Saturday 16 July 2016

Greenwashing Second Homes

Is conscientious consumption possible when second homes in Goa are vacant most of the time?

Acquiring a Green Building certification seems to be the latest fad for promoting luxury second homes in Goa. Real-estate projects are invariably profit-driven but there seems to be a rise in ‘conscientious consumerism’, especially amongst status-seeking urban Indian elites. The problem with ‘green’ second homes, though, is that they are not socially and culturally sustainable, especially in the context of a small state like Goa, where land is a scarce resource and cannot even adequately cater to the needs of locals.
Take the case of Nivim Goa, a building named for the part of Aldona where it is located, and which is apparently the ‘first green certified home in Goa’. Built by the company Build Grounded (www.buildgrounded.com), its website tries to impress upon the reader that the company is invested in sustainable practices. And probably to prove the company’s credentials, the construction of Nivim Goa is elaborately documented on the website.  Highlighting the architectural features of the property, the website states that “Nivim is an expansive country home meant to rediscover the quiet luxury found in nature”. The location of property in Goa is itself a unique selling point, of course, but note how luxury and nature are equated in the aforementioned description to attract investors from congested Indian metros. Properties like Nivim fit the aspirational desires of Indian elites who are seeking to prove that they have arrived. This is because owning a property in an exotic destination like Goa, a property which additionally claims to offer access to ‘nature’,  while bearing the badge of ‘green-certification’, surely symbolises the ‘status’ of these new urbanites within the elite class in India.
However, there is a major problem in engaging in such ‘conscientious consumerism’. When the website claims that the house is “perched on a lush slope amongst tropical trees”, it is meant to create the impression of Goa as not just natural, but also devoid of a local population. Deliberately rendered invisible, the seeming absence of locals offers up a scenario where this ‘certified green [second] home’ can be consumed without any guilt or concern for Goa itself. No wonder many elite estates have tall compound walls, which cordon off their residents from the ordinary masses and allow them to remain blind to the issues facing them.
Real-estate companies, like Build Grounded, often claim to be honestly working towards sustainable architecture in order to ‘save’ the planet. American urbanist Daniel Brook argues that green certification programs like Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a “system that's easy to game and has more to do with generating good PR [Public Relations] than saving the planet” (2007). The promoters and builders of  Nivim Goa also seem to do “honest soul searching” when they ask on their blog, “[W]hy would a person choose to live in Goa (part-time or full-time)?” Already suggesting that Goa is a vacant land, this rhetorical question is aimed at an elite settler who is invited to participate in a vision of conscientious consumerism, which is exactly what the problem is.

The ‘Gold’ green rating awarded to Nivim is by the Indian Green Building Council, a certification program that is apparently based on LEED. The cons of such programs far outweigh their sustainable claims, writes Vanessa Quirk in an article titled ‘Where is LEED Leading Us?... And Should We Follow?’ (2012). The entire LEED certification has a fatal flaw, asserts Quirk, and it is that “no matter the un-sustainability of the context (the middle of a desert, for example), no matter its purpose (even a structure for parking), if a building adheres to the requirements, a fundamentally unsustainable building could still attain LEED certification”. This is as much true of a vacation homes, which unlike primary homes remain largely unoccupied throughout the year.
Despite this, second homes like Nivim, are certified as “Gold”. Even if the building boasts of features such as “100% use of solar power for water heating… Use of [a] 3-star energy efficient refrigerator (40% less energy use) and 5-star rated air-conditioners (25% less energy use)…”, among others, the project remains socially unsustainable because it leads to the exploitation of resources meant for locals. The vacation homeowners and users seem to fit the stereotype of those who seek the ‘outdoors’ as epitomised by the natural setting in Goa, but cannot do without the luxury within, including the use of air-conditioners. Most local Goan homes, for instance, are not fitted with air-conditioners, and therefore are probably much more energy efficient.
There is a wide gap between the comforts which the urbanite seeks in tourist destinations and the comforts which the average locals are accustomed to, and therein lies the problem of green certifications. Such certification assumes standards that are applicable to elites, while ordinary homes built by locals, within their means, would never be eligible for such certifications. Green Building certifications are status-seeking mechanisms, another PR stunt for the elites.
Nivim being sold, the promoters have moved on to the next project, another “beautiful contemporary [second] home that retains the charm of a traditional Goan-Portuguese courtyard home… [while again] targeting Green Homes certification from the Indian Green Building Council”, as the website maintains [emphasis mine]. While such conscientious consumerism is just a greenwashing of the ugly world of luxury consumerism, local housing needs are marginalised as such projects drive up the cost of land, making housing unaffordable for many Goans.
This article was first published on The Goan Everyday on 17.07.2016