Real Estate sector has the potential to lead the economic recovery and growth. It has the potential to provide short term as well as long term relief. Various other sectors such as construction materail, labour, steel, cement etc are somehow connected with this either directly or indirectly. A rising real estate sector can trigger a chain reaction of growth in the entire economy.

The government of India is running several programs directed towards the growth and development of the sector. Housing-for-all and PMAY are significant programs being run for this purpose. Various states have their own schemes to incentivize people to invest in real estate. These schemes have had met with fair amount of success before the arrival of Covid-19. In post coronavirus recovery phase, these programs will have a decisive role in attracting investments towards the sector.

Real Estate has an important role towards achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) which cannot be overstated. Real estate sector can contribute towards sustainability in various ways. It is one of the few sectors which can contribute towards environment conservation and sustainability.

  1. Project site selection, design and planning: Developers and administrators need to be careful regarding selection of the project sites. Local ecology, flora & fauna, climate, demography and culture should be kept at the centre of planning. The short- and long-term environmental impacts of the project must be studied carefully before starting the project. Geospatial technologies can greatly assist in such studies. The project designs should be such that they minimise the usage of energy and water during the entire lifecycle. Green building guidelines should be kept in mind while designing the projects. Planning must incorporate adequate green and blue space.
  2. Use of sustainable technologies and material: Technologies which help reduce energy and water consumption in the projects should be explored and employed. Environment friendly construction materials like fly-ash bricks, precast concrete slabs, bamboo, recycled plastic, reclaimed steel, etc should be used as much as possible during the construction phase. The personnel need to be trained to minimise wastages.
  3. Waste Management: Real estate projects generate huge amounts of solid and liquid waste. Often the waste water either seeps to the underground or finds its way to local waterbodies causing significant ecological damage. Similarly, the solid waste generated from the project often comprises of huge amounts of cement and concrete. Project developers need to take extra care for responsible and sustainable handling of their waste. Reduce, reuse and recycle should be the central philosophy while dealing with solid as well as liquid waste.
  4. Post Construction Sustainability: Real estate projects remain in usage for decades therefore sustainability after the completion of the project cannot be ignored. During the designing of the projects, the designers and developers should keep provisions of water & energy conservation, electricity generation through renewable means, waste water recycling, waste management, green spaces etc. They should also leave scope for adaptation of new technologies that might emerge in future.

Real estate and environmental sustainability are closely related. To achieve sustainable development goals, real estate cannot be ignored. Similarly, real estate holds the key to the country’s economic revival. Acceleration in the real estate investments and the sustainable developments need to go hand in hand for India to achieve a truly sustainable growth rate.