Greengage was appointed by Gatehouse Bank to calculate the financed emissions and net zero pathway for their home finance and Build to Rent portfolios.
Gatehouse Bank is a Shariah-compliant UK bank which offers a range of ethical savings products for UK customers, as well as residential property finance in England and Wales for UK resident, UK expat and international homebuyers and landlords. The Bank is also active in the private rented sector (Built to Rent) through its subsidiary, Gatehouse Build to Rent Group, trading as Gatehouse Living Group.
In 2023, Gatehouse Bank’s portfolio consisted of around 5,400 financed properties and 1,600 Build to Rent properties. Gatehouse Bank is a founding signatory to the UN Principles for Responsible Banking and has committed to aligning its business to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement. The Bank aspires to create a pathway to achieve net zero by 2050.
Greengage was retained to ascertain the financed emissions for 2023, set targets, conduct scenario testing and provide recommendations to help Gatehouse Bank achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
The following approach was taken:
1. Calculating the financed emissions for a portfolio of 7,000 properties.
Financed emissions refer to the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that are linked to the investment and lending activities of financial institutions. The financed emissions were calculated based on guidance from Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF).
One of the critical challenges with calculating the financed emissions was the availability of data to calculate building emissions. EPC data available was limited to the 1,600 Build to Rent properties. For these properties, Greengage adjusted Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) calculations to account for unregulated energy use to narrow the performance gap, if not close it.
For the remaining 5,400 financed properties, the data consisted of addresses and EPC ratings only. AI driven operational energy modelling was used to overcome the data gap. This was necessary in the absence of access to properties and the borrowers.
An additional constraint was the lack of floor area data. An AI driven data mining solution was used to overcome this where possible and tested against benchmarks and the PCAF European Building Emissions Factor database.
2. Conducting target setting using SBTi guidance for financial institutions.
Using the latest guidance and target setting tools from SBTi for financial institutions, the net zero trajectories were devised for Gatehouse Bank’s portfolio.
3. Conducting scenario testing to assess the net zero gap and the likelihood of the Bank’s transition to net zero by 2050
Greengage conducted scenario testing to assess the net zero gap of the projected emissions trajectory based on the following:
- A business-as-usual scenario
- A regulatory change scenario
- A scenario accounting for the recommendations of the UK Climate Change Committee’s 6th Carbon Budget.
The target emissions were aligned to Paris 1.5⁰C.
4. Developing key recommendations to enable the Bank’s transition to net zero
Greengage’s recommendations focussed on three areas:
- Methods for improving data quality
- Key initiatives that the Bank could implement around their internal financing terms and criteria.
- Recommendations on financial services and products that could create additional opportunities both for the bank and the borrowers, while enabling a net zero transition.
The operational energy limits of the UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard were built into recommendations to provide a clear benchmark for the bank to work to.
Key project successes
- Delivery of an AI based approach to carbon footprint, to overcome critical data gaps.
- Practical and achievable solutions to improving data quality.
- Unlocking sustainable finance opportunities for the bank.
- The EPC limitations identified from the project fed into Greengage’s response to the EPC reform consultation. It highlighted the need for EPCs to have relevant data for financial institutions to not only measure the climate impact of their portfolio, but also facilitate sustainable finance for enabling decarbonisation efforts.
The project was shortlisted at the Unlock Net Zero Awards 2025 in the Innovation of the Year (Data and Knowledge Building) category.
Testimonials
“As a Shariah-compliant, ethical bank and founding signatory to the UN Principles of Responsible Banking, we take our responsibility to society and the environment very seriously. As part of this, we recognise the importance of measuring our financed emissions and decarbonising our portfolio. We are grateful to Greengage for their technical support in measuring our financed emissions, providing targets and testing scenarios to ascertain the net zero gap and advising us on next steps to support our transition to net zero by 2050.”
Emily Rossi, ESG Lead, Gatehouse Bank
“Greengage provided expertise in assessing the financed emissions of our Home Finance and Built to Rent portfolios. Faced with challenges in data availability, their team employed innovative methodologies to generate accurate emissions estimates. Their ability to derive and estimate missing property floor area data ensured comprehensive results, all aligned with PCAF guidance. Greengage’s commitment to precision, sustainability and practical solutions makes them a trusted partner in ESG analysis.”
Andy Homer, Chief Customer Office, Gatehouse Bank
