Carmen Esther Falcón Pérez, Professor of Financial Economics and Accounting at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC), has published an article on the outreach platform The Conversation titled “What if you paid less tax for installing a garden on your building?”, in which she reflects on possible incentives that could encourage homeowners’ associations to adopt sustainable solutions in their buildings.
These Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) are described as “a key strategy to strengthen urban resilience, improve people’s health and well-being, and protect the environment” in response to the degradation of cities. Among them, she highlights “green roofs and façades,” which help “thermally insulate buildings, manage rainwater, absorb carbon from the atmosphere, and improve urban temperatures by reducing the heat island effect.”
Public administrations, both at the national and European levels, as well as financial institutions, are already promoting specific projects in this direction; therefore, it is necessary to “design mechanisms that encourage the incorporation of green infrastructure in urban environments.”
The author refers to a recent study in which she develops “a new model of environmental tax incentives based on reductions in the Property Tax (IBI) for homeowners’ associations that install and maintain green infrastructure in private buildings,” a proposal that requires the support and participation of both citizens and local administrations.
Under this model, “legal and economic urban benefits are granted to homeowners’ associations that install green roofs or vertical gardens. This represents an incentive proportional to the green surface created and to the investment made by each resident.” As an example, she notes that “if green infrastructure is incorporated into 50% of the common areas of buildings, the property tax (IBI) corresponding to each resident could be reduced by 50%.”
The aim is not to increase building density but rather to prioritize “the integration of green infrastructure over the traditional gray infrastructure model common in many cities.” In this framework, local governments—being the closest level of administration—would be responsible for “implementing the proposed model and acting as guarantors (…) carrying out periodic inspections to ensure that installations are properly maintained and withdrawing tax benefits when this is not the case,” while homeowners’ associations would bear “the costs of installation, maintenance, and conservation.”
Falcón Pérez concludes by emphasizing that “green roofs and façades provide environmental benefits to the entire neighborhood” and that cities should recognize and compensate “those who contribute to a healthier and more sustainable urban environment.”
The Conversation Spain is the leading platform for disseminating knowledge generated by universities. The ULPGC joined the platform in February 2020, following the initiative promoted by the Conference of Spanish Universities (CRUE). ULPGC researchers have published more than 270 articles on this platform. The Conversation also has editions in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Indonesia, and Africa, in addition to the Spanish edition.