“By adopting green building practices, the real estate sector can reduce its negative ecological footprint and simultaneously help create a more sustainable environment over the long haul” –Madhusudhan. G, MD and Chairman, Sumadhura Infracon.
This being the week we celebrate World Environment Day, Madhusudhan shared some interesting insights on the role of developers in creating a sustainable environment.
Here are the excerpts.
The real estate sector is one of the largest contributors to waste generation. What are your views on this?
The real estate sector is responsible for nearly a quarter of the country’s carbon dioxide emissions, which come mainly from energy-intensive processes in making construction materials such as steel, cement, and bricks.
Developing real estate is one of the biggest consumers of natural resources (water, energy, raw materials) and generates large amounts of wastes and pollutants. All this has resulted in continuous environmental degradation. This is the primary cause of climate change, the rise in average temperatures and deteriorating air quality in our cities.
“With these alarming consequences staring at our faces, some of India’s leading builders have pledged to make at least a fifth of their new housing developments sustainable by 2022.”
Whose responsibility is it to manage the waste?
Waste management is a collective responsibility – one which falls under the purview of everyone concerned and isn’t a responsibility of only a few. This is especially true when we see the humongous amount of waste generated on a daily basis.
What role can real estate developers play in this regard?
By adopting green building practices, the real estate sector can reduce its negative ecological footprint and simultaneously help create a more sustainable environment over the long haul.
Efforts towards sustainable real estate development involve the optimal use of natural resources, reduction and recycling of wastes, and significantly reduced pollutant emissions.
Builders are also ensuring that their projects are IGBC (The Indian Green Building Council) certified, wherein the buildings are ratified on the basis of their water consumption, optimisation of energy efficiency, conservation of natural resources, less generation of waste, and provision of healthier spaces for occupants, as compared to a conventional building.
“A sustainable environment is the most precious legacy humankind can leave for the future generations.”
Are there some rules that govern resident welfare associations when it comes to waste?
Yes, according to the recent waste management rules, all residents’ welfare and market associations, gated communities, and institutions with an area of more than 5,000 sq. m. will have to make arrangements to segregate biodegradable waste and compost it within their own premises.
Waste-to-Energy, also widely recognised by its acronym ‘WtE’, is the use of modern combustion and biological technologies to recover energy in the form of heat or electricity from urban wastes. This is where the use of technology could have a major impact on managing waste and achieving environmental sustainability.
As a developer, what are you doing to protect the environment?
The real estate industry holds a pivotal role in bringing awareness among the homebuyers and also implementing more eco-friendly solutions in their projects.
We have initiated a waste to energy drive, where 3 tonnes waste would be converted to energy, thereby saving nearly 1100 tonnes of carbon dioxide every year. It correlates to about 420 units of electricity generation every day or about 1, 50,000 units every year.
However, across India, many more developers and builders should actively take up these initiatives, where we ‘nurture nature, for the future’.