Roughly 39% of the world’s total carbon emissions can be traced back to the built environment and the construction industry, with the average American home emitting 8.3 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually, according to Forbes. That number is even higher for luxury homes and mansions with upwards of 5,000-square-feet, but new building initiatives seek to address and cut down real estate’s carbon footprint by offering financing tools and blueprints for future green builders.
From the 14,429-square-foot Zero One Malibu home featuring net zero construction and carbon sequestration technology to the low-carbon, Passive House-designed Catskill Project in New York, greener and more sustainable luxury builds pave the way for low carbon housing at every end of the market.
Many efforts to address carbon emissions have thus far stressed reductions in energy use. But developers and builders have now swung toward a new focus. They are starting to examine and address the greenhouse gases spewed during the manufacture, transport and disposition of building materials. Luxury home initiatives focused on this objective include the Zero One home at MariSol Malibu, The Catskill Project in New York’s Catskill Mountains and 3903 Legation Street NW in Washington, D.C.
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