With many companies exploring the different ways they can market themselves as a ‘green’ company, isn’t it time to consider what sustainability can actually do for you?
Without making too much of a generalisation, my personal opinion is that the Companies I am referring to will only be promoting themselves as an eco-friendly organisation for the indirect financial benefits that they will see in their profits. These may be a better corporate image resulting in higher sales, even if the eco-friendly changes made are themselves, running at a loss. My aim is to open people’s minds to the direct financial benefits that can be gained by making use of environmentally friendly ideas and products.
To explore this, we can look at the personal or commercial investment of property (this could be a home for yourself or perhaps property investment as a business).
We all know that anything we buy will now have to be reviewed to assess its energy efficiency, and in recent times this has pushed a lot more in the purchase of property. However, we are in no means anywhere near the peak of were this will be heading in the future. In 3 – 5 years time, a property with a poor household rating could be very difficult to sell, and it is likely the price will drop out of these houses and they will become a fraction of what they were once worth (and probably what you paid for it!).
That said, I believe there is not any particularly significant profit to be made from buying up sustainable properties in the hope a higher resale in the future, simply because the current tolerances in construction will be made tighter as time goes on and because of this most houses will continually be built to a higher energy saving specification as time goes on. The best thought in terms of buying up this type of property would be to make sure your home is at a satisfactory standard, and if not…get out now, if only to ensure the property that you are in now, is sellable in the future.
The best example of direct financial benefits that can made from buying a property with sustainable characteristics (now that we have dismissed the purchase of these properties for resale purposes) would be the monthly outgoings involved in running a household. The bills that will be spent on essentials in the house – heating, water, and electrics can be significantly reduced in a energy efficient home. A good quality design will reduce any unwanted air leakage at typical points in the structure (around window frames, doors etc.) but a home with products like a ground source heat pump installed have significant financial benefits. The cost of the system can be made back in savings within a three year period, meaning the investment will be cash positive in a very short time. Government based funding for installing such a system makes the investment even more attractive. Another product making properties more attractive are rainwater harvesting systems which work by collecting the rain which falls onto the roof of a home, then stores it in a tank for when it is required for use within the home. When needed, it is pumped to the point in the home where required replacing the water that would usually be taken from the mains water supply. This can reduce your monthly water bills. A case study on a commercial property in Manchester showed a saving of £4000 per year, with an initial cost of £12000 installation, again meaning the investment is cash positive in just three years.
Some other products that keep appearing in the market include wind turbines and solar panels that have been produced to have a low visual impact (often hidden as regular construction materials). These products still have problems when moving to a national market within the UK, as some areas still have planning restrictions on using such products, however I believe they will be forced to rethinking these restrictions in the future.
