Sustainable real estate might be a fancy term in recent years. However, sustainable development is not a new concept as it has roots in the 20th century. As the world started having economic progress during the 18th and 19th centuries, its effects were seen on the ecosystem during the next 50 years.
The Origin of Earth Day
After WWII, the industrial and commercial expansion resulted in excessive negative impacts on natural resources. Those impacts became a source of intense debate afterward. It was during the 1970’s that Earth Day was celebrated for the first time, to raise awareness about protecting the planet from the negative effects of economic activities.
What is Sustainable Real Estate?
Sustainable real estate refers to buildings developed in a way that causes minimum damage to the environment and has a longer life span. They fulfill the country’s economic needs and provide viable solutions to the consumers. Sustainability comes from durability and durability comes from designing and constructing projects in a way that they can withstand drastic external changes, be it economic, or environmental. As a result, the consumers and builders enjoy long-term benefits.
Sustainable real estate originated as one of the remedies to the environmental crisis. Over the period, economists and environmental advocates have been making serious talk about the factors contributing to drastic Climate Change, and real estate construction and development is one of them. Also read Real Estate, Earth & Climate Change
Sustainable real estate is eco-friendly and has minimal effects on Earth. It involves the use of environment-friendly techniques or raw materials during the complete lifecycle of a building, including;
- Design phase
- Construction phase
- Operation phase
- Demolition phase
How Real Estate Impacts the Environment?
Buildings are responsible for 40% of global greenhouse gas emissions, as stated by the World Green Building Council. In our race to populate regions, to cater to housing and commercial needs after urbanization, real estate companies have become less concerned about ensuring the sustainability of the buildings. Constructing and developing high-rise, low-rise or any type of real estate property using materials like concrete, cement, steel, and timber wood generates carbon emissions, a major cause affecting the natural ecosystem. You might be thinking about what can be an alternative to cement and concrete in building construction. Here’s the answer.
What is the Alternative to Carbon-emitting Concrete for Sustainable Real Estate?
Socially responsible builders can use alternatives like ferrock, a ferrous rock composed of steel waste dust and ground silica glass. Ferrock is five times more sturdy than Portland cement. Other alternatives include ashcrete, glasscrete, micro silica, recycled plastic waste, green concrete, timber crete, or hampcrete to reduce carbon footprints on the earth. Other than that, real estate developers and builders must adopt various tech-advanced techniques including efficient renewable energy resources to develop eco-friendly properties. For your awareness, let’s brief a few concepts.
Net-Zero Energy Buildings for Sustainable Real Estate
Net-zero buildings are those whose buildings annual energy consumption is equal to the amount of energy created by the building through renewable resources.
Net-Zero Carbon Emissions Buildings for Sustainable Real Estate
Net-zero carbon emissions buildings are the ones that use renewable energy resources like wind and solar thus emitting less carbon to the environment.
These buildings fulfill the energy needs of the consumers with minimum effects on the ecosystem. However, it utilizes modern technology, bigger budgets, proper planning, and efficient labor to develop green buildings.
There are some other structure design techniques to reduce energy consumption. For example, proper ventilation in the building will keep the rooms cooler, similarly, using glass on outer walls will help utilize natural light in the building and decrease the dependence on electricity consumption.
Seismic Engineering in Construction
Another important aspect of sustainable real estate and green buildings is Seismic engineering in the design and construction phase. It involves proper planning and seismic testing for soil types, fault lines, and previous seismic data of the area or location. After a proper analysis, builders can design the structure of a building, columns, and beams to withstand seismic forces. Seismic engineering helps develop durable buildings that can endure climate impacts and earthquakes. Ultimately, making the property sustainable and futuristic.
Sustainable Real Estate Has the Future
Sustainable real estate is not just a buzzword, it is the need of the present and the future. Intelligent consumers demand environment-friendly buildings because they want to have long-term benefits from their investments. As people are becoming aware of climate change and the need for green buildings, they are more likely to invest only in sustainable real estate in the coming future. Therefore, Sustainable buildings exhibit greater demand and greater scope for income and capital appreciation.