The sustainability requires joint actions both in standards, investments, governance and business planning, so that in order to permeate the real estate industry It is necessary that both authorities and companies generate synergies to address social and environmental problems.
In the forum “Solutions Laboratory: Sustainability in the real estate sector”organized by The Economistspecialists agreed that in order to encourage developers to establish sustainable parameters in their projects, conditions are required in the regulations, as well as organizing urban development and promoting clean energy sources.
According to the specialists, there is currently a very marked line between speech and action, in a context where there is a very large debt on the part of all the actors in terms of real estate sustainability and where both the environmental and social factors must be axes that dictate the actions in the matter.
Although in recent years, technological innovations have made it possible to move towards models sustainablethere is a notable lack of coordination to undertake joint actions and thus there is a harmonization in the matter that allows generating a trend that remains over the years.
Collaboration, fundamental axis
Ana Karen Mora, director of sustainability in Fibra Uno (FUNO), pointed out that the companies alone can not absorb the total challenge, because in addition to requiring a budget and investments, it is necessary that the authorities offer, mainly, “clean” water and energy, since they are of the issues that most impact the real estate.
“There is a very fine line between green washing (ecological marketing) and the true sustainabilityparticularly from the public sector, but also from the private sector”, stated the FUNO board.
“If the leaders are not committed, it is very difficult for this to permeate down, because you need a budget, you need investment.”
The FUNO board pointed out that for companies it has become more important every day to follow the ESG (environment, security and governance) criteria. more jobs”, said the specialist.
“A company can never be sustainable on its own, you need the support of the Government, suppliers, organizations such as IMCO, CMIC, a whole network”.
For the specialist, both governments and companies must first distinguish what really are the sustainable practices of green washing or the simulation of sustainable management, which can even be harmful.
He considered that, in high-impact projects, such as the case of the Mitikah Tower, it must be analyzed from the social perspective, the environmental impact and the improvements that are made, as well as address the doubts of the inhabitants of the community.
And it is that, for the representative of FUNO, currently developers must address all the edges and doubts that high-impact projects entail, because currently for companies, meeting environmental objectives and reputation are part of the social risks that can impact in business.
Even meeting sustainable objectives affects obtaining financing at a lower cost, so following long-term goals, linked to social risks, is relevant even in investments.
“Today there are many interest groups that pressure the private sector, in a positive way, to generate changes,” he emphasized.
Sustainability: the art of preserving existence
Jesús Carillo, director of sustainable economy at the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (IMCO), explained that talking about sustainability it is to take into account that the actions carried out today must not compromise the resources and living conditions of future generations.
To understand the importance of sustainability, Regardless of the sector in question, it is necessary to have an overview of the challenge that the sustainability.
“It has to be a development that is ecologically bearable, economically viable and socially equitable,” he explained.
“What makes a sustainable city? Make it inclusive, make it safe, and make it resilient. That there are good transport possibilities, access to services, that the city does not spread out and invade surrounding ecosystems, that people can access affordable energy, that political participation is equal and viable for all people”.
However, he added, in order to achieve the sustainable development of cities, communities, companies and authorities must work hand in hand to comply with regulations.
“A country like Mexico needs the hand of business, there is no way for the public sector to do it alone,” he said.
For this reason, the IMCO specialist explained that due to territorial differences it is not possible to standardize the rules to be followed in sustainability Nor can they be required to follow parameters if the mechanisms to do so are not provided.
“These differences between the regions, which are clearly very necessary to identify, because the regulations in one place will not be the same as another,” Carrillo said.
Among the positive points such as practices of sustainability What the IMCO specialist identified is the availability of data, but this information must be used to standardize the governance of cities and reach points of agreement.
Another of the challenges detected by the IMCO specialist is the need to have green areas at the same time that the territories are urbanized, since, although the ideal is to have 10% of the space in green areas, in Mexico in some areas the figure is less than 1 percent.
“What is proposed is that the urban spots were decreasing; however, they are growing. This has two problems, to begin with, the city is going to be more expensive (providing services) and possibly more marginal, it could become more segmented and, on the other hand, the use of land and places that could be very valuable environmentally, but that sometimes it is believed that there is nothing there,” he said.
Differentiate concepts
On the other hand, Francisco Bermúdez Rojas, executive coordinator of housing and urban development of the Mexican Chamber of the Construction Industry (CMIC), outlined the need to distinguish between the terms sustainability and sustainabilitysince the first can refer only to using technologies that allow savings and efficiency of resources, while talking about sustainable projects implies generating positive changes in the environment, the communities and causing improvements to the inhabitants of the cities.
“It is very important that the sustainability it is a set, that is saving, so that it serves society and at the same time allows to eliminate costs”, explained the representative of the CMIC.
Beyond the efficient use of resources such as water and energy, the installation of eco-technologies in buildings, the sustainability It should be understood as the set of actions to preserve human existence over time.
Developers work
Jorge Jiménez Alcaraz, coordinator of the sustainable urban development committee of the College of Civil Engineers of Mexico, considered that the companies real estate They must take into account how to make the projects they carry out sustainable.
The specialist pointed out that it is necessary to work so that the inhabitants and real estate generate positive synergies so that the sustainability reach everyone involved in a community.
“Even the generation of waste must be taken into account when planning the sustainability of a development real estate“, expressed Jiménez Alcaraz.