Net zero isn’t the finish line, it’s the starting point for smarter cities

This article appeared in the July 9, 2026 issue of the monthly print edition. Subscribe now.

Net zero has become the baseline, not the finish line. As cities, developers and policymakers push to decarbonise the built environment, the conversation is now shifting towards a harder question: What does it take to move beyond net zero into cities that genuinely give back more than they take?

That tension between ambition, practicality and implementation sets the stage for the International Sustainability Week (ISW) 2026, where industry leaders are expected to confront what comes next beyond dialogues.

ISW 2026 will take place on Sept 10 and 11 at the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (Mitec) under the theme “From Certification to Transformation: Building a Net Zero Future Together”, co-organised by GreenRE Sdn Bhd and Qube Integrated Malaysia Sdn Bhd, with EdgeProp as media partner.

Future-ready cities need more than energy efficiency

“The next phase of sustainable development is about creating regenerative value rather than simply minimising impact. Ultimately, a future-ready city is not defined by how little it consumes, but by how effectively it creates value for people, businesses and the environment,” says GreenRE Sdn Bhd executive director and ISW 2026 co-organising chair Ashwin Thurairajah.

“They must provide access to mobility, green infrastructure, healthy public spaces, affordable housing and opportunities for communities to thrive,” he tells EdgeProp.

Ashwin adds energy efficiency is important, but it addresses only one part of the equation.

A future-ready city is one that integrates environmental resilience, economic competitiveness and social wellbeing into its long-term planning.

It is designed to adapt to changing climate conditions, demographic shifts, technological disruption and evolving market expectations.

“One of the most significant blind spots is the tendency to focus heavily on mitigation while underestimating adaptation and biodiversity preservation. Reducing emissions remains essential, but many cities are already experiencing the impacts of climate change through rising temperatures, extreme weather events, flooding and water-related challenges.

“Preparing for these realities must become an equal priority. Updating our building codes and development of suitable technologies to address these challenges at scale are imperative,” he states.

Arup Australia global climate and sustainability leader Joan Ko also says efficiency should not come at the expense of resilience. Some versions of efficiency are so lean that an unexpected shock might knock out vital functions.

“Our City Resilience Framework is a good articulation of what a city needs to anticipate any future conditions.

“A future-ready city is one that can learn and respond to technological disruption, geopolitical change, social value changes, pandemics and climate impacts. This adaptive capacity must include a way to understand what is happening and has happened, a way to make change happen, and sufficient robustness to give cities time to absorb change and respond,” she tells EdgeProp.

Sustainability now a business imperative

Ashwin says the industry has moved considerably beyond compliance. A decade ago, sustainability was often viewed as a niche market requirement and unimportant.

“Today, it is increasingly recognised as a business imperative. Investors are scrutinising ESG performance, financial institutions are incorporating sustainability considerations into lending decisions, and occupiers are actively seeking greener and healthier spaces,” he says.

While real estate value is assessed through location, rental returns and capital appreciation, investors are increasingly evaluating how well assets can respond to environmental risks, regulatory changes and evolving market expectations.

He points out recent electricity tariff changes, subsidy rationalisation and the energy crisis in the Middle East have put the spotlight firmly on energy efficiency to mitigate risk and lower operational costs.

The most progressive developers no longer see sustainability as a cost of doing business.

They see it as a driver of innovation, risk management and long-term value creation.

Sustainable finance has been gathering momentum in Malaysia. Bank Negara has introduced updated guidelines for lenders and insurers to classify their activities on environmental considerations.

“Financiers are providing better loan rates and higher margins for green development as they are of better quality, more resilient, and can outlast traditional assets. This in turn drives up the value of green buildings and townships.

“While there is still progress to be made, the conversation has fundamentally shifted from meeting minimum standards to future-proofing assets and creating developments that remain relevant in a rapidly changing world,” Ashwin stresses.

He acknowledges property development directly impacts natural land. Hence, coordinated planning across all stakeholders is necessary to ensure ecologically sensitive land is maintained and green corridors are designed to integrate flora and fauna within a development.

“Overdevelopment should be curbed. As part of the Paris Accord, Malaysia has pledged to retain at least 50% of land mass under forest or tree cover. Today the country is at approximately 54%,” he says.

At GreenRE, certification does not merely recognise efficient buildings, but increasingly encourages developments that deliver measurable environmental, social and economic outcomes.

Defining net zero projects and offsetting carbon deficit

Ashwin says The World Green Building Council defines a net zero building in two categories: net zero operational carbon and net zero whole life carbon.

“A net zero operational carbon building is a highly energy-efficient building that is fully powered from on-site and/or off-site renewable energy sources, and offsets any remaining embodied carbon emissions.

“This definition poses a problem for highrise buildings with limited roof area for on-site renewable energy. The use of carbon credits or RECs (Renewable Energy Certificates) for offsets should be kept in the range of 10–20% of overall emissions only,” he explains.

Hence, even if the grid electricity is carbon-free, it does not automatically qualify as net zero. The building must be highly energy-efficient. At GreenRE, this is defined as being at least 50% more efficient than prevailing building codes in order to qualify as a net zero building.

Meanwhile, a net zero whole life carbon building maximises carbon emissions reductions across the entire life cycle and compensates for any residual emissions through verified carbon removals.

“In effect, the upfront carbon to develop a project (i.e. land clearance, materials, construction and transport) is treated as the deficit that the building will need to offset over its lifecycle.

“As long as operationally, the building is performing better than prevailing building codes, the reduced emissions can be treated as verified carbon removal that can offset the ‘upfront deficit’. Operational carbon reduction over several decades is usually required to suitably offset the development carbon footprint,” Ashwin adds.

Meanwhile, the definition of a net zero township is broader: it is a highly resource-efficient development that achieves net zero greenhouse gas emissions across its operations by minimising energy demand, utilising renewable energy, reducing emissions from transport, water, waste and infrastructure systems, and compensating for any residual emissions through verified carbon removals.

“Setting a clear baseline, accurate measurement, transparent reporting and effective intervention is critical to driving an asset or township towards net zero and beyond. A supply chain of low-carbon materials, grid transition, and energy-efficient building design and operation are critical pillars towards this goal,” Ashwin states.

Bridging the gap between net zero and net positive

Ko says that while net zero remains the foundation, the industry is already working through the gaps required to move beyond it.

“There are still gaps that remain in going from zero to positive. We’re working on shared challenges like materials that sequester carbon, funding models that capture the full value of nature restoration, process loads from data centres and industry, and the trade-off between climate resilience and carbon mitigation,” she elaborates.

As a measure of optimism, the costs of achieving net zero are falling quickly, as global manufacturing capacity for key components such as solar panels, lithium-ion batteries and modular components has allowed economies of scale previously not possible.

“AI and parametric modelling are also allowing us to support property owners to rapidly test options for their layouts and services to pick the lowest carbon and most cost-effective designs,” Ko notes.

Ashwin adds: “The question is not whether net positive is achievable, but whether we can move quickly enough to create cities that remain competitive, resilient and attractive for future generations”.

Scaling resilience beyond project boundaries

Ko states Southeast Asia can leapfrog the technologies and methods that mature economies have had to grow through.

“I would suggest that Southeast Asia accelerate modular construction/modern methods of construction, such as in Japan, Singapore and China. By taking construction into a manufacturing environment, you can achieve economies of scale and environmental performance that I’d envy from here in Australia.

“These construction environments can also broaden participation in the construction value chain, including by creating more accessible pathways for women,” she says.

Ko explains all development projects include a redline boundary around a place. Governments have administrative boundaries, and developers have corporate boundaries.

“These boundary simplifications of the real world are necessary for us to efficiently achieve things like land-use planning, construction projects and sales. Challenges within these boundaries like flooding, climate-positive built form, and social licence look intractable until you look outside the boundary and into the real world.

“For an airport with a runway that floods, the cost-effective solution may be offsite and upstream in its water catchment. For a major urban development, the scaled-up supply chain solution may be a joint venture with a prefabrication facility. For a data centre developer,the socially-supported solution may be working with farming irrigators on water efficiency projects ahead of a new development.

“We all need to simplify the real world to get things done. But in the face of truly challenging situations, it’s always worth pausing and looking outside our efficiency boundaries,” she says.

Ecosystem integrity and biodiversity provide economic, social and psychological services. As an example, Australia’s National Climate Risk Assessment shows that people experience a form of grief when the natural world that they grew up with disappears in front of them.

“This loss of connection then undermines people’s trust in government, science and corporations, and therefore makes it difficult for us to ask for support on decarbonisation. To bring it back to the most fundamental reasons, we rely on nature to clean our water and air, cool our cities, feed us and protect us from disease.

“These benefits are both global and very local. Urban planning at local, regional and national levels is a critical way for us to grapple with ecological restoration at all scales,” Ko stresses.

Relevance over extensiveness: why ISW 2026 matters

ISW 2026 expands the International Green Build Conference (IGBC) — now six editions strong — into a broader regional platform bringing together IGBC and GreenScape: International Green Innovation Exhibition, targeting 1,000 participants. It is expected to feature over 20 regional and international speakers and focus on net zero cities, climate-responsive urban development, governance and standards, and data-driven sustainability delivery systems.

“Our first principle was relevance over comprehensiveness. There are many sustainability topics we could have covered. What we were more interested in was depth, making sure every session had real traction with the people in the room, whether that’s a policymaker, a developer, an engineer, or a financier,” says ISW 2026 co-organising chair Qube Integrated Malaysia special projects director Michelle Lau.

“Each brings a different definition of what ‘useful’ looks like, and getting that balance right took considerable deliberation,” she adds.

The second principle was ensuring the programme reflects the full journey from policy to delivery.

“What we pushed for was sessions that move through the entire arc, and critically, ISW is designed so that the journey doesn’t stop at the conference door. The exhibition floor is where delegates can see the technologies, solutions and certified developments that bring those discussions to life.

“That integration between the two pillars was a conscious curatorial decision, not an afterthought. Working with GreenRE kept the programme grounded. Our thematic direction is guided by their standards and certification expertise, ensuring every conversation stands up against real data and measurable outcomes rather than broad aspiration,” she states.

On the international speaker line-up, Lau says Qube’s experience building cross-border platforms has shaped its approach.

“We weren’t looking for names, but for practitioners who could speak on what implementation actually looks like across different urban, policy and market contexts.

“The conversations that move an industry are the ones grounded in real experience,” she says.

 Lau adds they were very deliberate about ensuring international perspectives were in direct dialogue with local realities.

“Kuala Lumpur is on a trajectory to becoming a megacity of over 10 million people by 2050. That’s not an abstract planning challenge.

“Sustainability is not a conversation to keep having, it’s a commitment to start acting on.

 We have the frameworks, we have the standards, and we have the technology.

“What we need now is for every person in that room to leave feeling personally accountable for the part they play. When this industry moves together with that conviction, the impact on our cities and the generations who will live in them is profound,” she states.

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