Builders and developers respond to demand and expand ESG practices

The ESG in Practice study, prepared by the CTE (Center for Building Technology) in partnership with Abrainc (Brazilian Association of Real Estate Developers), points to a strong growth in the application of the ESG concept (acronym in English for environmental, social and corporate governance).

According to the survey of 27 companies in the sector, 71% of them already carry out several ESG actions and another 29% are in the initial implementation phase.

The mobilization is a response to pressure from society for initiatives that minimize the socio-environmental impacts of a sector that accounts for 38% of energy-related CO2 emissions and has a workforce with less specialization.

“ESG is a path of no return”, says Luiz França, president of Abrainc. “There is a growing demand, younger consumers, between 25 and 35 years old, who were born consuming these values ​​and abandon brands that do not apply“, he states.

Of the respondents who said they had some kind of knowledge about ESG (94%), around 64% took ESG criteria into account when choosing their investments.

Non-adherence to ESG investments is mainly related to the lack of confidence and the difficulty of investors in analyzing and comparing the disclosed information.

An obstacle that tends to decrease from 2023 onwards, when the CVM (Comissão de Valores Mobiliários) starts to demand more ESG information from companies.

To meet the concept’s environmental criteria, companies need to have initiatives to protect natural resources, reduce pollutant emissions and positively impact the environment.

“One of the good practices is a source of solar energy. If you manage to install it for the collective areas of the undertakings, it is even cheaper for those who are going to live there”, says França.

There is also a growing demand for obtaining the NBR ISO 14,000 certification, which guarantees companies in the sector a reduction in production costs, an improvement in the public image and an increase in the efficiency of services.

ESG’s social proposals include engagement by companies in relation to diversity policies for the work environment and projects to reduce inequality in society, for example. According to the study, in Brazil, 81% of companies act to fulfill these commitments.

“The civil construction sector is very masculine. That’s why we’ve increased the number of women on our construction sites”, says Angel Ibañez, director of ESG at Tegra, a developer awarded at the Master Real Estate 2022 for Best Practices in ESG and Property Security Job.

And governance, the letter G of the acronym, calls for transparency of corporate processes, such as investment in mechanisms to prevent cases of corruption, discrimination and harassment.

França says that adapting to the ESG “is becoming a crucial point in the eyes of investors and the main players in real estate development”.

Ibañez reports growth in Tegra’s commercial number since the start of ESG practices by the developer in 2016, with multinationals demanding the application of ESG in the construction of their offices.