We’ve all heard of greenwashing - when a company or product conveys the impression of being environmentally friendly and sustainable when in reality they aren’t. Greenwashing is a harmful marketing tactic because it misleads consumers who have the intention of making sustainable choices (i.e., being part of the solution, not part of the problem) and ultimately hinders progress towards sustainability targets - both personal targets and broader ones. 

Would it surprise you to know that greenwashing is also prevalent in the built environment industry? If you’ve been to a real estate or construction event or conference in the past decade, you’ve noticed that every product, every company, every service is more and more touting their environmental benefits. And while the industry is moving in the direction of being more sustainable, there’s still a long way to go and progress is far too slow for such an impactful industry. How truly sustainable can the industry be when the operation of buildings is still responsible for 30% of global energy-consumption and 27% of energy-related CO2 emissions? 

It is frustrating that in the built environment industry many claims of sustainability in buildings are still vague at best and haven’t been proven in the real world, i.e., measured against a baseline with proper scientific rigor. A good example of this is the so-called energy performance gap in buildings - where the energy consumption that was predicted during the building’s design differs from the actual energy use when the building is in operation - often that the energy use in operation is much higher than predicted in design. If there is no proof of sustainability gains to match the claims, that’s textbook greenwashing.

“Smartwashing”

Making buildings more sustainable (and actually quantifying the sustainability impacts) during the operation phase can, in large part, be addressed with smart building solutions. However, “smartwashing” is also becoming a trend in the industry. Smart technologies in buildings, when implemented correctly, can have a significant benefit on the social, environmental and economic impacts of a building. This is why there is a trend towards increasing claims of “smartness” from many actors in the built environment industry. Smart is a buzzword right now and many companies are claiming that they, their products, their services are “smart” with no proof and, in fact, no standard definition of “smart” in the industry to determine what is truly smart and what is not.