Sustainable homes see rising demand in region; Hong Kong a laggard

Chinese investors seeking luxury properties are increasingly choosing sophisticated, environmentally friendly architectural features over ostentatious displays of wealth, a survey seems to suggest. Asked to choose what they valued most in a luxury home, 28 per cent of Chinese respondents to a Sotheby’s International Realty survey cited sustainable or eco-friendly features over waterfront location (21 per cent) or access to golf (21 per cent).

This was the response from 100 Chinese survey participants with US$250,000 to US$1 million in investible assets. They were among 600 people surveyed globally for the 2017 Global Affluence Report, conducted with Wakefield Research. Reinforced by earlier surveys, it concludes that ultra-high net worth individuals and emerging luxury consumers alike are increasingly interested in green construction, and the luxury home market is responding.

Jason Pomeroy, founder of Singapore-based eco-architecture firm Pomeroy Studio, finds that sustainability, “once perceived as the preserve of the tree-hugger”, is now finding its way into the mainstream.

“At all levels, people want to live in a more eco-friendly environment that will reduce the negative aspects of climate change,” he says. “We want to be appreciating lower energy bills, the benefits of natural light and ventilation, and ensure there is a lower level of toxicity in the materials in our homes.”

Pomeroy Studio pioneered a carbon-negative home in Bukit Timah, Singapore – a project called the B House, completed in 2016. Among the client’s requirements: the occupants should never have energy bills, they should enjoy greatly reduced water bills, and the construction cost should be no more than a bungalow comparable in scale.

The fact that it actually came in under budget proves Pomeroy’s point that greener building needn’t cost the earth.