The real sector has emerged as one India’s largest drivers of economic growth. As a sector, it provides large scale employment and contributes significantly to the GDP. For decades, environmentalists have been warning that frenetic human economic activity associated with the breakneck speed of economic growth is placing a huge strain on the earth and its natural resources.

Of course, we keep pushing those limits back with clever new technologies; yet eco-systems are undeniably in decline. Since real estate is emphatically driving this growth, it is also directly impacting the environment. Sustainable development is all about minimizing this impact and ensuring we keep the planet green and alive.

Developed and developing economies alike are now confronting the dual challenge of a growing demand for diminishing resources and the need to reduce environmental impact. Sustainability has increasingly become a crucial factor in the assessment of real estate options.

Some noteworthy steps have been taken by central and state authorities in India to support the environment and to help minimize the impact that the real estate industry has upon it. In the same vein, regional and national developers in India have responded with an array of new projects. Construction of new green spaces for office buildings, residential units and retail malls is currently underway in cities throughout the country.

Developers with a sustainability orientation plan their buildings in a manner that meets the standards of rating systems for buildings based much on the same principle concept of energy star rating systems for consumer products. IGBC and GRIHA are among the foremost.


Progress achieved

When it comes to green homes, the Indian real estate market has progressed from the initial change-resistance to a wider acceptance of the concept. In the larger cities, such projects still largely fall into the premium and luxury bracket. However, green homes are now also seeing a fair amount of demand and corresponding supply in cities where the price points are a little more attractive to end users. In the case of Mumbai, it is Thane and Navi Mumbai that currently lead the pack when it comes to absorption of green homes.

Developers are quick to adapt to new demand trends, and are not oblivious to the fact that green homes have become something of the mantra with young, well-to-do professionals. Without a doubt, the term ‘green home’ is being used rather loosely these days. Buyers should know that green homes are about more than just a few novelty features.

One of the ways that buyers can be sure is to ascertain whether the project has been certified as such by a rating agency such as GRIHA. This is not to say that other projects will not qualify as green. It is largely a question of how many of such features are available, and the difference they make to aspects such as water and energy consumption in real time. Some of the latest roll-outs of housing projects have features such as rain water harvesting and solar water heating, but not all of these projects include the full gamut of features that really make them ‘green’.


Benefits of green homes

The term ‘Green Housing’ or ‘Eco Friendly Homes’ relates to residential buildings that are environmentally sustainable. It is an integrated approach to minimize the impact of construction and operation of residential buildings on the environment. Green buildings also promote a better lifestyle, because they make the experience of day-to-day living much healthier. Housing projects that are environmentally sustainable in the truest sense have a number of defining characteristics.


Awareness required

There is still a widespread lack of awareness among India’s real estate stakeholders, and this gap needs to be filled. Sustainability is often misunderstood as curtailing use and stifling developmental activity. Nothing can be farther from the truth. There is a distinct need for a combination of incentives and stipulates to boost the development and consumption of sustainable real estate in India.

Greater awareness is a key factor in increasing demand for green real estate, and the impetus for this awareness has to hinge on two aspects and drivers - the first of course being cost. Home buyers need to be convinced that their total ownership cost, including maintenance, over the life cycle of the property will actually imply significant savings. The second aspect is equally important developers and consumers of green real estate must become more sensitized to their contribution to sustainable living over the long term; of creating a better world for future generations.

Bodies like the IGBC and the TERI should take a cue from the consumer product market and bring out a more ‘palatable’ version of the benefits of green homes. For example, if we consider energy star-rated products in the consumer segment, a 5 star rating for an air conditioner becomes an attractive proposition for buyers because they know exactly how they benefit from it. Sustainable homes with a ‘star’ rating by bodies such as IGBC or TERI should attract buyers for similar reasons. Already, the Bureau of Energy Efficiency has a star rating system for the energy efficiency of buildings. The purview of this system should be extended through state sponsorship to cover a more ‘holistic’ sustainability index.


Incentives essential

States should become more serious about subsidizing development of green spaces so that developers can keep their development cost at par with non-green spaces. This will ensure that these developers will not have to levy an extra premium on the buyers. When sales of a project are positively impacted by Green certification, developers will have a clear rationale to adopt the sustainable development route.



- by Rajat Malhotra, COO – Integrated Facilities Management (West Asia) Jones Lang LaSalle India 

Source :- DNA