Importance of the Sustainability Factor in Real Estate

Sustainability is a term of extreme importance when it comes to real estate planning. Due to climate change, many developers are shifting to sustainable and energy-efficient residential and commercial projects. It has become not only important but also a necessity and a trend to follow. Green buildings are now becoming a need of the hour given that the effects of climate change can be felt all across the globe. Let’s take a look at how can it be achieved in the real estate industry.

More and more people are now becoming aware of protecting the environment. This has also greatly impacted the Indian Real Estate Industry. In the past couple of years, both the demand and growth of green buildings have increased significantly in India. What does the term Green Building define? Green building (also known as green construction or sustainable building) refers to both a structure and the application of processes that are environment-friendly and resource-efficient throughout a building's life-cycle: from planning to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation, and demolition.

The real estate trends in the future will all revolve around the sustainability factor. This is demonstrated by the numbers which say that ‘India had 899 LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Certified projects spread across 25 million sq. meters of space in 2018. Currently, the numbers have raised to 3200 projects across 1.5 billion sq. meters. This footprint is supposed to increase ten folds by the end of 2022. The best part about this is that India ranks 3rd in the list of top 10 countries in terms of LEED Certified projects.

In India, the real estate industry is a major contributor to the country’s GDP. and it is expected that the market size will increase up to US$1 trillion by 2030. So it is much easier to understand how important is sustainability for this industry. The usage attribute of a project is a determining factor in contributing to a clean and green environment. The wastes are being disposed of without giving a second thought about the surrounding. We should be focusing on restoring the current buildings and constructing new ones should be at a minimum. If necessary then only the green buildings should be constructed.

The gen z home buyers have become aware of the benefits of living in green homes and the demand for the same is rising constantly. The idea is all about saving as much energy as possible through the use of natural resources such as sunlight and air. Designing projects with space for air circulation and ample sunlight to fill each apartment should be put into practice that will bring down the carbon footprint.