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dal 16 al 18 giugno 2009
PROVADA, the Real Estate Meeting Point, took place this week in
Amsterdam at the RAI conference center, from June 16-18. Over a
period of three days the event drew a wide range of representatives
from institutional investment funds, banks, building contractors,
housing corporations, municipalities, property developers,
architects, real estate agents, government organizations, and
tenants and end users. This year with the PROVADA Green Forum the
event placed increasing emphasis on the importance of sustainability
in global property markets.
Co-sponsored by the Dutch Green Building Council, Triodos Bank, and
SenterNovem, the PROVADA Green Forum offered a large area of floor
space for various innovative companies pursuing sustainable ‘green’
agendas and providing novel technologies and methods to reduce the
impact of the built environment on the world. Methods ranged from
superior construction (or renovation) methods to improving occupant
behavior. On the development side recycled concrete, heat pumps,
roof gardens, smart climate control systems, solar and wind energy,
lake source cooling, and double façades were among the concepts
being touted to eventually reach a goal of producing
zero-consumption buildings. On the occupier side a large part
depends on educating the tenants, and perhaps passing the costs of
poor use on to them. Occupiers can help by properly setting
thermostats, turning off the lights, and limiting water use.
A number of informative presentations were offered each day by
keynote speakers including Professor Piet Eicholtz, University of
Maastricht, Charles Landry, author of the Art of City Making, Drs.
Peter Jagers, Dr. Nils Kok, Dutch Minister Jacqueline Cramer, and
Dr. Herman Scheer, Member of German Parliament and Chairman of
Eurosolar. (For a complete list of speakers see:
http://www.provada.nl/congressen2009_detail.php?congres_id=55. )
Some interesting points and sound-bites:
- Sustainable development costs more money but it also returns that
money in time; depending on the level of extras involved payoff time
for implementing sustainable improvements can vary from 2 years to
20 years.
- Sustainable property is “on the tipping point” of being in great
demand and able to return healthy profits.
- Builders tend to construct right up to the mandated minimal energy
conservation standards, but not beyond it.
- Better internal atmosphere increases worker productivity and
encourages customers to spend more time in stores.
- Companies desiring a ‘green image’ are willing to pay
substantially more for sustainable office space.
- In well controlled studies in the US, ‘green offices’ showed
16-17% higher values, 7.5% higher occupancy rates, and rents of 2-3%
more than ‘non-green’ offices. (A smaller US based study showed
similar trends in the retail sector.)
- Investors should not only concern themselves with what tenants
want today, but with what they will want in 10 years.
- An extensive study on the Dutch residential market showed that
homes with well performing energy labels sold for 3.5-5.4% more; for
apartments that increased to 4.7-6.6% more.
- Part of the appeal for sustainable development is emotion, and
this emotion should be utilized to drive the process.
- The international scramble for cheap and renewable energy is
intensifying.
- Germany, a world leader in sustainable energy, has tripled it’s
renewable energy supply since 2000. Excess energy from renewable
sources returned to the grid is bought at fixed prices and given
priority to excess capacity from fossil fuel plants.
- Large oil, gas, coal, and nuclear companies have everything to
lose from the spread of renewable energy sources and every reason to
continue efforts at blocking and slowing this process. The current
monopoly of a handful of centralized power suppliers can be spread
out to many, many more, shifting ownership from the current
transnational monopoly to many thousands of individual owners.
- There is good news and bad news: The bad news is oil is running
out. The good news is oil is running out.
(By Bernd Struben, Real
Estate Publishers,
www.europe-re.com )
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