Why is Green Homes the New Trend in Indian Real Estate?

What is the concept of “Green Homes”?

A type of home designed to be environment friendly and sustainable is called “Green Home”.  There is a focus on the efficient use of water, energy and building materials.

The potential of the Indian real estate sector towards facilitating a sustainable living has remained largely untapped. We usually observe that almost every other real estate project consumes lots of resources and as a result, generates an alarming amount of waste in every phase of its development- construction, maintenance and de-construction. As this aspect is continued to be ignored, negative impacts of these lifecycle phases of a project are borne by the environment around us.

This is where the concept of Green Homes is slowly, but surely, gaining importance.  A Green Home or a green building refers to an environment-friendly method of construction employed in all the phases of a life-cycle of a real estate project.

How can Green Homes contribute towards a greener environment?

A ‘Green Home’ approach of construction reduces the negative effects on the environment, unlike the normal methods of construction employed in traditional real estate projects. A green home project employs self-sustaining, cost-effective and low-maintenance construction techniques that are environment-friendly and have long-term effects.

A Green Home project employs the below-mentioned approaches in their construction techniques to make infrastructure development more environment-friendly:

• Facilitating superior quality of air for the occupants
• Optimum use of daylight
• Usage of less water and consumption of less energy
• Providing a healthy environment in the campus
• A reduction in emission of harmful greenhouse gases
• Use of eco-friendly materials
• Efficient use of resources to minimize waste

Thus, the Green Homes projects can play a significant part in slowing down the environmental degradation and achieving a sustainable living.

What are the advantages for buyers?

The buyers do not need to live further away from the centre of the city anymore, in order to increase the ‘greenness quotient’ in their lives. Here are a few important benefits of living and building green homes –

1.   You can save money on construction

Building a green home may seem to be an expensive affair initially, but you will end up saving money over the long-term. In a standard construction, lots of waste is generated due to improper and inefficient use of materials and hence, you may require repairing and replacing them too frequently. Whereas, a Green Home uses recycled materials, makes more efficient use of them and hence, less repairing is required.

2.   Health benefits for you and your family

The air circulating in a Green Home is purer, fresher and healthier for your family members to breathe as no toxic materials are used during the construction process. The plastic by-products normally used in a standard home release toxic substances and these are known causes of breading problems in us these days. Also, the use of non-toxic and natural methods of pest control and mold prevention in Green Homes brings in additional health benefits. Green buildings can also help you to combat stress as increased sunlight and the airier atmosphere inside can reduce depression and make your home a more peaceful place to live in.

3.   Better resale value

With the increasing awareness on the protection of environment and associated health benefits, a Green Home has turned out to be an excellent investment option. Value appreciation in Green Homes is much faster and you are sure to get more ROI as compared to standard homes.

The Footnote:   

As a responsible citizen, it is our duty to contribute to this ongoing battle for protection of our environment. As a home-buyer, you should also make a conscious decision to invest in green homes, keeping in mind the future market potential as well as the long-term environmental and health benefits associated with such projects.