The World Green Building Council has calculated that two-fifths of global greenhouse gas emissions come from constructing, heating, cooling and powering buildings. When deciding whether to retrofit or knock down and build again, developers have to weigh up the balance between “operational” carbon – having a brand-new building that is highly energy-efficient to run – against “embodied” carbon – the substantial emissions caused by making building materials and constructing a building from scratch. While every building is different, retrofits can offer a more cost-effective way to create highly sustainable modern office space that can attract competitive rents.” “You can quickly find that it becomes commercially unappealing to take forward large projects. “As interest rates go up, the cost of capital goes up,” says Anna Bond, an executive director at Grosvenor. Higher borrowing costs, following the Bank of England’s 10th interest rate rise to 4% in February, are another factor. “Carbon saving has undoubtedly gone up the agenda for, I hope, all developers but certainly all of the publicly listed developers, particularly on the commercial side.” “There certainly is a shift,” says Tim Downes, development director at British Land, one of the UK’s biggest developers.
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