View Point: Government needs to lead way to a greener property future

Dec 5 2007 by Ken Smith, senior architect at Buttress Fuller Alsop Williams, Liverpool Daily Post

ARCHITECT Richard Rogers recently said that fellow architects need to do more to engage with technology and politics to combat environmental collapse.

Architects, by their very nature, are usually eager to embrace the latest products and developments, but are often restrained by the risk involved when incorporating new or untried systems.

Developers worry they may end up with a system that does not provide the benefits promised, or get landed with the cost of replacing a system that does not work.

It’s not that developers don’t want environmentally friendly buildings, but these buildings cost. In reality, many developers would be happy with quite unadventurous design in favour of a better return on their investment.

People may marvel at the sexy-yet-green architecture in London, but really Liverpool cannot emulate such innovative design to such an extent, because here, rental value per sq ft simply cannot support the extra cost.

Green technologies are available that will reduce energy consumption and reduce a building’s carbon footprint. However, most add to the overall cost of the building and are not a straightforward alternative for more widely used installations. Also, the financial pay-back period can be beyond the anticipated lifespan of the system itself.

Would tenants pay an extra 5% in rent annually to cover the cost of extra technology? I doubt it. While I don’t necessarily disagree with Rogers’s overall point, any initiative needs to be Government-led. There are enlightened developers and clients who are prepared to pay, but it will be legislation (or significantly higher energy costs) that moves organisations toward a greater acceptance of green technologies.

The Government needs to reward developers and tenants who build and operate greener buildings and support manufacturers in the development of products and systems to achieve a more sustainable development.

Before we can utilise the technology to make Liverpool commercial property greener, the rental market has to catch up, and emphasis needs to be on developers to be bolder in their approach to projects.