%	5.8	6.3	5.6	4.9	15.1	44.9
of which upstream electricity (mobile)	%	–	–	0.1	0.1	0.3	0.0

3.6 Business trips¹⁰⁾	t CO₂e	710	709	866	707	90	70
of which by private vehicle	%	83.1	86.1	69.1	73.6	42.7	57.6
of which by airplane	%	15.3	13.8	30.8	26.4	56.2	42.4
of which by rail	%	1.6	0.0	0.1	0.0	1.1	0.0

3.13. Downstream leased assets¹¹⁾ WEG	t CO₂e	35,085	33,596	26,915	18,267	8,648	0
of which natural gas (ME)	%	59.4	60.6	64.8	69.0	56.0	–
of which district heating (ME)	%	28.2	27.9	21.2	15.3	33.8	–
of which heating oil (ME)	%	6.8	6.1	7.5	9.4	3.4	–
of which heat electricity (ME)	%	4.4	4.3	5.4	4.9	6.3	–
of which coal (ME)	%	1.2	1.1	0.9	1.4	0.0	–
of which heat, other (ME)²⁾	%	0.0	0.0	0.1	0.0	0.5	–

Greenhouse gases included in the calculation: CO₂ equivalents (greenhouse gases regulated in the Kyoto Protocol CO₂, CH₄, N₂O, SF₆, HFC and HFC).
Sources of emission factors: GEMIS 5.0, Defra, Federal Ministry of Environment Germany, Federal Ministry of Environment Austria, Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, and Swedenergy (Swedish non-profit organization).
Complete conversion of emissions calculation region Germany from 2020 and Austria from 2021 to GEMIS 5.0, therefore limited comparability with previous years (explanation on page 108).
1)2020 and 2021 excl. Deutsche Wohnen. 2022 incl. Deutsche Wohnen (excl. nursing care and SYNVIA segments). Excl. emissions from purchased goods and services (Scope 3.1).
2)Other in the area of direct combustion mainly wood and pellet heating. In the area of heat supply, mainly air, water, or ground-source heat pumps.
3)2020 and 2021 without separate disclosure of upstream chain in energy supply. For the calculation of the total amount of CO₂ emissions from business processes, the calculation was based completeness of the calculation, the location-based approach was used.
4)Calculation using utility-specific emission factors (market-based) if available in qualified form. Otherwise, use of location-specific emission factors (location-based).
5)For the Germany region, all volumes traded via VESG using 100% green electricity guarantee of origin, cleared via the Federal Environment Agency's register of guarantees of origin.
6)For locations in the Austria region, 100% green electricity.
7)Due to missing supplier information/certificates, scope 2 emissions for district heating cannot be reported according to market-based calculation.
8)Of which 100% from emissions caused by new construction/development.
9)Increase in 2022 compared to previous years due to separate reporting of upstream chain for energy supply (Scope 2). Includes fuel- and energy-related emissions of the entire portfolio (incl. WEG share), in each case stationary combustion.
10)Include Sweden region as of 2021. Correction of the allocation of the data for the emission categories “of which by private vehicle” and “of which by rail” for previous years.
11)Rental units that belong to a residential property owners' association (WEG) in which Vonovia has an ownership interest of ≤ 50 % in the building (no full operational control). There are no proportional ownership rights in the Sweden region.

Notes on the Greenhouse Gas Emissions

The scope of consolidation relevant for calculating greenhouse gas emissions was defined in coordination with the scope of consolidation for the other environmental key figures. The carbon emission calculations were based on the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol), the internationally recognized standard for calculating carbon emissions. Carbon emissions were calculated as CO₂ equivalents (CO₂e). Carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e) is a standardized unit to measure the relative contributions of various gases to the greenhouse gas effect. Emissions that harm the climate are not only caused by carbon dioxide (CO₂), although it is the most well-known. Other gases, such as methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O), are converted to CO₂ equivalents using a conversion factor, which simplifies comparability in terms of detrimental effects on the climate.

When calculating CO₂ emissions, we have changed the emission factor for combined heat and power (CHP) plants from the energy-based allocation method to the Carnot Allocation Method with effect from the Sustainability Report 2022. Accordingly, the values for 2021 and 2020 are not directly comparable with those of the previous years.

To calculate the emissions, the CO₂e factors from version 5.0 of the GEMIS (Global Emission Model for Integrated Systems) database were used. GEMIS (Global Emission Model for Integrated Systems) is an internationally recognized model for determining energy and material flows with an integrated database. The model calculates life cycles for all processes and scenarios, i. e., it takes into consideration all material steps from primary energy/raw material extraction to effective energy/material provision and also includes the auxiliary energy and cost of materials to produce energy plants and transport systems. The GEMIS data was selected because it is generally accepted, up-to-date and consistent, and was recommended by the Initiative Wohnen 2050. If other emission factors are applied in individual cases, this is indicated accordingly.

Portfolio

The calculation of CO₂ emissions in the portfolio is conducted according to the “Financial Control Approach.” Emissions produced as a result of portfolio operations are disclosed under Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions. This takes into consideration the actual financial control exercised over the portfolio that exists for the majority of the portfolio area or rental units (Germany region: 98%, Austria region: 83%, Sweden region: 100%). For the rest of the portfolio, in which the company holds a minority interest, the carbon emission figures are fully reported under Scope 3. We do not have data that we can evaluate for the Deutsche Wohnen portfolio and have therefore reported all direct and indirect emissions from this subportfolio outside of Scope 3.13. To calculate the market-based emissions from district heating and common-area electricity, we used the providers’ exact emission factors.

Business Operations

The CO₂e factors from version 5.0 of the GEMIS database were also used for the majority of the emissions generated as a result of business operations. To calculate the market-based emissions from electricity, we used the electricity providers’ exact emission factors. To calculate Scope 3 emissions from business rail travel, we used emission factors taken from Deutsche Bahn and Österreichische Bundesbahnen. Business travel and transport were also reported for Sweden for the first time in 2021. GHG Protocol factors from external travel agencies were applied for flights.