The concrete used in the construction of buildings accounts for a significant proportion of the carbon dioxide released into the earth's atmosphere. Not only are huge amounts of CO2 created during production, the emissions continue long after it has been laid.

Robert Jenkin, the managing director of developer Bulgarian Dreams, reports that the amount of CO2 produced in the development of Windows to Paradise in Balchik on Bulgaria's Black Sea Coast, amounted to 24,000 tonnes.

“The amount is quite typical of new buildings,” he says. “Just imagine the carbon dioxide released in, say, Dubai. At Windows to Paradise we had an audit undertaken by The CarbonNeutral Company, and have offset our construction emissions, which have helped build a hydro power station in the Pirin Mountains in Bulgaria.”

The second hydro scheme being undertaken by The CarbonNeutral Company in Bulgaria, the project uses ‘run of river' technology, which negates the need for dams that can have a negative environmental impact. The project will reduce the amount of coal, gas and oil needed to produce electricity, offsetting approximately 11,000 tonnes of CO2 annually.

“Offsetting construction emissions is a real and significant cost to the developer, not to the future users, which is why it is so rarely done,” says Jenkin. “Even so, at Windows to Paradise it amounted to less than 0.5% of the purchase price, which is not significant.

“Call me cynical but when a developer doesn't offset the construction emissions but then claims to be green because of some energy saving glass or similar, I tend not to agree. All initiatives tend to be seen in the same light and with equal weight but the fact is that if the emissions from construction aren't offset then the rest is insignificant.”