When the green building sector first came into industry consciousness, it was seen as a strictly environmental cause. Since then, the sector has evolved to take on a highly holistic ideology.
The green sector now extends to a number of different realms, from energy efficiency and cutting edge technology to environmental, social and economic sustainability.
This marriage of social, economic, environmental and health and well-being elements has created the notion of added ‘green quality’, which offers industry members greater incentive to go green.
According to Richard Gollis of US real estate advisory the Concord Group, the expansion of the green model means opportunities for the industry to participate in this growth are also on the increase.
“Green development no longer simply represents an environmentally friendly label, but instead constitutes a new technology that has the capability to create larger profit margins for real estate,” he says.
The modernity of this sector, and its goal of improving quality on a variety of fronts, means it is opening up new realms of value for the industry and society at large.
While the green sector’s streamlining of technology, environmentalism and quality would seem inarguably positive, this combination of elements can actually become quite an intimidating force.
The convergence of these overriding elements, particularly in the form of technological systems can be costly, with even the simplest of green retrofits such as a change from fluorescent to LED lighting creating drastically increased up front costs for investors.
As Gollis explains, these costs have a proven track record of paying off generously in increased profit margins and the lower running costs of grade A buildings.
Nonetheless, the up front investment can be intimidating, leaving many industry members overwhelmed by the prospect of a holistically green transition.
The green sector no longer represents purely environmental elements; it now stands as a symbol of modern value, quality and top of the line design, delivery and competed developments. This should not be a scary transition, but an industry goal. A goal that has a proven track record of health economic gain and value delivery, in every sense of the word.
