Eco-friendly building practices date back to the beginning of the 20th century, with Frank Lloyd Wright’s organic architecture and historic buildings like Falling Water. Now, examples of the green building trend can be found the world over.
According to the World Green Building Trends survey by the McGraw Hill Construction, 51 percent of companies anticipate that more than 60 percent of their works will be green by 2015. The research shows that green building now makes good business sense.
Moreover, the accelerating green trend is not limited by geography but spreading throughout the global construction marketplace. Many countries that are listed on Lamudi, a global property portal focusing on the emerging markets, now feature a high selection of eco-friendly properties.
In Pakistan, an example of a groundbreaking green development is DHA City Karachi. The Pakistani city of Karachi, for instance, now has more than 8200 eco-friendly properties listed on the website.
Saad Arshed, Country Director at Lamudi.pk, said: “Throughout this year, we have seen the trend toward eco-friendly homes accelerate in our countries. Our prediction is that 2015 will be the year green building comes of age in the emerging markets, as it now makes good business sense to go green by investing in and developing eco-friendly real estate.”
The report from McGraw Hill Construction shows that the main motivation is no longer idealistic values. There has now been a push for green building as this offers good business opportunities and investment. Green building practices have become widespread as this is now considered as a “long term business opportunity around the world”, the report states. In 2015, the driving force behind the worldwide green building trend is a higher market and client demand, lower operating costs as well as branding and public relations.
Of course there are also important social and environmental reasons for building green, such as improved health and productivity benefits, water use reduction, lower greenhouse gas emission and natural resource conservation. Nevertheless, these also lead to certain financial benefits, including decreased operating costs, increased building values for green projects, and increased asset value for green buildings.
“For these reasons, green architecture is not only about doing the right thing or being groundbreaking, but in fact developers and property players can also save money by introducing these principles,” Arshed added. “Additional benefits include lower energy costs, water maintenance, and especially tax credits and other financial incentives.”
