Developers in Asia-Pacific are expected to accelerate their pace of constructing eco-friendly buildings as they take measures to mitigate the impact of climate change and meet rising demand for green office space, according to industry observers. Landlords could charge a premium of up to 10 per cent for sustainable office buildings as demand currently outstrips supply, they said. “Developers in Asia used to compete about who had the tallest and biggest building, but now it’s about the greenest and healthiest,” Alessandro Bisagni, founder and president of green building consultancy BEE Incorporations, told the Asia Sustainability Conference organised by the Post last week. Sustainable buildings reduce the negative impact on the environment because of their design and construction. Green buildings are also seen as a mark of good quality, thoughtful design and a landlord willing to invest in their assets, which can attract occupiers and are seen as worth the premium. The growing demand for an eco-friendly environment has been further driven by concerns about climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic, which has given rise to the desire for clean and comfortable indoor living and work environments. Currently, the demand for sustainable buildings in Asia-Pacific is higher than the supply , effectively pushing up the rental premium, said Helen Amos, the regional environmental sustainability lead at JLL, citing the results of a recent study conducted by the real estate consultant. Across Asia-Pacific the rental premium for green building on average was 7 per cent to 10 per cent, Amos said, adding that 70 per cent of occupiers were willing to pay above-market rents. Participants at the conference also drew attention to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report released last week, which said that global warming is having an unprecedented impact on Earth. Some changes, like an increase in sea level, were unlikely to be reversed for hundreds or maybe thousands of years, the report said. As a result tenants were requesting building standards that took into account a warming climate, extreme weather patterns and that were also resilient to pandemic-like situations, said Farizan d’Avezac de Moran, a senior partner from Singapore-based GreenA Consultants. “More buildings are now opening that not only understand but also cater to climate and health threats,” said Moran, whose company provides services in green reporting, certification and environmental studies. The surge in demand for environmentally friendly buildings has seen several real estate companies, like City Developments (CDL), release targets to cut carbon emissions, gain investment from green finance and develop sustainable buildings. It was time for companies to put money where their mouth is, which means setting goals and pathways that can be tracked, said Esther An, chief sustainability officer at the Singapore-based CDL. According to CDL’s 2021 sustainability report, the company said it was committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions in their operations by 2030. It was also the first developer in Southeast Asia to sign the World Green Building Council’s net zero carbon buildings commitment. “Safe to say action is important, time is ticking; we need to take urgent action to save our planet,” An said.