Green Real Estate - Risk or Reward?

In a previous post, I mentioned that "The 2009 Ernst & Young real estate business risk report itemizes the ten top business risks faced by the industry as ranked by leading analysts."

Not surprisingly, The Green Revolution as they call it, makes the list at #8.

"8. Green revolution, sustainability and climate change - real estate is at the forefront of the green movement with pressures intensifying to build and operate in sustainable ways and minimize the carbon footprint throughout all types of real estate."

As we know, building Green pushes any price tag upwards of 20%. And with its heavy reliance on capital, Real Estate especially has felt the tightening conditions of the global economic crunch which is expected to last over the next couple years. Being forced to scale down, the question of whether to go Green or not for many builders becomes less of a choice.

On the other hand, those with a broader scope see that going Green in any capacity makes for a better long term investment because of the long term benefits gained from buying Green. That coupled with significant tax incentives (solar panels for instance) and the budget friendly aspect of Green homes make up for the bite one may feel in the initial purchase.

Now I suppose only time will tell, but lets hope that developers, builders, estate agents and buyers continue to see the importance of moving in the Green direction.