Opportunities for sustainable growth exist in retail sector

Several weeks ago this column talked about the efforts that can be made by consumers to aid the retail sector in becoming greener, more environmentally aware and generally more appreciative of the impact that the built environment has on our lifestyle, as well as its potential impact on future generations. Following on from these thoughts, last week I had the pleasure of being invited to the round table dinner of the Urban Land Institute's (ULI) global conference on 'Building Sustainable Futures'.

Aside from spending time with so many industry experts (itself a thoroughly humbling experience), I had the opportunity to discuss with some of those that are directly involved with designing and building sustainable urban frameworks. These conversations tended to focus on the opportunity for sustainable developments to become the accepted norm in the Middle East, with my minds eye always on the thought of how ultimately this will impact the retail sector.

The generally accepted thinking is that with the associated levels of resources and space along with the pace with which the Middle East is growing its urban development, there is ample opportunity for the region to quickly embrace the ideas being championed by the ULI and the cause of developing sustainable communities.

Ultimately then, because retail and retail precincts are at the very core of these new community developments, the issues of sustainability are being passed directly onto the retail sector. The decision making process as well as design configuration lies not just with the vision of the master developer or the project manager, but is increasingly hinged upon the architect, whose expertise in manipulating concepts for urban settings, can offer new solutions.

Commerciality and the ability to deliver products to market quicker than competitors have traditionally been the key motivating factors for developers. Couple this with the the general thinking behind development of green buildings as being detrimental to the developers' bottom line and suddenly it's not difficult to see that one of the real stumbling blocks is the lack of knowledge about these urban frameworks.

Research suggests that the future of green buildings is directly pegged to energy prices, and so from a retail standpoint, creating buildings that are increasingly sustainable is not only easy but they will also be more attractive in the long term. As energy prices continue to increase, retailers will ultimately be drawn to developments that are cheaper to operate and when solutions are as simple as creating more skylights and decreasing the energy consumption on lighting, then the leasing decisions will be made that much easier for retailers looking for new or additional mall space.

The writer is Head of GRMC Retail Services, Dubai.