Real estate tech will be critical for helping deliver Boris’s green pledges

COMMENT With the built environment responsible for around 40% of global carbon emissions, it is critical that the sector harnesses new technologies if we are to rapidly reduce our carbon footprint and meet these new government targets. Without real estate technology transformation, none of the ambitious net-zero targets will be achievable. By harvesting accurate data and using a forward-thinking combination of hardware/IoT and software, not only can we measure accurately and certify our decarbonisation progress, but we can also transform our existing stock of buildings into smarter and more efficient assets in order to reduce their carbon footprint. New supply-chain innovation, biodiverse materials and construction software will further enable us to transform how we build more consciously and sustainably going forward. Measuring and understanding the environmental impact of assets end to end across their entire asset life cycle and all the way to the construction supply chain will be essential to making progress – particularly around the embodied carbon of materials, which can account for three-quarters of a building’s total emissions over its lifespan. Compliance is key While this data has historically been hard to obtain, innovative deep tech companies such as Vizcab, which helps real estate firms calculate the carbon life cycle assessment of new assets, will play an essential role in making sure real estate companies are able to comply with new climate-related regulations such as the European climate and energy package. Although new buildings represent just 1% of total stock, they provide opportunities to pilot new approaches, including around supply-chain management. We are already seeing companies such as Landsec and ilke Homes using modern methods of construction to create zero-carbon offices and homes. New buildings will represent a significant portion of the built stock by 2050 – up to 50% by some estimates. On the hardware and IoT side, groundbreaking sensor and satellite imaging technologies allow for the real-time collection of metrics – such as heat efficiency – to a level of detail that was unobtainable just a decade ago. Similarly, sensors that were previously prohibitively expensive are now being produced on a scale that makes them genuinely affordable. These new technologies present an opportunity for real estate firms to become more transparent and will enable regulators, capital market investors and customers to quantify and measure clearly the commitment and progress of real estate companies towards reducing their carbon emissions. No more hiding in plain sight with PR, marketing and certification that nobody actually understands. Creating the right momentum The real estate industry has no other choice but to embrace and grasp technological transformation with both hands in order to comply with upcoming regulations, ESG demands from capital markets, and customer expectations. Government support through homogeneous regulatory framework as well as supportive initiatives will also be key in creating the right momentum for the industry to advance forward. Gregory Dewerpe is the founder and chief executive of A/O Proptech