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Another example is the Wuhan Tiandi project, a registered LEED Neighbourhood Development (ND) pilot project in Hankou, along the Yangtze riverfront, comprising residential, office, hotel, retail, F&B and entertainment facilities. Employing an intelligent orientation to optimise access to wind and light while lowering sun exposure, the development also features district-wide centralised heating and cooling, water source heat pumps, rainwater collection and recycling facilities, and is poised to attain a LEED-ND Gold rating. Apart from just building physical structures, Shui On Land also operates and manages its buildings. “By being energy-saving and water-efficient, we can achieve long-term gains in the entire life span of the building,” said Nieh. This in turn adds to the value of the development. “The idea is to tie sustainability to a solid economic agenda,” said Nieh. “In the end, we are a business and need to be commercially viable. We believe our model is commercially viable and it makes a lot of sense.” It also helps that Shui On Land is riding on an overall thrust by the central Chinese government. “The government believes that, if they do not start embracing sustainability, they will eventually lose out on the gains and competitive edge that have been made in the past two decades,” said Nieh. That other Asian powerhouse, India, is also seeing green take root in the real estate sector. The Indian Green Building Council has recorded that, in 2008, there were some 239 green building projects that made up a total of about 147 million square feet. According to an Indian Realty News (IRN) report, the growing environmental consciousness among MNC tenants is redefining the way buildings are being marketed. Increasingly, requests for proposals include questions about a building’s green quotient, a fact echoed by K Raheja Associate Vice-President Shabbir Kanchwala, who told IRN: “Many of our customers are Fortune 500 companies that understand and prefer green buildings.” GROWING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION There may still be some reticence among developers about wholly embracing sustainable building, given the higher financial outlay and effort, but greening offers much greater rewards in the long term, the most obvious being savings on energy and water. Based on developers’ feedback, green strategies comprise 2 to 10 per cent of a project’s total cost. But innovative forethought on passive design elements such as ventilation, use of materials and building layout can reap green benefits – with little or no cost. “Developers who approach going green as an opportunity to rethink how they produce buildings often find that such innovation helps them find cost savings in other places,” said Carter. “On the other hand, developers 12 January 2009 |
From left: Shanghai Xintiandi, Shui On Plaza say about their occupants and investors. In a 2007 McKinsey Quarterly survey of more than 2,100 global executives, 68 per cent felt climate change was a “somewhat or very important factor” to consider when managing corporate reputation and brands. This means that a building is an important part of a responsible corporation’s branding, explained Carter. “They can confirm to stakeholders that a company uses high-performance facilities, is forward-thinking and innovative, is concerned about the well-being of its employees, understands changing sentiments in the market about sustainability and wants to make a measured difference.” In fact, a recent survey found that, out of 414 companies surveyed globally, 12 per cent in Asia stated that they were willing to pay premiums of over 10 per cent for sustainable buildings, compared with just 3 per cent of the companies surveyed in North America and Europe. Making sustainability a part of a company’s core principles also has other benefits. For CDL, eco-friendly practices have raised the developer’s public profile. Mr Kwek told BT: “Going green equates to value for home buyers, and enhances our reputation and goodwill.” In terms of financial value, it also helps – CDL is the only Singapore developer listed on the FTSE4Good Index series. And, in the search for talent, even buildings matter. “To an occupant, green buildings provide healthier, comfortable and more productive work environments that are soon recognised in markets as significantly more desirable than non-green ones,” noted Carter. In Australia, for example, employers are racing to offer these work environments in order to compete for the best talent. GREEN BUILDINGS that try and ‘bolt on’ green features late in a development process or do not invest in good expertise and experience to help them will often incur additional costs.” Given the force of the green wave, ignoring the environmental costs now could mean losses in the future. For example, the demand for green buildings in Australia has reached tipping point, so “green is now standard for all new investment-grade office buildings,” Carter pointed out. “This means that a non-green building being offered to the market will be less attractive and most likely will be penalised rent-wise and subsequently in terms of asset value.” In addition, there is a premium placed on green buildings for what they “The idea is to tie sustainability to a solid economic agenda,” said Nieh. “In the end, we are a business and need to be commercially viable. We believe our model is commercially viable and it makes a lot of sense.” David Nieh, General Manager of Business Development (Yangpu District), Shui On Land THE GREEN R.E.VOLUTION Given Asia’s fresh entry into the sustainability game, practical challenges do remain. According to Carter, “(Tenants) often like the general green proposition, but may not be prepared to adjust their budgetary model to accommodate spending extra”. This, he said, calls for a lot of education to help tenants understand the real value proposition behind green buildings. Support in the form of skills and materials, too, must be available to drive the growth of green buildings. Engineers, designers and contractors must have the knowledge and commitment to ensure sustainable practices across the entire building process. “Designers need to be able to model the performance of new systems accurately, engineers need to know how to avoid construction waste and building managers need to know how to carefully monitor the performance of buildings to identify any inefficiencies,” said Carter. At the same time, regulations must facilitate the growth of green buildings, such as allowing for the collection and use of rainwater or the use of renewable energy. To help drive and support the industry, <strong>Colliers</strong> has launched a green real estate guide for the creation of sustainable built environments. Called r.e.Design, the Green Real Estate Guide for Asia emphasises the need for such buildings so that the industry can “r.e.design” its approach to real estate practices. According to Carter, who penned the Green Real Estate Guide, “r.e.Design is intended to assist owners, developers and occupiers design strategies that manage the risks and leverage the opportunities associated with the change in real estate.” This is because, ultimately, “the winners in the emerging ‘carbon economy’ will typically be those who prepare early.” Please contact a local <strong>Colliers</strong> Office if you would like a copy of r.e.Design. | January 2009 13
Page 1: ASIA’S PROPERTY MAGAZINE JANUARY
Page 5 and 6: 30 CONTENTS 02 FOREWORD 04 LOGISTIC
Page 7 and 8: ’S LEFT: Artist’s impression of
Page 9: LOGISTICS FUTURE With Hong Kong bei
Page 12 and 13: GREEN BUILDINGS Another instance is
Page 16 and 17: A BEAUTIFUL WAY TO WORK In the usua
Page 18: ART SCENE Danny Lane’s Shan Shui,
Page 21 and 22: VITAL STATISTICS Model Audi R8 Engi
Page 23 and 24: Left: Taipei 101 Right: Precinct 4
Page 26 and 27: Photo: Corbis 24 January 2009 |
Page 28 and 29: VIETNAM RISING BELOW: Work in progr
Page 30: Kumho Asiana Plaza Saigon & Kumho E
Page 33 and 34: N LIVING LARGE IN THE CBD The vario
Page 35 and 36: LANDGENT HOLI APARTMENT ( ) Serving
Page 37 and 38: Mr Magar - against the backdrop of
Page 39: Magarpatta Township INDIA RESIDENTI
Page 42 and 43: ADVENTURES IN SPACE No walls; No ce
Page 44 and 45: LUXURY LIVING Site plan of Plaza In
Page 46 and 47: UED BIZHUB HUBBING UNIT North facad
Page 48 and 49: UED BIZHUB Artist’s impression of
Page 50 and 51: Gadgets DIGITAL WATERPROOF CAMERA T
Page 52 and 53: Credit Nguyen Vu Khoi and www.disco
Page 54 and 55: Destinations DESTINATIONS PHU QUOC
Page 56 and 57: COLLIERS CARES KIRINDA, A COMMUNITY
Page 58 and 59: CUBIC WORLDVIEW BLUE STATE, RED STA
Page 60 and 61: OUT AND ABOUT WITH COLLIERS & CLIEN
Page 62: BOOK REVIEW CORPORATE JUNGLE Birds

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