Realty needs to link policy, research and practice for an integrated approach to sustainable development
The Financial Express, May 25, 2009, Page 5
sachin sandhir
Floods, droughts, climate change and global warming are disturbing facts in today’s world. The causes? Rapidly increasing urbanisation, carbon emissions and other greenhouse gases. Let's face the reality. The earth’s capacity to sustain its human population and current lifestyle is finite. Climate change is a reality and the property sector needs to prepare for the changes it will bring. And the only way forward is to pursue sustainable development. Most aptly defined by Brundlandt Report in 1987, sustainable Development is “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.
Real estate development uses about 40% of the energy and is probably the largest contributor to global pollution emissions and global warming, bringing the sector in the forefront of the shift towards sustainability. The magnitude is big. It’s estimated that 76% of the electricity generated by all power plants is consumed by buildings. Nearly 35% of the energy consumed in a building is because of the use of light in the day time.
Certainly this is something we can change if we think collectively about the big picture. The result? It will result in approximately 30-40% of potential savings in the energy consumed. According to Teri, the projected annual increase in energy demand, with no improvements in energy-efficiency, would be 5.4 billion kWh. The application of energy-efficient building design concepts, techniques and technologies in new construction can save about 2 billion kWh annually, representing an annual saving of Rs 30 billion at current prices.
There is a sense in which all new buildings may be expected to address sustainability, although there may be little accord on what constitutes a sustainable building and how it is to be measured. Quantifying this phenomenon popularly known as the green building is relatively new to India. And that is where standard measurement tools such as LEED and GRIHA prove valuable and serve as a starting point.
CII along with IGBC (Indian Green Buildings Council) pioneered the sustainability movement in 2001 and they have successfully customised and established LEED energy rating standards for construction projects. Last year, they expanded this initiative by launching the rating system for green homes. A home grown rating system known as Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA) by Teri is also gaining popularity after being endorsed by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy in late 2007.
While there are a handful of certified green buildings in India, each one is proof of the benefits it brings. Take, for example, the new IT Park by Tata Housing (certified as LEED Gold) that boasts of 26.6% savings on air-conditioning power and cooling costs and 34.1% saving on water supply.
So, why are so few sustainable buildings being designed, built or retrofitted? Why is sustainable property investment and management not getting mainstreamed? What are the drivers of this process and what are the barriers? Does sustainable property investment really pay off or are property investors simply doing it to show their green credentials? Are consumers sufficiently informed about the respective merits of the options open to them, and do they actually value sustainability as an attribute when making property related decisions? These are the questions we should be asking ourselves.
The knowledge and the technologies needed to produce sustainable buildings are available. The economic benefits of sustainable design and construction are now somewhat documented. However, what is standing in the way is the misalignment of incentives between the providers of buildings and those who are going to invest in or occupy buildings. This has become a vicious circle of blame.
It is a circle where investors claim they would fund more sustainable development if the market asked for them; end users would like sustainable buildings but few are available; designers would build in a sustainable way but developers don’t ask for it and developers in turn complete the cycle by claiming they would provide such buildings only if investors were willing to pay for them.
It’s time to investigate why everyone involved -- investors, developers, constructors, tenants -- pass the responsibility onto someone else. As we are yet to have extensive research available for the Indian market, the findings of a survey conducted by RICS in 2007 (based on nearly 50,000 RICS members across the US, Europe and rest of the world) has some insights to offer. Nearly 70% of respondents consider ‘lack of knowledge of available tools and techniques’ and ‘lack of expertise’ as the two most important barriers to uptake of sustainability measurement tools. Other important barriers cited by respondents include cost (50%), lack of time (45%), difficult to access (45%) and no client demand (44%).
To break this circle of blame, what the real estate sector requires is an integrated approach to sustainable development linking policy, research and practice. Increasing awareness among users registering for green building certification, industry stakeholders and government initiatives point in the right direction. What would probably facilitate the sustainability movement is some substantial evidence between property value and sustainability in terms of higher rents, attracting tenants and reducing costs.
Incidentally, a cost-benefit analysis of US Green Office Buildings, undertaken by RICS, looked at the impact on the selling prices of green buildings and concluded a premium in the order of 16%, implying that upgrading the average non-green building to a green one would increase its capital value by that much.
Sustainable development needs a clear vision for credible sustainable future and to improve the quality of life for all involved. A building as a power station producing its own energy is the future that visionaries of the west have predicted.
—The writer is managing director & country head of RICS India, a membership organisation for land property and construction professionals
The Financial Express, May 25, 2009, Page 5
sachin sandhir
Floods, droughts, climate change and global warming are disturbing facts in today’s world. The causes? Rapidly increasing urbanisation, carbon emissions and other greenhouse gases. Let's face the reality. The earth’s capacity to sustain its human population and current lifestyle is finite. Climate change is a reality and the property sector needs to prepare for the changes it will bring. And the only way forward is to pursue sustainable development. Most aptly defined by Brundlandt Report in 1987, sustainable Development is “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.
Real estate development uses about 40% of the energy and is probably the largest contributor to global pollution emissions and global warming, bringing the sector in the forefront of the shift towards sustainability. The magnitude is big. It’s estimated that 76% of the electricity generated by all power plants is consumed by buildings. Nearly 35% of the energy consumed in a building is because of the use of light in the day time.
Certainly this is something we can change if we think collectively about the big picture. The result? It will result in approximately 30-40% of potential savings in the energy consumed. According to Teri, the projected annual increase in energy demand, with no improvements in energy-efficiency, would be 5.4 billion kWh. The application of energy-efficient building design concepts, techniques and technologies in new construction can save about 2 billion kWh annually, representing an annual saving of Rs 30 billion at current prices.
There is a sense in which all new buildings may be expected to address sustainability, although there may be little accord on what constitutes a sustainable building and how it is to be measured. Quantifying this phenomenon popularly known as the green building is relatively new to India. And that is where standard measurement tools such as LEED and GRIHA prove valuable and serve as a starting point.
CII along with IGBC (Indian Green Buildings Council) pioneered the sustainability movement in 2001 and they have successfully customised and established LEED energy rating standards for construction projects. Last year, they expanded this initiative by launching the rating system for green homes. A home grown rating system known as Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA) by Teri is also gaining popularity after being endorsed by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy in late 2007.
While there are a handful of certified green buildings in India, each one is proof of the benefits it brings. Take, for example, the new IT Park by Tata Housing (certified as LEED Gold) that boasts of 26.6% savings on air-conditioning power and cooling costs and 34.1% saving on water supply.
So, why are so few sustainable buildings being designed, built or retrofitted? Why is sustainable property investment and management not getting mainstreamed? What are the drivers of this process and what are the barriers? Does sustainable property investment really pay off or are property investors simply doing it to show their green credentials? Are consumers sufficiently informed about the respective merits of the options open to them, and do they actually value sustainability as an attribute when making property related decisions? These are the questions we should be asking ourselves.
The knowledge and the technologies needed to produce sustainable buildings are available. The economic benefits of sustainable design and construction are now somewhat documented. However, what is standing in the way is the misalignment of incentives between the providers of buildings and those who are going to invest in or occupy buildings. This has become a vicious circle of blame.
It is a circle where investors claim they would fund more sustainable development if the market asked for them; end users would like sustainable buildings but few are available; designers would build in a sustainable way but developers don’t ask for it and developers in turn complete the cycle by claiming they would provide such buildings only if investors were willing to pay for them.
It’s time to investigate why everyone involved -- investors, developers, constructors, tenants -- pass the responsibility onto someone else. As we are yet to have extensive research available for the Indian market, the findings of a survey conducted by RICS in 2007 (based on nearly 50,000 RICS members across the US, Europe and rest of the world) has some insights to offer. Nearly 70% of respondents consider ‘lack of knowledge of available tools and techniques’ and ‘lack of expertise’ as the two most important barriers to uptake of sustainability measurement tools. Other important barriers cited by respondents include cost (50%), lack of time (45%), difficult to access (45%) and no client demand (44%).
To break this circle of blame, what the real estate sector requires is an integrated approach to sustainable development linking policy, research and practice. Increasing awareness among users registering for green building certification, industry stakeholders and government initiatives point in the right direction. What would probably facilitate the sustainability movement is some substantial evidence between property value and sustainability in terms of higher rents, attracting tenants and reducing costs.
Incidentally, a cost-benefit analysis of US Green Office Buildings, undertaken by RICS, looked at the impact on the selling prices of green buildings and concluded a premium in the order of 16%, implying that upgrading the average non-green building to a green one would increase its capital value by that much.
Sustainable development needs a clear vision for credible sustainable future and to improve the quality of life for all involved. A building as a power station producing its own energy is the future that visionaries of the west have predicted.
—The writer is managing director & country head of RICS India, a membership organisation for land property and construction professionals
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment