Buildings are responsible for more than 40% of global CO₂ emissions. This is why sustainability has ceased to be an ornament of real estate discourse and has become a structural criterion of asset value.
Transversal commitment
At OneMark Properties, sustainability is not a department, not a label affixed at the end of a project, and not a marketing argument. It is a structural decision present from the very first sheet of paper — in the choice of land, the orientation of the building, the selection of materials, the design of systems, the way we industrialise construction, and the way we consider the asset's useful life across the next fifty to one hundred years.
This position is not merely an ethical pillar of social responsibility. It is also a differentiating factor for the appreciation of real estate assets in the medium and long term. Institutional investors, informed international buyers, and the next generation of Portuguese owners all ask the same three questions today: will the asset hold or grow in value, will it be healthy and comfortable for those who inhabit it, and will it be protected from the regulatory changes on the horizon? Our answers must be concrete — and they are.
European framework
The dates that follow are neither prospective nor speculative. They are set out in European directives already adopted, with a defined transposition schedule for each Member State. Real estate projects designed today will still be standing in 2050, 2070, and beyond: either they were designed with that horizon in mind, or they will be costly to adapt.
In 2026, each Member State must transpose the recast Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) into national law. In 2027, minimum energy performance standards come into force: buildings below the threshold lose the ability to be leased to certain tenant profiles. In 2030, all new buildings in the European Union must be Zero-Emission Buildings — with no significant operational emissions. In 2050, the European economy, including the building sector, must reach carbon neutrality.
France has moved ahead of the curve: since 2023, all new French public buildings must incorporate at least 50% wood. It is a clear signal of the path that all of Europe will travel over the next twenty years.
OneMark designs each project for the 2050 regulatory framework, not merely for the one in force in 2026. This is the difference between an asset that holds its value and an asset that will need to be retrofitted by regulatory imposition within ten years.
Building carbon
A building emits carbon at two distinct moments, and understanding this distinction is the key to understanding everything else.
The solution does not lie in reducing only one of the two moments. It lies in reducing both simultaneously, in an integrated manner. This is exactly what distinguishes the OneMark approach from a conventional approach in which one builds first and tries to compensate later.
This is the carbon released into the atmosphere when the building is constructed: cement manufacturing, brick manufacturing, steel manufacturing, transportation, assembly. Cement alone accounts for 7 to 8% of global CO₂ emissions — more than all of global aviation. Reducing embodied carbon means rethinking materials, processes, and the supply chain.
This is the carbon the building emits across its useful life — typically fifty to one hundred years — through climate control, lighting, hot water, and appliances. It depends entirely on how the building was designed and the type of energy it consumes.
OneMark approach
The structural principles translate into concrete technical choices, applied consistently across all our projects — from the Signature Living segment to Curated Living and the KO-DA Smart Living Lofts.
We work towards BREEAM, LEED, and WELL certifications in the highest categories, complemented by national A+ energy certification. Our approach is also aligned with the criteria of the European Taxonomy, the reference used by banks and institutional investors to classify investments as sustainable. Building sustainability reports may be made available during due diligence processes, and the figures — energy class, emissions per square metre, annual consumption — are calculated, certified, and verifiable.
There is no room for greenwashing. There are public criteria, external auditors, and certified figures.
Value driver
OneMark Properties has built its value proposition around the conviction that sustainability — when integrated from the start, not added at the end — is simultaneously the right thing to do and the soundest financial decision. A building designed for the 2050 regulatory framework is an asset protected from the risk of obsolescence. An A+ class building, fully electrified and with its own energy generation, offers reduced operating costs across its useful life. A building certified by independent bodies is a liquid asset on international markets.
Our commitment is to translate all of this into projects distinguished by design, spatial intelligence, comfort, and the durability of the values they represent. Buildings built to last — in quality, in value, and in identity.