What is real Sustainable Real Estate? Quantum2 Land Units
In the Quantum2 ecosystem we introduced Land Units – these are digital units you buy, which increase in value daily, at 7.5% per year, increasing your wealth. The funds received from their sale allow us to buy land and manage that sustainably. That means no pollution, pesticides, chemicals, regeneration of Biosystems, organic food production for agricultural land, but what does it mean for real estate development?
Real estate development has a significant impact on natural resources, however, we have experience of planning sustainable projects for over 20 years.
Essentially to develop sustainably requires a good process. It is important to exclude greenwashing – “sustainable” does not just mean the environment. It is about a holistic approach to economic, environmental and social impact. We look at whole lifecycles and synergies that can be created across the range of economic, social and environmental fields.
The environmental process has been put into effect through the Oxford 360 Sustainability Index and sustainable certifications such as Breeam. That is the basic level of environmental sustainable development. On top of that, we consider re-usable design (design optimised to use existing material sizes and configurations, to reduce cutting, damage and waste) and elements which can be re-used after construction or when replacing them, so that, for example, minimum sized elements can be used rather than replacing large area. Other considerations include prefabrication for efficiency and material optimisation, re-use of site materials (eg. soil areas dug out for foundations can make children’s play area hills or the stones used as road foundation, cleared forest and be made into wood-chip paths to explore the countryside).
We look at the local economy, so how jobs can be created, schools be improved and local services enhanced or created as part of and due to the new development, creating a positive economic and social multiplier effect.
We also take a whole-lifecycle approach, not just to materials but our clients’ lifetime impact and their energy usage. For example, how houses and businesses in the development can save rather than waste heat and electricity and even generate that energy, for example be powered by solar or other kinetic energy solutions and that energy recycled into the other houses and businesses via local smart-grids – meaning local business and house owners see their office or house as an energy investment, generating them money each month as well as supporting off-grid energy, the environment and creating additional jobs.
Our suppliers are chosen, wherever possible to be certified and following good environmental, social and economic practices, and we look at end-to-end material and waste certification from excavation to end-of-life.
Finally we consider global considerations such as CO2 and how that can be reduced. For example, implementing a renewable energy biomass unit as part of one development, powered by local woody Miscanthus crop – so soil is regenerated, local heat and electricity created for the houses and businesses around it, biosystems are improved and around 200,000 tonnes of CO2 is saved per year from extracted carbon.
After 20 years of planning such (large scale) developments, we could write a lot more here! But suffice to say, the best approach to sustainable real estate development is holistic and synergistic. It is important to consider how benefits can be gained to the development itself and the development profit, as well as the environment and surrounding social and economic spheres.
It is not bad or “dirty” to talk about profit in a sustainable setting – a sustainable project is a profitable project. With Quantum2, it all goes hand-in-hand.