The Solution

For Dr Sunita Purushottam, Head of Sustainability at Mahindra Lifespaces, the answer is to follow the science as she works to help her company achieve carbon neutrality by 2040. That’s why Mahindra Group, has signed up to the global Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).³ And, according to Dr Purushottam, it’s helped the business be more ambitious in what it can achieve on its decarbonisation journey.

It’s something we’ve been working on for a long time. Since 2014, our entire portfolio spanning residential and industrial projects across India has been green certified – covering the building products themselves as well as the construction. And in 2018, Mahindra Group committed to achieving carbon neutrality across all its companies by 2040.

This all feeds back into our sustainability framework and our philosophy that we aim to give back more than we take. We have used that as our guide to fulfilling our mission of transforming urban landscapes by creating sustainable communities. As we build financial capital, we can’t do it at the cost of the planet. Therefore, we work to build ecological, social, and human capital.

I think it’s imperative that we rev up our engines and sign up to even more ambitious sustainability goals that push us to create better products for a better world.

When working towards carbon neutrality, you really have to reduce your absolute emissions. And SBTi is the mechanism that tells you, according to the science, how to keep your emissions on track. Using this route means we know that the science behind it is robust, and our targets are credible. It introduces an extra level of rigour that helps to shape your actions.

For us, the SBTi has affirmed our approach to decarbonisation. One example I would give is around building materials and the role they play in helping us to meet our sustainable development goals. We already have a green supply chain management policy in place, which includes a commitment to sourcing materials from within a 400km radius.

We try to source more than 40% of our building materials from this area wherever possible. We’re also always on the look-out for alternative and recycled materials – and we’ve even been able to innovate with plastic reuse in one of our projects, granulating the plastic and creating a road out of those granules.

All these elements help us to reduce our waste and emissions, from material creation to transportation. And vital to achieving this is how we aim to work only with third parties and contractors who also place sustainability at the heart of their operations. We have also partnered with a leading research institute that specializes in the fields of energy, environment and sustainable development, to develop open-source green building solutions tailored to Indian climate and use conditions.

This isn’t the only digital technology we’ve brought into our operations either. We are currently investigating how smart technology and AI can monitor energy and water management behaviour, enabling site teams to better understand consumption demands and make sustainable interventions accordingly.

We’re also carrying out experiments with building materials – such as reflective paints – to reduce energy demand and conducting sky-modelling research to understand the impact of natural light on a building. It’s all part of exploring new routes to decarbonisation through digitalisation. Very recently, we also became the first real estate company in India to adopt ‘stay-in-place formwork’ and holographic computing in a large-scale residential development. These technologies herald a new approach to construction; help reduce embodied carbon by cutting down on consumption of resources like sand and water; and lend themselves to alternative building materials such as plastic waste, glass fibres and electronic waste.

There’s still plenty of work to do before we reach our goal of carbon neutrality. For example, we need to keep educating our consumers as they will play a huge role in reducing consumption and demand.

So, one of the things we’re trying to do is really raise consumer awareness of the benefits of green buildings. And we believe the way to do that is to demonstrate the tangible benefits from a user perspective. With each project, we try to communicate the positive effects of our sustainability interventions on maintenance costs or utility bills. We still have some way to go, though. If you ask people what green homes are, many will likely think of a large site with lots of gardens!

I am hopeful for the future though. The conversations around sustainability have changed hugely over the last 20 years and we’ll continue to keep moving in a positive direction. We might still have a long journey ahead, but I’m confident we’ll achieve carbon neutrality with our science-based targets providing the foundation for our innovation.

¹ _{https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/urbandevelopment/overview#1}
² _{https://www.icis.com/explore/resources/news/2020/09/11/10551509/global-construction-sector-to-grow-35-to-2030-on-urbanisation-softer-pandemic-impact}
³ _{https://sciencebasedtargets.org/}
⁴ _{https://www.icis.com/explore/resources/news/2020/09/11/10551509/global-construction-sector-to-grow-35-to-2030-on-urbanisation-softer-pandemic-impact}
⁵ _{https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/11/02/2118265/0/en/Global-Green-Building-Materials-Market-to-Reach-425-4-Billion-by-2027.html}
⁶ _{https://www.mahindra.com/riseforgood/rejuvenating-the-planet/how-green-is-your-home}
⁷ _{https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/11/02/2118265/0/en/Global-Green-Building-Materials-Market-to-Reach-425-4-Billion-by-2027.html}