CONCERNED that incentives may not be enough to spur developers to take the often-costly steps needed to build sustainably, president of the Incorporated Masterbuilders Association of Jamaica Richard Mullings has pointed to the need for Government to outline clearly defined rules and explore penalties that can be applied when they are ignored.

Mullings cited developers’ failure to include water tanks as one example of the rules being flouted with impunity, and also explained why this is unlikely to change under the current dispensation.

“I’ve seen, for example, on building approvals where the municipality is asking for water harvesting [saying], ‘Every house must have a tank where you collect water.’ Almost, bar none, everybody is saying no, they’re not going to, [and] they don’t. Nobody knows how to tell their client that they’re going to add this cost upfront to the house,” said Mullings.

He was speaking during a recent Green Sustainability Panel Discussion hosted by the Realtors Association of Jamaica (RAJ).

“If it doesn’t come down as a hard rule to say everybody is doing it, then one developer can’t just jump up and do it because he’s gonna put himself out cost-wise — unless he somehow can drum up the demand for it in his units, different from everybody else. That’s why I’m saying that rule setting, that minimum standard, has to come for certain things — especially when you start talking about affordability and at the lower end of the cost spectrum. It has to come as a rule,” he insisted.

Mullings also questioned whether the time has now come to explore other ways, apart from the incentives now on offer, to get stakeholders to do more as Jamaica moves towards having a truly green construction and real estate sector.

Addressing his remarks to Gregory Bennett, deputy CEO of the Spatial Planning Division at the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA), Mullings noted that many of the factors that affect green sustainability are public goods or have wide societal impact.

“With that in mind…should we put stick to go along with this carrot to encourage people to shift over? Because we are a profit-driven free market society. Our developers must be profit-driven — hard as we try and as much social justice as we want to fight for,” the IMAJ head said with a wry smile.

“Should we be planning that stick as to how we’re going to push the demand towards sustainability by using the public system, the tax, the enforcement?” he queried.

In his response to the points raised by Mullings, NEPA’s Bennett said steps are already being taken at the ministerial policy level to nudge more businesses towards sustainable best practices. He agreed with Mullings that “it comes down to the monitoring, and enforcement, and compliance; balancing cost and what is going to be delivered”.

Bennett also noted that some sections of the private sector are already playing their part.

“Some developers will tell you, ‘We don’t wait on a regulatory agency to prescribe a standard or a condition for me to meet. I already include it as part of the package,’ ” he pointed out.

He stressed, however, that it will take time to see significant behavioural change.

“Sustainability is about mainstreaming — to get it in the minds of developers, get in the mind of homeowners that it is a must, [that] it will benefit you in the long run so [you need] to drive the process. And, of course, as I indicated, policy is also looking at that and [is] quite advanced in implementing green business policy,” Bennett noted.

Mullings’ comments about the cost implications of going green were also highlighted in an earlier address, during the event, by assistant vice-president of lending solutions and business services in the Mortgage and Lending Centre at Victoria Mutual Building Society (VMBS), Latoya Williams. She made the point that, with the built environment accounting for 37 per cent of energy-related carbon emissions globally, there are implications for the way we design, build and finance.

“Ultimately, the goal is not just to access financing but to access better, more resilient, and more future-ready homes. Step by step, project by project, decision by decision, we can collectively move towards a more sustainable built environment in Jamaica. And, importantly, we have an opportunity to ensure that as we build for the future, we do so in a way that is inclusive, practical, and accessible to more Jamaicans,” said Williams.

“There are real challenges, one of which is that sustainable building solutions can come with higher upfront costs. There are gaps in awareness, incentives, and sometimes technical capacity. This transition cannot happen in silos, it requires collaboration across the entire ecosystem — developers, realtors, financial institutions, and policymakers. Each of us has a role to play in moving the industry forward,” she added.

Realtors will soon be able to hone the skills required for their role in all of this. Starting this June they will be able to enrol in the RAJ’s recently announced two-day Green Designation course. Summarising the panel discussion she moderated during the event, realtor associate Heather Pinnock, who is also co-founder of the soon-to-be launched Jamaica Green Building Council, described realtors as the “sustainability link in every transaction”.

“Green infrastructure reduces utility costs, increases occupant comfort, and increasingly commands premium prices for sales and rentals. We do not need to convince clients on principle, we need to show them the numbers. A well-specified, sustainable property is a better investment. Our job is to make that case confidently and with data,” Pinnock urged.

“Environmental compliance is already part of the development approval process but it is not yet systematically embedded in the transaction process. That gap is our opportunity as realtors. When we start asking the right questions about a property, about its environmental status, about its energy systems, about its flood risk, about planning, compliance, we raise the standard for the whole market. Every listing, every offer, every negotiation, is a chance to advance our sustainability agenda,” she added.

Afraid they may not be able to easily pass on the cost to buyers, developers may shy away from making sustainability a routine part of the construction process.