High cost deterring developers from going for green projects

Developers are reluctant to implement the green norms on account of cost issues, which is impacting growth of green real estate sector, a survey said.
The survey by TERI and Yes Bank revealed that nearly 72 per cent of respondents believe that the high costs of green real estate buildings are a major impediment.
Nearly 150 senior-mid management professionals across the green real estate value chain were surveyed.
Apart from the cost, lack of mandatory policies and programmes from local and central governments is also affecting the growth of the sector, the report said.
"Nearly 63 per cent of the respondents believe that lack of policy enforcement on the part of the governments is impacting the sector. Besides, low motivation of consumers to pay premium for green buildings is also becoming a major barrier in the growth," it said.

The respondents also identified an array of financial barriers. "Close to 58 per cent of the respondents felt that the financial institutions today are not aware of the innovative credit lines available in the market for financing energy efficient building projects, while 51 per cent believe that lack of preferential lending rates to green building projects also leads to discouragement," the report said.

The survey also revealed that green buildings are improperly valued, thus disincentivising the real estate developers.
However, enhanced brand value and reputation of the company, financial incentives from regulators, municipal bodies and growing international trend to invest and reside in green buildings is likely to drive the growth.

"There is an urgent need for all stakeholders like developers, financial institutions, fund managers, architecture firms, construction material manufacturers and large pro-sustainability conglomerates to come together to build and increase awareness on the tangible and intangible benefits of green buildings," it said .