KE Holdings Inc. Announces Carbon Neutrality Goal by 2030

BEIJING, Dec. 15, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- KE Holdings Inc. (“Beike” or the “Company”) (NYSE: BEKE and HKEX: 2423), a leading integrated online and offline platform for housing transactions and services, today announced that it has released its 2023 Beike Carbon Neutrality Target and Action Roadmap Report (the “Report”), outlining the Company’s commitments and initiatives towards achieving carbon neutrality in its own operations by 2030.

Mr. Stanley Yongdong Peng, Co-founder, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Beike, commented, “We are resolute in our commitment to achieving carbon neutrality, and in the future, addressing climate change will be a major theme guiding our work. As a technology-driven one-stop platform of residential services, we aim to drive wider carbon reduction through technology empowerment and connections with communities, and to drive the participation of users, real estate agents, and other relevant parties through VR, AR, paperless online contract signing and other technologies to create a low-carbon future in the residential sector.”

Carbon Neutrality Action Roadmap

Alongside Beike’s commitments in the Report to achieving carbon neutrality in its own operations (Scope 1 and 2)¹ by 2030, the Company also targets a 60% reduction in value chain carbon emissions (Scope 3)² intensity at its headquarters and the real estate brokerage business and a 30% reduction in its home renovation and furnishing and home rental businesses, using 2022 as the base year.

In Beike’s operations, decarbonizing purchased energy will be a key focus of attaining carbon neutrality. The Company plans to implement greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction measures at the source through enhanced management efficiency, energy mix optimization and technological innovation. Beike introduced an intelligent energy monitoring and control system for its stores, enabling smart analytics, diagnosis and optimization of energy usage, with an aim to reduce energy consumption and emissions per unit area. In September 2023, the Company’s Beijing Lianjia ALFA Community Store received the LEED Gold Certification, making it the first Lianjia store to achieve this distinction. This achievement serves as a starting point for Beike to establish more green stores.

In Beike’s value chain, the Company will actively promote emission reduction and decarbonization among its upstream and downstream ecological partners. Beike focuses on emission reduction measures from three perspectives: green procurement, green supply chain and green logistics. Through joint implementation of various carbon reduction measures including green store renovation, low-carbon home renovation and low-carbon product transportation, Beike aims to advance the green development of the industry.

Technology-Empowered, Low-Carbon Services for “Joyful Living”

Digital transformation efforts have revoluntionized the residential services industry in saving energy and reducing carbon emissions, through which Beike is optimizing customer experience while reducing the business’s potential environmental impact.

A standout feature in Beike’s daily operations is the integration of VR technology to support low-carbon environmental initiatives. In 2022, Beike platform’s VR house viewing feature facilitated 1,508 million user views of listed properties. Compared with traditional site visits, Beike’s VR experience reduced carbon emissions by over 2,789,800 tons.

Beike continues to promote the implementation of paperless services throughout different stages of transactions, which could significantly improve customer transaction efficiency while ensuring security and reducing the unnecessary use of paper materials.

Beike is committed to providing customers with worry-free and low-carbon home renovation services through digital means, leading the industry in the standardization and digitalization of the entire home renovation services process. In the home renovation design stage, Beike uses AR technology to visually represent home renovation effects, presenting customers more possibilities for their homes. For the on-site renovation stage, Beike has created a comprehensive Home SaaS system that integrates five home renovation project modules: sales management, BIM design, cost control management, supply chain management and delivery management, bringing customers a convenient and efficient home renovation experience.

In the home rental sector, Beike dedicates itself to promoting eco-friendly and comfortable living concepts, in various upcoming stages such as apartment design and planning, to further explore a joyful and low-carbon lifestyle.

Beike will continue disseminating green and low-carbon knowledge among community residents, leveraging its community-oriented attributes and guiding community residents to participate in carbon reduction practices.

Looking ahead, Beike remains committed to exploring low-carbon initiatives and green services, infusing sustainable principles into every service stage, and offering consumers a one-stop, green “joyful living” service experience.

For more information on Beike’s carbon neutrality goals and initiatives, please refer to the Company’s 2023 Beike Carbon Neutrality Target and Action Roadmap Report.

About KE Holdings Inc.

KE Holdings Inc. is a leading integrated online and offline platform for housing transactions and services. The Company is a pioneer in building infrastructure and standards to reinvent how service providers and customers efficiently navigate and complete housing transactions and services in China, ranging from existing and new home sales, home rentals, to home renovation and furnishing, and other services. The Company owns and operates Lianjia, China’s leading real estate brokerage brand and an integral part of its Beike platform. With more than 22 years of operating experience through Lianjia since its inception in 2001, the Company believes the success and proven track record of Lianjia pave the way for it to build its infrastructure and standards and drive the rapid and sustainable growth of Beike.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains statements that may constitute “forward-looking” statements pursuant to the “safe harbor” provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as “will,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “aims,” “future,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “estimates,” “likely to,” and similar statements. Beike may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its periodic reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (the “Hong Kong Stock Exchange”), in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about KE Holdings Inc.’s beliefs, plans, and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: Beike’s goals and strategies; Beike’s future business development, financial condition and results of operations; expected changes in the Company’s revenues, costs or expenditures; Beike’s ability to empower services and facilitate transactions on Beike platform; competition in the industry in which Beike operates; relevant government policies and regulations relating to the industry; Beike’s ability to protect the Company’s systems and infrastructures from cyber-attacks; Beike’s dependence on the integrity of brokerage brands, stores and agents on the Company’s platform; general economic and business conditions in China and globally; and assumptions underlying or related to any of the foregoing. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in KE Holdings Inc.’s filings with the SEC and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. All information provided in this press release is as of the date of this press release, and KE Holdings Inc. does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law.

For investor and media inquiries, please contact:

In China:
KE Holdings Inc.
Investor Relations
Siting Li
E-mail: ir@ke.com

Piacente Financial Communications
Jenny Cai
Tel: +86-10-6508-0677
E-mail: ke@tpg-ir.com

In the United States:
Piacente Financial Communications
Brandi Piacente
Tel: +1-212-481-2050
E-mail: ke@tpg-ir.com

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¹ Scope 1: direct GHG emissions from fossil fuel combustion and fugitive emissions from extinguishant and refrigerants generated by Beike’s own operations; Scope 2: indirect GHG emissions from purchased energy of electricity and heat generated by Beike’s own operations.

² Scope 3: all other indirect GHG emissions from the upstream and downstream of Beike’s value chain.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/6c2632f8-7e15-40ee-a5c7-d63173fbcbd7