Economic efficiency of green buildings Dissertation

Economic efficiency of green buildings - Dissertation Example Furthermore there is a growing awareness regarding the various ways in which sustainable practices can be incorporated within the industry such as the ‘green rating’ systems for buildings incorporated by governments of various nations, as well as industry wide practices. Such ratings help in measuring the carbon footprints of buildings, and thus provide the owners with detailed information and statistics, which can be used by them as a basis / foundation for implementing suitable changes. However, despite the growing awareness and information regarding the impact of current non-sustainable practices within this industry, on the environment, and the subsequent development of government imposed or industry led practices of rating systems, the success has been relatively lower than expected. This is because, most of the real estate developers and other institutional investors, are skeptical regarding the profits or benefits to them, on adoption and implementation of environ mentally friendly practices, since most of the evidence regarding this subject is, so far, highly anecdotal (Eichholtz, Kok,2009). ... However, the lack of enthusiasm within the industry or reluctance to implement the green initiatives is largely on account of the contradictions present in the literature and differing views and opinion of experts, regarding the credibility of the issue. There is an ongoing debate within the industry regarding the greenhouse effect of buildings, where deciding whether it is a market-driven approach, or a mandatory environmental regulation imposed by government, for various purposes is relatively difficult. One such example of government imposed obligation is the public display and/ or sharing of Energy Performance Certificates by buildings in accordance with the EU directive on the Energy Performance of Buildings (Fuerst, McAllister, 2008). Furthermore another reason for the lack of acceptance and implementation of green measures within this industry is the fact that there is a sever lack of understanding among the appraisers who are significantly conservative with regard to their ap proaches and business practices, and display a severe lack of training and knowledge regarding the consequences of non acceptance of environmentally friendly practices such as the use of cooling systems, and better air flow or use of environmentally friendly materials for construction etc among others. However, with the growing literature regarding the harmful side effects and the possible benefits of using environmentally friendly practices, is likely to bring about positive changes within the industry (Fuerst, McAllister, 2008). It has been increasingly established through research that the greener buildings are more likely as compared to their counterparts, to retain more value. This is evident from the fact that many of