Óbuda was one of the first companies in Hungary to establish a dedicated green consultancy business 15 years ago, embedded within the architectural and engineering firm. Kovács was there from the start.
On the back of a very hot and dry summer, how can our buildings and cities prepare for droughts, heatwaves, and other weather extremes? The good news is that, from Kovács’s perspective, we already know what to do and have the answers to hand.
“Basically, I think the engineering know-how already exists in our professional community, and has for a long time. It is just that this challenge wasn’t taken really seriously,” he says. “Let me give you an example. BREEAM is the most widespread certification system, at least in Hungary and Europe, and it has included a set of requirements called adaptation to climate change since 2016, so for 10 years.”
That begs an obvious question. If adapting to climate change was already a certification issue a decade ago, why hasn’t uptake come sooner or been broader?
“Beyond the deaf ears of the financiers and developers and politicians, apparently, the earlier warnings were not loud enough.” Kovács believes the scientific community was unable to express the risks in a quantifiable and understandable manner.
“Mother Nature has done it instead. After this summer, I think climate change doesn’t need to be explained anymore. It has been a perfect simulation of what an average summer will look like in the 2040s.”
Kovács makes the point that, even if the vast majority now accepts the broad principles of a warming planet, the specific details of what that will mean are less certain. But that doesn’t mean they can’t be mitigated against.
“We just need to take it seriously, embed it into the project development processes, and use the tools we already have,” he says. “The big question I think right now is not will we exceed 1.5°C of warming, but by how much?”
That matters because, as Kovács puts it, “the difference between a 2°C rise and 4°C is like the difference between our current living standards and the world of Mad Max. And it is a realistic scenario that we could reach plus 4°C by the end of this century.”
While that dystopian future sounds worrying, Kovács insists it is avoidable. “I think that the idea of a green building has played an exceptional role in quantifying this super complex concept of environmental footprint, sustainability, and the quality of the built environment, and I still believe that it remains an important benchmark,” he says.
“What has changed in the past one or two decades is that our knowledge about embodied carbon, climate resilience, rainwater runoff, or the physical aspects of green buildings has increased a lot. We can make more data-driven decisions because the data exists, because we clearly understand some of the consequences. In my view, the green building as a simple quality benchmark will remain and should remain.”
Kovács says one of his biggest grounds for optimism is the mindset changes visible among all stakeholders. Urban-scale planning is making something of a comeback. He cites the secretary of the jury of the European Prize for Urban Public Space, who is convinced that projects that won a decade ago would not make the shortlist now.
And while there is still work to do, the real estate industry is beginning to think in terms of building lifecycles.
“If we find a way, if we find tools such as ESG ratings to internalize these factors, to make motivations for life cycle optimized decisions, then these decisions will be better from an environmental and sustainable performance point of view,” Kovács says.
“Take the extreme weather conditions. I’m pretty positive, knowing my industry, that resilience will become part of the valuation and the insurance costs very soon. From that point onwards, building an adaptive, resilient building will not be seen as an extra cost. It will be a saving on the insurance, or an investment in the future to allow the asset to retain its value for a longer period. Since the impacts of climate change are materializing now, I think the economic solution will come very soon,” Kovács believes.
“In terms of the industry, we are absolutely ready to deliver resilient, adaptable, efficient, and smarter buildings. I can say this as a professional with connections across almost the entire value chain, from project preparation to building design and construction. I think the knowledge is ready,” he says.
“I am a board member of the sustainability section of ÉVOSZ (the National Federation of Hungarian Building Contractors), and we have jointly proposed a standard for all new public buildings exceeding a certain investment value to meet at least BREEAM ‘Excellent,’ or an equivalent green rating certification, for the public building sector to set an example and, in some aspects, catch up with commercial buildings. We believe that this is doable, and we are happy to meet any new challenges or tasks created by a fresh regulatory or financing framework,” Kovács argues.
One area where he definitely sees there is more work to do is in ensuring a fair distribution of the cost burden across the value chain. As extreme weather costs increasingly affect financing, insurance and asset values, the question is how they should be shared between individual projects and society, rather than simply treated as force majeure.
“Basically, there are no more low-hanging fruits. Most new buildings are already built according to some level of green building standard. You cannot imagine a new building without a heat pump or some level of solar energy production. But optimizing the sustainability performance of our built environment, be it an existing building or a new build, is a very complex, multi-variable challenge for architects and engineers,” he says.
“It requires not only technical expertise, but that we discuss broadening our view of the concept of life cycle cost, long-term valuation, maintenance, and operational aspects. This calls for a very multidisciplinary approach and, since the value chain is highly fragmented, I believe that it also calls for integrated solutions,” Kovács articulates.
“That’s what we do. Óbuda was one of the first companies to set up a green consultancy service, but it was never isolated. It has always been part of a community of hundreds of professionals, architects, quantity surveyors, and project managers. We have always believed that sustainability cannot be just a cherry on top, or a standalone issue we need to tackle separately.
Sustainable thinking and sustainable development need to be embedded in the entire project development process, from early concept through post-construction and maintenance. I think this is the biggest challenge for the professional community: to become more multidisciplinary-oriented and incorporate a stronger understanding of building economics into the way we approach projects. We need to be sensitive to very different issues, from architectural quality through runoff to sustainable mobility, and it all needs to become much more holistic.
This article was first published in the Budapest Business Journal print issue of September 18, 2026.
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