Adoption of generative AI in the built environment could reduce the sector’s greenhouse gas emissions by the equivalent of the entire annual carbon footprint of the United States by 2030, according to new research.
Sustainably Intelligent: AI for a Greener Built World from proptech venture capital firm Pi Labs estimates that the global industry-wide adoption of four AI use cases would avoid between 5.81 and 6.46 gigatonnes of CO2-e annually by 2030.
This is the equivalent of 10.12% to 11.25% of 2022’s total global carbon footprint of 57.4 gigatonnes CO2-e. The total carbon footprint of the United States, the world’s second largest greenhouse gas emitter, was 6.02 gigatonnes CO2-e in 2022.
The white paper examined 68 sustainability-orientated use cases for AI across the real estate value chain. The four selected AI use cases were:
- Reducing raw material inputs through generative design.
- Preventing construction rework with 3D AI analytics
- Reducing building energy intensity with AI-enabled smart building technology.
- Redirecting demolition waste with AI-enabled waste material analysis
Industry interviews indicate that AI is being used to accelerate processes, creating opportunities that were otherwise too time-consuming to be feasible.
Generative AI is energy intensive
Nevertheless, the study acknowledged that AI is not without its challenges. These include a growing body of commentary on the presence of bias and erroneous outputs.
Generative AI is also energy intensive. Pi Labs’ calculations show that if every real estate professional used generative AI tools for an hour each day, it would result in 75,385 kWh of daily energy demand, leading to 22.46 tonnes of CO2-e emissions.
Extrapolated globally, this activity would generate 1.184 GWh of daily energy demand, resulting in 516.6 tonnes of CO2-e emissions. Over a year, this is the equivalent of 94,280 airline passengers taking a round trip between London Heathrow and New York’s JFK airport.
The white paper concludes: “There is growing pushback against climate alarmism, and we do not wish to add to this noise. However, the analyses contained within this paper make it clear that cost-effective technology is available to mitigate a large proportion of the built environment’s carbon footprint, meaning the accountability must rest with those of us working in the built environment. No longer can we plead ignorance.”
