Real Estate Matters | Saving the environment through real estate

Sam Lee

When you think of environmental pollution, what comes to mind? It’s probably the exhaust spewing out of the millions of vehicles and the waste that leaks out of the factories and into the water system.

Our collective environmental awareness is growing, evidenced by the popularisation of electric vehicles, pressure placed on countries that produce indiscriminate pollution and general effort to reduce waste and promote recycling.

What we often fail to realise however is that the very homes in which we leave can also leave a harmful imprint on the environment, both through the use of environmentally damaging construction materials and through inefficient use of energy. Some 27 percent of the UK’s carbon emissions comes from the residential housing sector, and I imagine that figure is not much different in Macau.

We cannot always control how the buildings are built and what materials are used, but we do have some control over how energy efficient our homes are through taking simple steps such as installing double-glazed windows to increase insulation or using more energy-efficient lightbulbs.

Although helpful if adopted at a larger scale, these simple changes are unlikely to dramatically change real estate’s environmental footprint. We need a more fundamental change, starting right from where the properties are developed.

Chances are that you’ve been thinking of ‘sustainable real estate’ as something you occasionally see in a funky architecture magazine in a doctor’s waiting room. When it comes to ‘actual’ property, our primary concern is usually with the investment value of the property and not the environmental impact, thinking that one is at odds with the other.

Not necessarily.

There is a company set to build the homes of the future, today. Based out of the UK, Verto builds zero-carbon smart homes that produces more energy than it needs, and actually sells energy back to the grid. Yes, you can go back and read the last sentence again. ‘Sustainable Living’ is not just a simple buzzword for them.

They have also borrowed and repaid over GBP 10 million through crowdfunding, proving their financial track record and bringing international investors including from Macau and Singapore great returns in the process.

It’s not hard to see why they’ve been awarded “Housebuilder of the Year 2018” by the National Federation of Builders in the UK.

Sam Lee is a marketing manager and property consultant at JML Property.  JML was established in 1994 and offers Investment Property & Homes. It specializes in managing properties for owners and investors, and providing attractive and comfortable homes for tenants.

www.JMLProperty.com

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