Portafolio Inmobiliario: “Building a city links you with many social issues”

Build more productive cities in terms of air, water, flora, fauna and carbon sequestration, as well as more equitable and inclusive cities.

That is the objective of the 2020 – 2024 Sustainability Strategy of the Real Estate Portfolio company. It is a guide developed by the same company after consulting the sectors linked to the activity and whose advances were presented this Friday, August 28.

"The challenge we have is that we impact so many fields, on so many edges," said the sustainability manager of the Real Estate Portfolio, Daniel Villafranca, in an interview with El Observador.

The executive director of Real Estate Portfolio, Alfredo Volio, told the media that the task of "putting people at the center" of decision-making has been imposed, which allows them to reduce their negative impact and improve life. of those who are related to the project: more than 700 collaborators and the communities.

He added that this strategy "will not make it last for years to come."

Four Axis

The strategy includes four lines of action.

The first of them is called Collective Empathy. Within this category, for example, they have taken a census of the economic situation of their workers and by 2022 they hope to complete the x-ray of all the collaborators.

The goal is to retain talent and develop actions based on data to enable their growth.

The Circular Operation is the second axis and has to do with a better use of resources and waste. This allowed that during the construction of the Universal Tower, located on the south side of the La Sabana Metropolitan Park, 80% of the waste did not reach the landfills.

The installation of solar panels has allowed the production of 1,706,820 kilowatt-hours and its composting plan 6,478 kilograms of processed organic material.

A plan is also being worked on in Avenida Escazú so that, together with the restaurants, a local garden is created from where they take the products that they will use in their menus. The production process adheres to parameters to reduce the impact of agriculture on the environment.

Axis three is related to Eco-instruction and the use of sustainable and certified materials. While the fourth, and last, with Governance and Communication, that is, making alliances and generating value chains, betting on transparency and business ethics.

"We have a strategy with four axes that allows us to address all issues with the same intensity," added Villafranca.

Improving the quality of life: a topic for everyone

For the sustainability manager of the Real Estate Portfolio, it is time for the different social actors to take part in the problems that afflict the country. Ask yourself what its impact is and how you can correct it.

"Improving the quality of life can no longer be a government or municipal issue, it is everyone's issue," he said.

He added that the “narrative” of blaming the other must be changed, without first taking internal action.

On the other hand, he recommended that the actions carried out by people, companies, institutions and any other social actor should be measured, in order to determine if they are really generating the change towards more productive, equitable and inclusive cities as proposed by the Real Estate Portfolio.