Sustainability vital: Property survey

 
Less than 10 pc of respondents indicated that sustainability has become a less important issue for clients.

In India, 35 per cent of property professionals questioned saw sustainability as very important, 25 per cent viewed it as important whilst only 10 per cent viewed it as unimportant. Energy supply/efficiency was cited as the most important issue, by 27 per cent of respondents.

Transport issues were close behind with 22 per cent of respondents citing this category.  
Commenting on it, RICS chief economist Simon Rubinsohn said, “Sustainability clearly remains a major issue for most organisations according to this survey despite the depth of the downturn. However it is also clear that for many, the principal driver for change is business bottomline. Businesses adopting ‘green’ initiatives generally expect them to offer a payback in terms of cost savings over the medium term.”

The results at an individual country level show interesting variations. In most cases, clients view sustainability as an important issue although the net balance does not bear this out in the UAE, Spain and Japan. Germany comes out with the most positive responses followed, interestingly by India and Brazil.

The key factor driving the sustainability agenda not just in India but across the globe remains business’s bottom line. This is followed by legal compliance and client demand. On average, government departments and oil companies are willing to pay larger premiums to inhabit sustainable buildings than the typical occupier and investor according to the responses to the survey. In India, it was felt that governments would pay a premium of around five per cent while oil companies would be willing to pay an 8 percent premium. 

Even in the case of those countries where the net balance is negative, an increasing number of respondents suggested that sustainability had become more important over the past year.