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M. Sreckovic:
"Renewable energy and energy efficiency in Real Estate Development";
Talk: 4th International Engineering Systems Symposium, Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ, USA (invited); 2014-06-08 - 2014-06-11; in: "CESUN 2014 Proceedings", (2014), 6 pages.

Real Estate Development can contribute substantially to the achievement of the EU energy and climate goals until 2020 and 2050, resp. to the development of cities and city districts which are highly resource- and energy efficient, by developing sustainable buildings and areas which use more renewable energy and implement energy efficiency measures, reduce carbon emissions, as well as provide a high quality of life for its occupants and inhabitants. Sustainable and energy optimized buildings require higher initial capital investment, due to higher costs for innovative construction methods and technologies which ultimately lead to longer repayment periods (amortization). The benefits are very often difficult to quantify, in particular due to uncertain predictions of energy use and the generated costs and occupant behaviour. For real estate developers and owners the question therefor arises how to finance energy-optimized and sustainable buildings and if these buildings are "profitable enough" when applying a life-cycle-cost-and-benefit analysis. This paper proposes a systemic view at this problem, by suggesting the development of new innovative business models, which aim at stimulating and supporting the implementation of renewable energy and energy efficiency measures in the real estate development of sustainable commercial property in interaction with city districts.

energy optimized buildings, innovative business models, incentives, stakeholders