Towards low carbon economy – green bond and asset development

Abstract

Green Bonds are an instrument for driving the environmentally friendly and low-carbon economy. Green Bonds are bonds whose proceeds are earmarked for and transparently channelled to environmentally-friendly projects and activities. The real estate industry has a multi-decade track record of addressing environmental impacts through the use of rating systems certified by independent third parties. Green building certification systems address multiple environmental impacts and measure outcomes across all asset lifecycle phases. Using bonds for such investments is not new but in an effort to improve transparency and increase opportunities both for issuers and investors it can take a more active role in combating climate change. The goal of this paper is to describe how property developer can use Green Bond as one instrument in sustainable life cycle management and continuous development of properties. The method used is a case study of Finnish property owner company, which commits to invest the funds raised in certified, environmentally responsible and energy-efficient projects. The single case study method employed in this study captured the process of case organization towards Green Bond initiative. More precisely the data was gathered by qualitative document analysis (QDA). The results show that company begin the process with focusing on environmental sustainability especially putting the effort in the first phase to energy efficiency. The Green Bond initiative provided a new avenue towards economic sustainability. Additionally, issues like shared use of facilities was discussed from social sustainability perspective. The results are interesting for property owners who are interested in systematic development towards regenerative built environment.