Sorouh calls for real estate to be green pioneer

Sorouh Real Estate's chief operating officer Gurjit Singh has called for the industry to take an 'early adopter' approach to sustainability.

Speaking at MEED’s Middle East Green Buildings and Sustainability conference, Singh said: “Sustainability should be an important part of any real estate company’s overall strategy in both the ‘place making’ and ‘place management’ stage of the real estate value chain.”

Singh and his fellow panelists focused on the impact that the financial crisis was having on building green, the cost of developing green buildings and the use of sustainability to reduce costs in the future.

“Sorouh is committed to adopting Estidama, Abu Dhabi's sustainability assessment criteria, in taking an early adopter approach to creating sustainable communities in line with Abu Dhabi’s Plan 2030.

“As one of the UAE’s leading real estate developers, we have a responsibility to set an example for others to follow. We launched our sustainability report this year as part of our corporate governance effort. This is a first for an Abu Dhabi real estate developer and we have received a very positive response.

Sorouh recently launched it ‘Green Your Life’ online campaign along with Abu Dhabi’s Environment Agency, aimed at educating people on how to become more environmentally responsible in their own homes.

“We believe that companies need to commit to a set of guidelines and today's conference is an important catalyst for encouraging companies to make this happen. All the participants in the broad property sector must take the responsibility to protect our current and future environment.”