ASIA NEWS
SUSTAINABLE REAL ESTATE IN INDIA: MILES TO GO BUT GETTING THERE
analysed the current sate of sustainable real estate in India. According to Malhotra, the real estate sector has emerged as one of India’s largest drivers of economic growth, providing large scale employment and contributing significantly to the GDP. For decades, environmentalists have been warning that frenetic human economic activity associated with the breakneck speed of economic growth is placing a huge strain on the earth and its natural resources, he said. “Sustainability is often misunderstood as curtailing use and
I
stifling developmental activity. Nothing can be farther from the truth. Te number of certified green buildings in India has witnessed a four-fold growth in the last 4 years. Tis is testimony to the growing popularity of the concept. If one goes by the published statistics on the Indian Green Building Council’s (IGBC) website, there are currently 223 registered green buildings in the country,” Malhotra said. However, according to Malhotra, this four-fold growth over the last 4 years is not enough. Te commercial real estate stock in India’s top seven cities alone lies around 310 million square feet while forecasts predict an annual growth rate of 8-10 per cent for commercial real estate development, he said. Malhotra believes that the most important factor in
instigating a widespread move towards sustainability is creating awareness. “Green spaces not only allow for 14 to 16 per cent increase in productivity but also reduce the operational cost of the building, consume less energy, water and other resources, are more environmentally responsible and have a lower carbon footprint,” he said. Despite the efforts of the IGBC which have managed to
increase green space from 20,000 square feet to about 730 million square feet, awareness among end users is still limited.
n a recent report by Jones Lang LaSalle India, Rajat Malhotra, Director of Engineering & Operations Solutions (West Asia)
According to Malhotra, incentives could act as a catalyst for the development and absorption of new green buildings, while regulatory norms could help to convert the already existing major energy consumers. Moreover, norms for existing buildings would also help the new green spaces of the future to maintain their own standards throughout their life-cycle. “Clearly, the buildings of the future will hold the key to restoration of the ecological balance that is so precariously perched on a knife edge today. We need to act now to prevent a downward spiral to complete ecological destruction,” Malhotra concluded.
Malhotra identifies four myths about sustainability:
1. Green buildings cost more: Te incorporation of basic green features, if done right at the preliminary design phase, will not impact the overall initial project costs by much. Typically, the increase in cost will be between 5-15 %. Some project developers claim no increase in initial project cost because of diligent planning. 2. Certification is the only way out: Certification is a way to validate and rate
the features one has incorporated in a project, by an independent body. Te certification is a voluntary process, and the project proponents may go ahead only by incorporating the green features without having to certify them. 3. Te market demand for green spaces will wane: With the onset of growing
awareness about sustainability and the rapidly increasing effects of climate change, the market demand is set to only to grow. In the future, it may become compulsory for buildings to meet basic energy conservation needs if regulation by the Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) comes into play. 4. Green buildings are for other countries, not ours: India is the second- most populous country in the world and its growth forecast in the real estate segment lies between 8 to 10 per cent annually. With its geographical location in the tropical zone, India has enough sun and precipitation throughout the year. Terefore, from both the opportunity and requirement perspectives, ‘going green’ in real estate developments is as important for India as for any other nation.
JONES LANG LASALLE LAUNCHES COMPREHENSIVE REAL ESTATE SERVICES IN SRI LANKA
real estate potential. Te report analyses factors that are making Sri Lanka one of the most dynamic new real estate markets in Asia Pacific,
L
according to JLL. Highlights include: l Investment grade office stock in Colombo is expected to multiply 2.4 times in the next 4-5 years
l Large, fully facilitated shopping malls are to be constructed in Colombo in the next 4-5 years
l Villas and plotted developments to be pushed even further out of the city centre as land becomes more expensive and to be replaced by residential towers in various city locations
l Rising land prices in central Colombo will cause leapfrogging of real estate developments. Developers are advised to explore integrated IT parks with office, retail and residential developments in suburban locations.
l Te expected surge in tourism will require a near doubling of hospitality infrastructure (375-425 hotels need to be constructed during the next five years to meet the projected annual demand) “Our report confirms Sri Lanka as an attractive and emerging investment destination in the Asia-Pacific region; these are the factors that led to our decision to enter this booming real estate market”, said Alastair Hughes, CEO of Jones Lang LaSalle Asia Pacific. “Sri Lanka is an extremely promising market for organised commercial, residential and retail real estate services. Te country has been on a strong growth trajectory since the re-establishment of political stability,” he added.
ate last month, Jones Lang LaSalle announced its launch of fully- fledged operations in Sri Lanka with a new report on the country’s
10 I CITYSCAPE I JUNE 2012
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60