Understanding Sustainable Buildings

Sustainable buildings and how where you live can reduce your carbon footprint

- MADHAV DHAR, CO-FOUNDER AND COO, ZāZEN PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT

As environmental awareness is increasingly becoming a ruling factor in decision-making within many of the world’s largest organizations, companies and leaders are facing heavy pressure from different stakeholders, including the government and potential buyers, to reduce their carbon footprint and contribute positively to the environment. Within the real estate sector, organizations must integrate sustainability into their plans from the get-go. The growing impact of global warming, climate change, waste and air pollution have long become impossible to ignore with experts trying to find more eco-friendly ways to do business and “go green”.

For real estate developers, it is first and foremost an exercise in educating key stakeholders. Balancing design and facilities with sustainability, within a development, is not easy. Consumers may love sustainable developments but are mostly unwilling to create a home in a building that is not visually and practically appealing. Once that balance is met and the cost of entry is weighed against the overall brand and bottom-line benefits, it is an easier sell not only to the stakeholders but subsequently to the end-user.

Managing and reducing carbon footprints as part of a low carbon strategy, with its inherent cost benefits and revenue opportunities, is increasingly important in building design. Building green is one of the best strategies to modulate negative climate change because the technology to make substantial reductions in energy and CO2 emissions already exists and is not prohibitively expensive.