Environment Protection In The Current Real Estate scenario

Over the past few years, many companies in the real sector have taken action to reduce the environmental impact of buildings.

The government of India along with state governments is making efforts to help support sustainable development.

The government of India is trying To play a key part in lowering the current global emissions trajectory, supporting adaptation to climate change in cities, reducing pollution and damage to the natural environment, and promoting the principles of the circular economy where possible.

Government departments are working with all stakeholders to implement the Sustainable Development Goals and are trying to tailor approaches to suit local circumstances.

By many metrics, the sector is a major contributor to global emissions and users of non-renewable resources. Despite substantial progress, for example with the growth of green building technologies, the sector lags behind other industries in responding to environmental challenges.

The real estate sector uses more energy than any other sector and is a growing contributor to CO2 emissions. Although measurement is complex, most estimates suggest that the real estate sector is the single most significant sector in terms of CO2e1 contributions.

– The sector consumes over 40% of global energy annually

– 20% of total global greenhouse gas emissions originate from buildings

– There is a projected 56% increase in building CO2 emissions by 2030

– A 7% increase in the proportionate share of global GHG emissions is expected by 2030

– Buildings use 40% of raw materials globally (3 billion tonnes annually)

Buildings also have a significant and growing impact

on other environmental aspects. For example, by 2030 buildings are expected to use 12% of global freshwater, and generate 30% of total waste.

To summarise:

The real estate sector is a major contributor to GHG emissions and to the consumption of non-renewable resources

– The real estate sector lags behind other sectors and industries in responding to the challenges of environmental sustainability

– There is a clear business case for adopting more sustainable practices in the built environment, improving returns and ameliorating risks at the building, portfolio, and city levels

– There is a lack of coherence and consistency in the responses to environmental challenges with many organizations having no policies, or adopting policies that focus on measurement and monitoring rather than strategic decision-making.

Although there are a growing number of environmental standards at the building, company, and urban and national governmental levels, the real estate industry lacks a single set of sustainability principles. Current initiatives often lack

a wider context, a value proposition, and a broader vision.

In addition, there is fragmentation and confusion and a widespread belief that real estate lags behind other sectors in responding to environmental challenges.

To meet environmental targets, significant investment is required in both new buildings and retrofitting in both residential and non-residential segments of the real estate industry.

The uptake of green building activity is increasingly driven by commercial factors, as much as the idealism that dominated the early 2000s. As survey results show, client and market demand are important drivers, while lower operating

costs and branding/PR are now the two biggest factors influencing green building investment decisions.

While many firms have sustainability statements, these lack coherence and consistency. Many do not appear to be principles shaping an organization’s policies and strategies, but rather are responsive and focused on measurement and reporting. Adopting a clear set of principles would help

the sector to contribute to a more sustainable economy. However, the solutions adopted need to be feasible and it is a priority call for the industry to adopt a comprehensive and strategic set of principles to contribute to sustainable development in the built environment.

Investors in real estate assets whether they are owners acquiring, operating or refurbishing assets, developers constructing new or refurbishing existing assets, or occupiers operating or refurbishing assets, all have been interested in the relationship between financial and the environmental performance of real estate assets.

There is a growing body of evidence that new or existing buildings that can deliver superior environmental performance (“green buildings”) can also deliver a range of tangible and intangible financial performance benefits to developers, investors, occupiers and other stakeholders.

At the core of the business case for green buildings are improved returns and reduced risk as investors and occupiers can share a bundle of benefits such as direct cost savings, image improvements, increased liquidity and lettability, lower depreciation and reduced regulatory risk, among others.

Even were there no premia at the building level for environmentally sustainable real estate, there would still be an economic case for greener buildings, to reduce the wider economic costs of climate change, which will fall on businesses as well as the government and wider society.

Although isolating the effects of environmental factors from other factors affecting values, and operational costs.