According to popular belief, the whole blame for pollution and carbon footprint falls on the increasing population, and regulator bodies come up with solutions to declutter the urban habitat. But ACS Publications did a research study and published reports of one particular urban society in Finland and found some fantastic data. Their studies showed that the same number of humans living in new energy-efficient buildings had a lesser carbon footprint than the same number of people living in old existing buildings.
This clearly indicates that the problem of real estate carbon footprint is not just the humans residing in it. Real estate businesses need to rethink their business strategies and take energy efficiency into account to address this problem.
Are you a real estate owner or property manager wondering about the energy efficiency of your buildings and how you can help? Read our blog to find out the latest trends, driving factors, and what steps you can take to make your buildings more energy efficient.
The Present Carbon Footprint of Real Estate
Over 40% of global carbon emissions come from the real estate industry; this is not just from buildings. This also includes construction, operations, and construction materials. Within this, 70% of it is caused by building operations, and the rest, 30%, comes from construction. As a result, the strategy and leadership at your company need to rethink both operations and construction work to do their part in helping the environment and making real estate more sustainable.
What are the factors pushing for energy efficiency?
Multiple factors are pushing the real estate industry into making their buildings more energy-efficient. Here are the most important ones that you need to pay attention to.
Pressure from real estate investors
Deloitte reports on the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board agreements state that environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors are major driving factors in present real estate investments. More and more investors want to align their real estate portfolio according to environmental standards and do their part in helping sustainability. According to Climate Action 100+, more than 500 global investors insist that companies make net-zero strategies and pledge for a better tomorrow.
The millennial homebuyers
Millennial homebuyers are now driving the majority of the real estate market, and they care about sustainability more than the previous generations, and builders are taking it seriously. According to the Architect Magazine reports, about 15% of real estate developers have started using high-performing home appliances to appeal to the millennial crowd and drive sales.
Governmental policies
Many governments across the globe have started to adopt net-zero emission policies, and they have set certain goals and expectations from the businesses in their nation to achieve this. Like the UK became the first major nation to pass a net-zero emissions law to achieve zero emissions by 2050. New Zealand joined the bandwagon and passed a “zero-carbon” law to do its part in helping the environment. The expectations from real estate companies to join this movement are not set in stone, but it is still a significant factor driving the industry.
Decarbonization can be costly
Decarbonizing the whole real estate industry can be pretty costly because there is already a lot of existing real estate out there. Many buildings within that are ancient construction and heritage structures. These are not only gigantic but also hardly have any energy efficiency, to begin with. Revamping the whole building, from changing appliances to conducting energy audits to determine which areas are causing maximum energy loss, is quite an enormous project. But in the end, both tenants and landlords can benefit from it in the long run.
How so?
Having energy-efficient buildings will bring down the average operating costs of the buildings.
Your electricity bills will go down subsequently both inside your homes and in the common areas of your buildings.
It will also make your living habitat more eco-friendly, to begin with.
How to achieve energy efficiency
So, energy efficiency is not just a utopian dream; there are many viable ways to get the ball rolling. Here’s how.
Rethinking new construction
New real estate and building construction can rethink how they imagine a business. There are many different initiatives in the USA to construct green buildings and eco-friendly communities in order to help the environment. From using sustainable materials for construction to tracking the energy levels of the project to help make projects more eco-friendly. Even the use of the latest selection of technology in project management can help in reducing the carbon footprint. Home tours, tenant onboarding, property management, and such things can be conducted virtually without constantly visiting the sites.
Renovating old constructions
Old buildings are significant energy-draining assets due to multiple factors like old appliances and non-sustainable construction materials. Existing real estate can be renovated according to new energy standards to help sustainability.
Energy star appliances
Real estate owners and property managers can start using Energy Star appliances in their homes to get energy-efficient buildings and also attract new-age customers. This will help save a lot of money and also help the environment along the way.
Periodic energy audits
Excess energy drainage is never visible to the naked human eye; it is essential to conduct energy audits to determine which portions of your buildings are causing major energy loss. Professional energy auditors can put up drones with thermal cameras to get the job done and get you credible reports on it.
Go digital with construction management
Due to digital advancement in the real estate world, there is a lot of new technology to digitize all kinds of work in the industry, including construction management. You can remotely monitor the construction of your buildings and save fuel on travel. A construction management software like Procore will also help you keep up with all energy efficiency standards and track their progress based on pre-set guidelines.
Wrapping Up
Want to do your part in helping the environment by making your real estate buildings more energy efficient? The Assetsoft team can help. We conduct detailed energy audits, and we have partnered up with Quantifiable Energy Audit Tech (QEA) to get the best results for your business. We will give you in-depth reports on the energy efficiency of your buildings and will help you in rethinking your future plans too.
Talk to us today to know more about our services!