The Restoration Carbon Protocol (RCP) v1.0 is the first open industry standard for calculating, documenting, and reporting Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions from restoration contractor work. Published in April 2026 and available free at tygartmedia.com/rcp, it is the supply chain data infrastructure that commercial real estate ESG practitioners have been missing — and that BOMA, IFMA, and institutional property owners cannot solve for without contractor-side standards adoption.
This article explains what RCP is, why it matters specifically for ESG practitioners working on commercial real estate Scope 3 disclosure, and what the path to industry-wide adoption looks like.
The Commercial Real Estate Scope 3 Supply Chain Gap
Commercial real estate is one of the most ESG-scrutinized asset classes globally. Institutional owners — REITs, pension funds, sovereign wealth vehicles — face GRESB benchmarking, SBTi supplier engagement requirements, California SB 253 supply chain disclosure, and CSRD obligations for EU-exposed portfolios. The common denominator across all four frameworks is the same requirement: primary-quality Scope 3 emissions data from the building’s vendor supply chain.
Restoration contractors sit squarely in that supply chain. Every water damage event. Every mold remediation. Every fire restoration. Every asbestos abatement. Each one generates Category 1 Scope 3 emissions (purchased services) that appear in the property owner’s GHG inventory. And for most institutional property portfolios with active claims histories, restoration contractor emissions are not incidental — they are a recurring, material supply chain category.
The current state is universally inadequate. Property owners either exclude contractor emissions from their Scope 3 inventories with a disclosed exclusion note, or apply spend-based estimates using EPA USEEIO factors for the construction services sector. Both are acknowledged limitations in sustainability reports. Both are flagged as data quality gaps by GRESB auditors, SBTi verifiers, and CSRD assurance providers. Neither will survive the data quality escalation already underway in these frameworks.
GRESB added GHG data coverage as a scored metric in 2025 — rewarding portfolios that report contractor-verified emissions data over those that estimate. SBTi’s Corporate Net-Zero Standard V1.3 requires that supplier engagement targets cover at least 67% of Scope 3 emissions, and supplier data must demonstrate primary-quality methodology. CSRD’s ESRS E1 explicitly requires disclosure of the percentage of Scope 3 calculated from primary data versus estimation.
The gap is structural, not behavioral. Property owners want this data. Contractors do not have a standard to produce it against. Until now.
What the Restoration Carbon Protocol Is
RCP v1.0 is a 33-article open framework covering the complete technical, commercial, regulatory, and data infrastructure needed for restoration contractor Scope 3 reporting. At its core:
Five job-type calculation guides — water damage, fire and smoke, mold remediation, asbestos and hazmat abatement, and biohazard cleanup — each with specific emission factors sourced from EPA 2025 Emission Factors Hub, EPA eGRID 2023, EPA WARM v16, DEFRA 2024, and IPCC AR6.
A 12-point data capture standard that maps to existing field documentation in restoration job management systems — Encircle, PSA, Dash, and Xcelerate.
A validated JSON schema (RCP-JCR-1.0) for producing machine-readable Job Carbon Reports designed for direct intake into ESG data management platforms — Measurabl, Yardi Elevate, Deepki.
A public REST API at tygartmedia.com/wp-json/wp/v2/posts?tags=409 returning all 31 framework articles, with a planned tygart/v1/rcp/factors endpoint serving all emission factors as structured JSON.
Full regulatory alignment documentation mapping RCP to GRESB GH1 indicator requirements, SBTi supplier engagement target evidence standards, California SB 253 Scope 3 methodology requirements, and CSRD ESRS E1 primary data quality disclosure.
Audit readiness guidance aligned with GHG Protocol verification standards, including source document retention requirements, chain-of-custody documentation, version control requirements, and pre-audit self-review procedures for both limited and reasonable assurance engagements.
How RCP Fits Into the ESG Practitioner Workflow
For ESG practitioners at property owners, investors, or consulting firms, RCP addresses three distinct workflow problems:
Data collection: Rather than sending ad hoc vendor sustainability questionnaires and receiving inconsistent responses, ESG teams can require RCP compliance from preferred restoration vendors and receive structured Job Carbon Reports in a standardized format. The RCP portfolio summary maps directly to GRESB GH1 data inputs and SBTi supplier engagement documentation.
Methodology defense: When a GRESB reviewer, SBTi verifier, or CSRD assurance provider asks how contractor emissions were calculated, RCP provides a citable, publicly available methodology with sourced emission factors and documented data quality tiers.
Supplier engagement evidence: SBTi supplier engagement targets require documentation that suppliers are taking action. An RCP-certified contractor delivering Job Carbon Reports and an annual portfolio summary with year-over-year emissions comparison is precisely the supplier engagement evidence that SBTi validation requires.
The Carbon Avoidance Dimension
RCP v1.0 includes a carbon avoidance framework — supplementary documentation for emissions that did not happen because of deliberate contractor decisions. Dry-in-place drying instead of demolish-and-replace. Drywall debris diverted to gypsum recyclers instead of landfill. Electric monitoring vehicles instead of diesel trucks.
For ESG practitioners, avoided emissions documentation from restoration contractors serves a distinct purpose from the Scope 3 inventory figure. It is supplier engagement evidence — proof that the contractor is actively reducing supply chain emissions, not merely reporting them. The avoided emissions JSON schema and calculation methodology are documented at tygartmedia.com/rcp-carbon-avoidance-framework-restoration/.
The Path to Protocol-Grade Adoption
RCP v1.0 is a document standard. RCP v2 is the protocol. The v2 roadmap — detailed in the article What UCP Teaches Us About RCP — maps the path from document standard to authenticated protocol: a contractor certification program, a cryptographically signed RCP Mandate credential, a public verification endpoint, and a certified contractor registry.
The trigger for that transition is formal endorsement by a recognized restoration industry body — RIA, IICRC, or a coalition including major P&C carriers. The framework is built. The API is live. The governance opportunity is open.
What ESG Practitioners Can Do Now
- Add RCP to your vendor ESG questionnaire — ask preferred restoration contractors whether they have implemented RCP data capture or have a documented timeline.
- Require RCP Job Carbon Reports for new losses — the template and field definitions are at tygartmedia.com/rcp-job-carbon-report-template/.
- Reference RCP in your Scope 3 methodology disclosure — “Restoration contractor Scope 3 emissions calculated using the Restoration Carbon Protocol v1.0 (tygartmedia.com/rcp), aligned with GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain Standard.”
The full framework, technical guides, API documentation, and contact information are at tygartmedia.com/rcp. Industry governance and partnership inquiries: rcp@tygartmedia.com.
For NYC and Long Island building teams
BCESG’s NYC desk covers how this topic lands on the ground for owners, facility managers, and tenants:
