Green Building Takes Hold: A New Era for the Real Estate Industry

According to 2019 estimates, the value of global real estate is $217trn and it consumes 40% of the world’s energy and accounts for more than 20% of greenhouse gas emissions. Sustainability initiatives specific to the industry are focused on building materials, energy efficiency, and waste management. The S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA) is an annual evaluation of firm sustainability with approximately 100 questions for each industry and 23 different themes or criteria. With 100 being the best score, real estate companies achieved an average score of 22 in 2020 (Europe-32, Asia-27, North America-18). The pandemic has accelerated the green initiatives trend and organizations like the World Green Building Council are looking to transform the building and construction sector to net zero carbon.