Crown Castle

Carbon per million dollars of revenue. The legacy industry-standard reference (CDP, MSCI). Useful for cross-sector context, but distorted by margin — high-margin firms appear artificially efficient. Read alongside the operational and asset intensities for the full picture.

OpEx (operating expenditure) is the running cost of the business — staff, services, energy, materials. This shows how carbon-intensive operations are per million dollars of spend. Removes the margin distortion that revenue-based ratios introduce.

EVIC (Enterprise Value Including Cash) is the firm's total capital footprint — equity + debt + cash + minority interest. The EU's standard intensity measure (SFDR PAI 3) — answers: how much carbon does each million of capital deployed in this business produce?

PP&E (Property, Plant & Equipment) plus leased real-estate assets is the firm's physical infrastructure on the balance sheet. This shows the carbon intensity of that physical footprint — uses Scope 1+2+3 for consistency with the other headline intensities. Surfaces stranded-asset risk for asset-heavy firms.

Carbon per million dollars of physical infrastructure — PP&E plus leased real-estate, including upstream and downstream leased emissions (Scope 3 categories 8 + 13). The most complete view of physical-asset carbon intensity, relevant for REITs and infrastructure-heavy firms.

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Crown Castle's sustainability strategy includes a goal to be carbon neutral in Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2025, pursued through sourcing of renewable energy to power operations. This is paired with operational efficiency measures including converting tower lighting systems to LED, which has resulted in reduced energy costs and improved operational efficiency.

Crown Castle's strategy to reach its 2025 carbon-neutral Scope 1 & 2 goal centers on emissions reductions and renewable energy, with carbon offsets procured 'to a lesser extent.' No durable removal technologies (DAC, BECCS, biochar) are referenced.

• Shared wireless infrastructure model reduces per-tenant emissions

  Crown Castle's core decarbonisation argument is its shared wireless infrastructure model, which it describes as inherently sustainable. By building once and using its infrastructure for multiple tenants, the company lowers the total number of assets that would otherwise be needed across the wireless industry, reducing resource use and overall emissions on a per-tenant basis.

• Climate resilience through geographically distributed assets

  Crown Castle's assets are widely distributed across the U.S., which helps limit the impact of any single weather event on operations. The company proactively assesses and maintains assets to maximize resilience against extreme weather events and other physical climate risks.

• LED conversion of tower lighting systems

  Crown Castle is converting tower lighting systems to LED across its U.S. tower portfolio, resulting in reduced energy costs and improved operational efficiency. This is a direct Scope 1/2 lever for the firm's owned and operated tower infrastructure.

• Shared infrastructure colocation model

  Core business model is to share towers across multiple customers, reducing total assets needed and resource use. Crown Castle's carbon intensity is reported as 79x lower than S&P 500 average based on Scope 1 + location-based Scope 2 per $1B enterprise value (0.9 vs 71).

• Fleet electrification / hybridisation and telematics

  Fleet emissions represent 52% of Scope 1+2. In 2024, Crown Castle achieved a 17% reduction in fuel consumption and Scope 1 emissions through operational changes and converting ~15% of its fleet to hybrid models. Telematics rollout completed across all fleet vehicles, standardizing fuel and idling data.

• Tower lighting LED upgrade

  63% of lit towers upgraded to energy-efficient LED lighting by end-2024, up from 61% (2023) and 60% (2022). Drives electricity reduction at tower assets.

• Shared infrastructure / colocation model

  Core business model: building once and sharing infrastructure among multiple wireless carrier customers reduces the total assets needed and lowers materials, energy and water resources versus a single-tenant model. Crown Castle states its carbon intensity is 72x lower than the S&P 500 average (Scope 1+2 location-based per $1B enterprise value).

• LED lighting on towers

  61% of lit towers (12,137 total) have been upgraded to energy-efficient LED lights as of 2023, up from 57% in 2021 and 60% in 2022. Tower lighting is part of Towers asset class electricity use.

• Fleet hybridization and telematics

  Fleet represents 51% of Scope 1+2 emissions. In early 2024 Crown Castle converted 162 vehicles (~15% of total fleet) to hybrid models, and completed the rollout of upgraded telematics devices to all fleet vehicles to standardize fuel consumption and idling-time data. Drove an 11% decrease in fleet-related incidents since 2022.

• Shared infrastructure / colocation model

  The core decarb strategy is the shared infrastructure model: one tower or fiber asset serves multiple tenants, reducing materials, energy and emissions vs single-tenant builds. The company argues its carbon intensity (0.97 tCO2e per $1B EV) is 80x lower than the S&P 500 average.

• Fleet diesel and gasoline reduction

  Fleet (diesel + gasoline) represents 30% of Scope 1+2 emissions and is the largest Scope 1 source at 9,679 tCO2e in 2022. Identified as a primary lever for further reduction within own operations.

• LED tower lighting upgrades

  Crown Castle is converting tower lighting to energy-efficient LEDs. 60% of the 12,117 lit towers were upgraded by end of 2022, up from 57% in 2021 and 53% in 2020. This reduces tower electricity use, the largest single Scope 2 source (24% of S1+S2).

• Embodied carbon in capital goods (fiber construction)

  Category 2 capital goods emissions of 192,820 tCO2e are largely associated with fiber installation construction-related spend. Pending divestiture of fiber business will reduce this materially.

• Downstream leased assets — customer tenant energy

  Category 13 downstream leased assets (994,816 tCO2e, 77% of Scope 3) is the dominant footprint, reflecting customers' electricity use for telecom equipment and HVAC at tower sites. Emissions decreased 11% from 2023 to 2024 due to customer decarbonization efforts and improved electricity-use estimates.

• Capital goods / fiber construction embodied emissions

  Category 2 capital goods (357,139 MTCO2e, 22% of Scope 3) is largely associated with fiber installation construction-related spend. Identified as a material area for future supplier engagement and value-chain reduction strategies.

• Downstream leased asset (tenant) emissions reduction

  Category 13 downstream leased assets — customer energy use on Crown Castle infrastructure (towers, small cells, fiber) — is 69% of total Scope 3 at 1,116,621 MTCO2e. The company is working with customers to formulate strategies to reduce these emissions across the value chain. Customer renewable energy contributions are factored into market-based calculations.

• Downstream tenant electricity (Scope 3 cat 13)

  Crown Castle identifies downstream electricity that powers customers' equipment on its towers, small cells and fiber as a primary Scope 3 driver. The company is working with customers to formulate strategies to reduce these value-chain emissions, while a comprehensive Scope 3 inventory is being finalized.

• Purchased goods and services (Scope 3 cat 1)

  Purchased goods and services are flagged as one of the three primary Scope 3 drivers alongside downstream tenant electricity and capital goods. Supplier engagement is part of the value-chain decarb plan.

• Capital goods - fiber construction (Scope 3 cat 2)

  Capital goods, particularly construction associated with fiber installation, are identified as a primary Scope 3 driver. Crown Castle is engaging suppliers to formulate emissions-reduction strategies across the value chain.