Blueprints of Green: Determining Key Determinants of Sustainable Real Estate Projects in Delhi NCR

Abstract

Rapid growth of NCR Delhi urbanization had brought along burden on ecological, energy and requirement of housing. In this shift towards intelligent and green urban infrastructure, real estate became instrumental in driving the sustainability agenda. While policy tools and rating systems like IGBC and GRIHA had already been developed, their implementation on ground varied from place to place. Earlier studies in India had primarily focused on national policies or individual case examples, and scant attention was paid to combined determinants affecting adoption of sustainability at project level. There had been a lack of systematic framework that could connect the regulatory, economic and technology factors with measurable sustainability outcomes. The objective of this study was to examine the major factors influencing the adoption and success of sustainable real estate development initiatives in Delhi NCR. A qualitative meta-synthesis was performed on four Q1 research papers and secondary data were included from IGBC, GRIHA, and industry reports. Drivers were identified and divided into the following five categories: regulatory drivers, economic incentives, technological change, collaboration of stakeholders and sustainability criteria. Regulatory pressure and technology adoption appeared to have the greatest impact, followed by stakeholder collaboration and lifecycle cost effectiveness. Market Performance Compliance and energy technology-driven integrated energy management were linked with better market performance as well as with higher returns in the long term. From a more practical point of view, the approach provided developers, policy-makers and investor with guidance on how to reconcile sustainability aspirations with financial viability and added to a growing body of understanding on sustainable urban development.