The first wood-built office building that was constructed in 2004/2005 in Tapiola/Espoo near Helsinki is certainly not an ideal solution, but it is still a good example of alternative construction methods in commercial real estate. Wooden houses are a commonality in residential real estate. The five-story, 8,000 square metres Finnforest Modular Office FOM, bought by a Finnish insurance company, cost roughly 25 million Euros (including land). Wood is a renewable resource, and – depending on the material – between 7,200 and 12,000 tons of CO2 was saved through the construction methods of wood compared with traditional building materials. The lifespan of the building reportedly 100 years.

Meanwhile, the users are also asking for so-called “green buildings”– buildings that fulfil environmental standards. However, according to the latest Urban Land Institute ULI study about “Emerging Trends in Real Estate© Europe”, they are not yet ready to pay more for them. But the demand exists obvious mainly in Australia and the USA. Therefore, it is only a question of time until every building will receive an “ecological certificate”. This evaluation exists in Australia and will eventually follow in other countries.

The location must also be sustainable

The material side of a building, however, is not enough – location also determines sustainability. Generally, it can be said that the dense European city model is surely the most sustainable solution. The suburban, single-family home communities, as well as shopping centres or office and commercial parks in the countryside—without any access to public transportation – is by far the worst solution from an environmental perspective, since they add to land consumption. In Germany alone, buildings and streets plaster over roughly 105 acres daily. This amount should decrease to a maximum of 30 acres daily by 2020. To achieve this goal, inner-city wastelands must be consistently and optimally used.

Properties in the countryside not only promote land consumption, but also traffic – the main cause of CO2. Since we are using larger and heavier cars – gas guzzlers that emit a lot of CO2 in the air – everyone should ask themselves whether some car rides are a matter of need or convenience. Besides that, sustainable locations will be ones that are optimally connected to public transportation networks.

Still, we will need a gentle nudge to truly limit individual private traffic in the city. A city like London has been using this method of gentle coaxing successfully through a city toll. To do this, however, a well functioning public transportation network is necessary, and public areas designed to the clear advantage of pedestrians and bicyclists is essential. Furthermore, the city must offer everything people need in compact form: work, living, shopping, rest and relaxation spots, and recreational activities.

Changed living requirements

Photo: The Finnforest Modular Office FMO in Tapiola/Espoo near Helsinki: with a size of roughly 8,000 square metres, it is the first large, woodbuilt office building that has found its way to an investor. The ecobalance of a property will play an important role in investment decisions in the future.

A study by LBS Bausparkasse on the Hamburg real estate market proves that the dream of having a house in the countryside is not just ecologically expensive. In Hamburg and its suburbs, the study reveals a trend away from the single-family home with a big yard to an inner-city apartment in a good location – even though the prices are comparably lower in the countryside. However, based on the calculation that even some apartment dwellers use, after discontinuing the commuter allowance, the commuting costs for a married couple to and from Hamburg will reach up to 1,000 Euros per month.

Sustainability also includes property maintenance as well as the foresighted management of future needs. For example, the demographic evolution in the industrial states is not a new discovery, but has been happening for a while now. This evolution includes an increasing share of older people in the total population and a decrease in the absolute population. This decrease will not happen everywhere equally, but the gap between the winners and losers will be much more obvious in the future. The solution to an ageing society cannot be building more properties for senior citizens, but rather allowing people to live in their familiar surroundings for as long as possible. Most apartments fail to live up to this need.

So far, apartments also fail another societal development: living and working are no longer strictly separated. Mobile telephones, handhelds and notebooks with wireless connection allow people to work where and when they want – at home, travelling, outside or in a café. Thus, the borders between the different compartments of life are becoming blurred. That also means that apartments should no longer be designed just for living but also for working. On the other hand: office buildings should also be more than just a place for a desk.

We have to change

All of these developments and requirements have been clear for some time now, and there are many studies, articles and books about it. Many real estate experts and city leaders have long been working on putting these new-found insights into action, but people tend to be a bit slow to change.

The climate change, however, will not allow for a slow transition. And, before we point fingers at the emerging economies in Asia and Latin America, we should start at home. Our lifestyle is anything but sustainable, yet emerging countries see us as role models. To stop the climate change, we all need to change fundamentally.

Sustainable development
A commandment of economic reason