Has the economic downturn affected any projects of sustainability at Iberdrola that you have worked on recently?

Yes, the economic crisis has slowed down the development of projects with sustainable criteria. The clients are not so willing to pay more for a sustainable home because it is more difficult to get a mortgage.

How does your strengths and determination at Iberdrola help you to succeed as a company?

We focus our activities on the long term, thus we believe that we should keep investing in sustainable projects, because once the economic crisis finishes the client will be requesting this type of development.

How do you see the Spanish commercial real estate market in the close future?

During the last years, the investment of green buildings has been focused mainly in the development of company headqueaters. The cases of sustainable homes/offices have not been so common as they use to be 5 years ago.

What steps do you think should be necessarily taken on the path of sustainability in the commercial real estate sector? 

The commercial real estate sector is a difficult sector for introducing sustainable measures. In my opinion, the people that go to a commercial building are not so interested in sustainable criterias, because they are not going to spend a lot of time in the commercial building. The case is completely different if we speak about offices and homes, because the users spend a lot of time in these buildings and therefore, it is important for them to get  a better environment.

How can you improve energy efficiency in the real estate sector?

Through the use of economic incentives ( increase of the maximum constructed square meters allowed for a site) and policies that define minimum levels. The focus on marketing/information campaigns to stakeholders highlighting the advantages of sustainable buildings is also crucial to increase final users demand.