As real estate companies become increasingly aware of their environmental impact, they have gravitated towards sustainable development practices. Such changes are critical to earth’s future, but they are far more nuanced than the adoption of green construction alone. True change, in this sense, hinges on real estate that is both sustainable and socially conscious.
Today, the notion of a stronger, healthier environment transcends physical sustainability; it is also defined by how communities live amongst and benefit from these changes.
By simply existing in a sustainable form, some modern developments are missing the chance to proactively engage with their residents. Developers, therefore, must treat sustainability and social impact as symbiotic contributors to long-term environmental success.
Embracing a New Approach
In the past few decades, many sectors experienced an infrastructural and ideological upheaval amidst changes in workplace ideology and calls for stronger, more consistent social policy.
In the case of real estate, developers are hardly immune to broader shifts towards socially responsible real estate (or real estate activity centered on community betterment and equity). This backdrop presents a chance for the real estate field to implement necessary change — and this begins with developers’ and investors’ collective willingness to embrace learning opportunities and become more socially self-aware.
That said, the concept of socially responsible real estate can seem nebulous at first. To properly understand it, developers should first acknowledge that nearly every sustainable real estate asset comes with a unique social impact. For instance, new sustainable properties may hold vast implications on the topic of diversity alone. As Deloitte illustrates, real estate professionals may answer this specific challenge by reinventing their investing methodology to be more socially conscious, creating opportunities like “multitenant shared spaces or the transformation of underutilized buildings into enthusiastic venues.”
Other significant social considerations may include construction focused on elderly tenants, families with young children, and similar demographics warranting additional inclusion and interaction. If green buildings cannot accommodate communities in this manner, they may see their intended benefits negated by new issues born of their incompatibility with existing infrastructure and culture.
Fostering Long-term Change
Even with a clearer perspective on socially conscious real estate, developers may still initially find it difficult to integrate such methodologies, especially in projects already conceptualized or in progress. Therefore, to create lasting change, real estate professionals must embrace appropriate social impact frameworks and make them a permanent part of the industry’s future.
A sustainable developer’s chosen social framework should be flexible and ideologically fluid, offering appropriate and equal attention to sustainability and community impact. Take the One Planet Living framework, for instance. It features 10 simple, yet holistic principles that seamlessly blend key components of living harmoniously with the environment and each other. These items include “equity and community, culture and community, land and nature, and sustainable water.”
A variety of real estate entities and nonprofits are already championing this evolution. The nonprofit Tides, for instance, sports a progressive social purpose model focused on “real estate investment — of both money and other resources — as a tool to encourage vibrant, healthy communities.” Specifically, the nonprofit invests in affordable, sustainable housing and public institutions to battle environmental harm and systemic inequality in both commercial and residential real estate.
Similarly, the BC Non-Profit Housing Association (BCNHA) strives for an energy-efficient take on community advocacy in real estate, working to influence local policy, unify the community housing sector, and educate and equip builders on both sustainability and community preservation. BCNHA achieves its mission by supporting real estate practices grounded in “collaboration, integrity, resilience, and inclusion” while “implementing green retrofit projects [ to use ] less energy and reap significant savings on utility costs.”
Beam & Co. also takes a transparent, service-oriented approach to breathing new life and purpose into real estate investing, development, and social involvement. With a focus on projects that inspire and support the community, Beam & Co. cultivates developments that do more than exist — they engage.
Developers can also work more closely with social impact organizations and legislators by establishing community benefits agreements. These contracts allow property developers, builders, or owners to establish ways for local communities to participate in and benefit from new infrastructure. When applied to sustainable structures, community benefits agreements can add a much-needed layer of transparency and assurance for residents, who can comfortably reap the conservation benefits without collateral hardship.
Sustainability and social consciousness are the two most important factors in our immediate future. Yet, social impact-driven sustainable real estate remains relatively new, growing from a small collection of industry entities that, until recently, was but a progressive minority. It is up to developers, investors, and other influential real estate figures to maintain this growth en route to sustainable, socially conscious infrastructure that properly fosters societal advancement.
