Opinion article for Jornal Observador: Sustainability in Construction – Environment, Society and Economy

The building stock has immense potential for combating climate change by reducing consumption and emissions while raising standards of safety and comfort for users
Bruno de Carvalho Matos, Alumnus of the Lisbon MBA and Engenheiro Civil Sénior MRICS PMP MSc wrote an article for Observador sharing his insights on sustainability in construction: environment, society, and economy. Bruno tells us that the built up environment consumes more than 50% of the planet’s natural resources, in particular the buildings segment, which, in the European Union alone, is responsible for 40% of energy consumption and also 36% of total greenhouse gas emissions.
In Portugal there are 3 million first homes and 30% of families (a value much higher than the European average) in a situation of energy poverty, i.e., with difficulties in achieving thermal comfort, only surpassed in Europe by countries like Lithuania, Bulgaria, and Cyprus. This implies more expenses for air conditioning or, in the impossibility of supporting these expenses, a higher risk of diseases caused by excessive cold or heat, which in turn impact the economy of the country with more health expenses and absenteeism from work. The national housing park thus has immense potential for combating climate change, by reducing consumption and emissions, while increasing the safety and comfort standards of its users. By increasing their energy and environmental performance, buildings can significantly favor the achievement of goals such as carbon neutrality by 2050, under the strategy of the “World Green Building Council”, which in turn contributes to the “Paris Agreement”.
Sustainability must be a priority and should be present in every phase of the life cycle of the built assets, with the entities connected to operation and maintenance assuming a leading role, and, above all, in the companies of the construction and real estate sector, which must promote the best practices at the level of the developments as well as in the organizations themselves, in an integrated manner, in the environmental, social and economic dimensions.
The path towards a greener and more resilient future is on the agenda, with sustainability standards increasingly becoming unavoidable requirements for the management of enterprises and organizations, thereby increasing the opportunity costs of not investing in sustainable construction, which may range from the depreciation of the value of assets and companies to penalties due to excessive carbon emissions.
Having said this Bruno asks: Are the stakeholders of the construction and real estate value chain ready and willing to play their role in this long and challenging path towards climate transition, privileging long-term strategies over short-term interests?
Read the full article in Portuguese here.
Source: Observador