The words “environmental responsibility” may invoke thoughts of donating your time and resources to making the world a better place for yourself and those around you, doing your part to preserve the natural beauty of the land. While that is certainly an aspect of environmental responsibility, there are many benefits for businesses, homeowners, and developers to invest in eco-friendly Real Estate. Central America is the perfect place to start, and the best time to get started is now.
The Benefits of Environmental and Social Responsibility
When considering a location for development, one of the most attractive factors is the aesthetic quality of the land surrounding the property. Most homeowners would place their dream home on a beach, overlooking a canyon, or placed in some other beautiful location which is untouched by the relentless flow of glass, concrete, and steel. However, proximity to businesses and work is an equally important factor. So, how do you balance natural beauty with modern convenience? It would appear that they are mutually exclusive.
It is certainly possible to have both, and that is the goal of environmental responsibility. The key is to use the currently available technology and development techniques to preserve the area while integrating your development into it. By doing so, you are creating a perfect place for your customers.
What does that mean to you? That means more sales at a higher profit. Several developers I've spoken with are wary of the green initiative because they believe that it's the “right thing to do”, but that their business will suffer from the cost of building green. It is seen as a profitless chore as opposed to business opportunity. Many developers don't know that the added cost in green development, which may be lower than you think, will easily be recouped later. In fact, you will garner a greater profit from going green than you will by sticking with old techniques.
By adhering to the guidelines of environmentally responsible development, you will open yourself to a new and quickly expanding market. This market is full of people who are exclusively looking to purchase green Real Estate. They want solar power, clean water, grass, trees, and wildlife on their property. Those people are willing to pay a premium for those benefits, and it's completely possible for them to have it if you build it. Even if a buyer isn't exclusively searching for green property, it certainly is an added bonus that is well worth the extra cost and definitely will not put them off. That translates to more money in your pocket, less risk, and the satisfaction of doing the right thing.
The Green Building Council of Costa Rica and LEED Certification
The Green Building Council of Costa Rica (www.gbccr.org) is an organization which promotes green building practices and LEED certification of properties. It encourages sustainable development of green homes and businesses as well as continued education for developers in LEED building practices. It is modeled after the United States' Green Building Council, and follows many of the same practices. My goal is to use the GBCCR as a template to create and assist Green Building Councils across Central America and promote green building and sustainable practices in other countries.
To become a member of the Green Building Council of Costa Rica, visit the website and follow the instructions there. There are also accreditation courses available for those interested in becoming a LEED Accredited Professional. The advantage to being a LEED AC is that you are taught all of the requirements to develop LEED Platinum properties, and you are set apart as one of the highest quality green builders in Costa Rica.
LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, and it is a rating system which certifies developments with an environmental rating. People from all stages of development are involved from the architects to builders to interior designers. The qualifications for the ratings are developed by a volunteer committee comprised of working professionals who come to a consensus regarding different practices and establish best practices. They contact third party advisory groups to provide technical data and reports to establish what constitutes as best practices.
For a development to be LEED certified, it must follow the guidelines set by the LEED committee in development as well as operation. The property must, of course, be a green property, but there are different levels of “greenness.” These are identified by the LEED rating which ranges from the lowest, “LEED Certified”, to the highest, “LEED Platinum”.
To make a property LEED certified in Costa Rica, a developer must contact the Green Building Council of Costa Rica and apply for certification early in the process. That allows the GBCCR to monitor the building process and building techniques used.
Why Here? Why Now?
Costa Rica contains 6% of the biodiversity in the world. For the amount of land, that is an enormous amount of species. All across Central America, there is a massive trend towards preserving the ecosystem and developing green. Costa Rica, especially, is a hotspot for investment potential for businesses and homeowners alike.
Our location is one that allows for an exceptional opportunity: provide modern amenities and convenient locations in a place whose beauty is unmatched. For example, the Guanacaste Country Club (www.guanacastecc.com) is a LEED Platinum certified community which provides its residents with every modern convenience and fantastic natural beauty in a convenient location. It is such a successful development because it gives customers exactly what they are looking for.
The development trends are spreading out in every direction and consumers are hungrily buying up lots, so the risk of development is minimized. Naturally, you want to develop in a place which is growing, and that's precisely what is happening now.
Now is the perfect time to get into green building. Those before you have shown that the model is highly profitable and stable, yet it is not too late to establish yourself as one of the major players in the green industry. As an example of an industry in this phase, let's look at search engines. When Google started, it was certainly not the first search engine. It had plenty of competition from Yahoo, Ask Jeeves, and several others. However, by acting when they did and innovating in the field, they have become the number one search engine on the internet, and competing with them as a brand new company would certainly be a daunting task. The reason the other search engines are still around is that they established a customer base early on.
Green developers have the same opportunity as Google. You can become a major player in the industry by adapting to the trends now instead of waiting until you are forced to. The laws are changing to push for industry standards regarding eco-friendly practices, and it is much more difficult to completely restructure your operation to comply with the laws than it is to start now and make the change on your own terms. Even if your goal isn't to become the Google of Real Estate, you will at least secure your position with your own customer base by implementing green procedures now.
The place is here, and the time is now. Look into it, and you'll see that it's the best move you can make for your company now and in the future.