Climate-Related Risk Playbook for Building Owners – Retail Buildings

REALPAC

REALPAC is pleased to release the Climate-Related Risk Playbook for Building Owners – Retail Buildings, developed in collaboration with REALPAC members, the Canada Green Building Council, and JLL Canada, with support from Natural Resources Canada. Designed to offer practical guidance, this playbook helps asset and investment managers navigate both physical and transition climate risks.

Canada’s retail real estate sector is being reshaped by e-commerce, changing shopping patterns, and tenant polarization, making climate-related risk management increasingly important for owners and investors. To remain competitive, retail assets must improve energy performance, reduce emissions, and strengthen resilience to extreme weather, while navigating lease structures and tenant-driven energy use that can limit owner control. Effective decarbonization, therefore, requires coordinated capital planning, better data and submetering, and stronger owner-tenant alignment to protect long-term asset value.

This playbook is structured around three key areas:

Introduction
Financials
Technology & Operations

In addition to the Retail playbook, REALPAC has also released playbooks for the Apartment, Industrial, and Office sectors. The four playbooks examine regulations, portfolio- and asset-level decision-making, and financial implications. They also provide guidance on carbon transition planning, emissions reduction prioritization, and physical climate risk assessment and planning, including resilience considerations related to extreme weather events.

Together, the playbooks support more informed, data-driven decision-making as the sector advances toward a lower-carbon, more climate-resilient future.