Even in a world where green has become the new black and words like "sustainable" grace everything from food packages to corporate mottos, the notion of building an eco-friendly luxury home can seem like an oxymoron.
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The luxury carbon-neutral home concept—in which properties attain a net zero carbon footprint—has been labeled "a conscience salve," "greenwashing" and "a complete misnomer" by critics.
"You think of a £30 million mansion built with the finest imported materials, the heated pools, the electrical gadgets, the air conditioning, the six-car garage and of course the private jet journey to get there. That can appear at odds with the environment," says Peter Mackie, managing director of HSBC-backed Property Vision, a U.K.-based estate agent.
The luxury carbon-neutral home concept—in which properties attain a net zero carbon footprint—has been labeled "a conscience salve," "greenwashing" and "a complete misnomer" by critics. Despite that skepticism, developers are hoping to turn a seemingly contradictory phrase into a 21st-century success story, laying plans for prime deluxe carbon-neutral property all over Europe. New homes in the U.K, Portugal, Italy, Morocco and Switzerland are being marketed to wealthy individuals around the world, with developers reporting strong demand.
In Morocco's Atlas Mountains, Anwar Harland-Khan, co-founder of green architect group Sustain Worldwide, is behind a carbon-neutral luxury development called L'Amandier. Construction of the project began last year and the villas are expected to be completed this year. All water will be drawn from on-site wells, and rainwater will be harvested for irrigation. Mr. Harland-Khan, who is also working on a Swedish carbon-neutral ski resort, says industry standards in Morocco are stringent and there are certificates provided to clients at each stage. Interiors, designed by U.K. and Moroccan architects Nick Gowing and Hicham Belhouari, have a flavor of Marrakech. Each villa has its own pool shaded by Bougainvillea and almond and citrus trees.
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Andermatt Swiss Alps, a major development overseen by Orascom Development Holding AG, which includes six luxury hotels, some 500 apartments and luxury villas and an 18-hole championship golf course.
Half of the sixteen villas, which are priced up to £425,000, have been bought before completion of construction. "Sustainable luxury is about providing for the needs of discerning people today, without compromising the needs of future generations," says Mr. Harland-Khan. "It is well within our grasp."
In the U.K., property developers John Hitchcox and Philippe Starck have launched the Cotswold's first carbon-neutral gated community, the Lakes by Yoo. The 160-villa development offers interior design by Jade Jagger and Kelly Hoppen. Villas are built using sustainable timber. There is an option for owners to purchase bolt-on solar panels, rainwater harvesting and wind turbines on their homes, with eco-packages priced up to £45,000. Properties cost between £800,000 and £1.5 million.
Meanwhile in Switzerland, the vision of Samih Sawiris, a billionaire Egyptian-born property developer, is taking shape. He is spending €1 billion to transform the sleepy village of Andermatt into a car-free community with over 500 apartments priced from around €1 million. Estimated completion is 2020. Half the energy for heating will be provided by wood fires, while the other 50% will come from geothermal energy.
Mr. Sawiris believes age and social conditioning can change perceptionswhen it comes to sustainability. "We are building with the well-educated next generation in mind. Carbon neutral will be important to them." He says he is footing the bill for the eco-credentials, which add a 10% premium to the project. "I feel I am setting an example," he says. "It is worth earning a bit less to have peace of mind. Reducing carbon should be everybody's goal."
Zero-carbon communities have been around for years—for example, the car-free neighborhood of Vauban in Freiburg, Germany, which was built in the mid-'90s and is characterized by rows of so-called "Passivhauses." The temperature in the homes is maintained through 30-centimeter thick insulation, airtight sealing and a heat recovery unit.
The problem is the aesthetics aren't everyone's cup of tea, says Property Vision's Mr. Mackie. Many carbon neutral homes take the form of prefabricated housing blocks built to a uniform height with little character. Buyers at the top end of the property market are rarely willing to sacrifice comfort and design for what they perceive to be unproven technologies in low carbon living.
"The eco-property movement has been hijacked by the 'woolly jumper brigade,' those that interpret eco-friendly as anticonsumerism, rather than reality," says Thomas Lipinski, an award-winning Polish architect and founder of Green Structures, a building firm. "The idea that these houses have to be ugly and badly designed is wrong."
Mr. Lipinski reckons that demand for well-designed luxury eco-homes will soar as carbon reduction will likely get more press and political attention. High demand will push prices higher. The resale value of a carbon-neutral property over 10 years could be 20% higher than a comparable "fossil build," he says.
His team is building a £400,000 zero-carbon country mansion in Hertfordshire for a client who initially contracted them for a standard home. When they suggested zero-carbon, he was skeptical. "He didn't like the idea of having to pay an extra 10%. But when I showed him how much he would save in the long run, and how much more he could sell it for, he soon agreed." Thermal and energy-efficiency related payback will take four years from occupation for an average home, taking into account new feed in tariffs on eco-homes in the U.K., says Mr. Lipinski. The mansion has a solar thermal heating system that can store up to 100 kilowatt hours of heat, a rainwater harvesting system and a heat recovery ventilation system.
But others believe technological innovations have a way to go before carbon-neutral luxury becomes standard. Charles McDowell, an estate agent in central London, points out that few top interior design firms are fully briefed on sustainability codes set by LEED (an internationally recognized green building certification system) or BREEAM (a voluntary measurement rating for green buildings established in the U.K.) Alex Michelin, director of Finchatton, a high-end interior design and development company, says: "The products out there are still far behind the labeling requirements set out under LEED and BREEAM. The whole supply chain—handles, fabrics, timber suppliers, electronics—all need to sign up to these codes before designers will have the information required to make informed decisions."
Although there are products that are both aesthetically pleasing and eco-friendly, there isn't as wide a selection on offer, and some of the products are one-time items, such as Lee Broom's Decanterlights, light fixtures made from lead crystal drinks decanters sourced from antique markets. "There are still major challenges in aligning the high-technology design features sought by buyers in the luxury market with sustainability, says Mr. McDowell. "With lighting, for example, most of the low-energy lighting systems are just not up to the standard demanded in this market."
The fact that most parts must be imported from Germany and Scandinavia is slowing progress too. Shelagh McMullan, a retiree living near Dublin, had a geothermal heater dug into her garden and solar panels fixed onto her roof. The implementation was arduous. "They sent the wrong size pipe from the company in Germany. We had to return it. It added another three months onto the process during which time my garden looked like a freshly ploughed field." But she wouldn't change the results. "Around 90% of my energy comes from the earth and the sun, my bills are next to nothing and my conscience is clear."
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