The Green Building Council of Australia’s close association in assisting China to establish its own green building council will have lasting benefits for both countries long into the future writes Tony Arnel.

The process of collaboration and cooperation involved in the formation of the China Green Building Council (CGBC) captures the essence of the Green Building Council movement. The Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA), acting on behalf of the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC), is mentoring the CGBC through to full WorldGBC membership. This is the role that established green building councils around the world play to assist countries form the machinery of a council to move to “emerging” and eventually “established” council status.

The WorldGBC is an international coalition representing the global construction industry. It is committed to providing leadership in transforming the built environment towards sustainability. Through its member nations, which represent 50 percent of global construction activity, the WorldGBC provides an international forum and champions proven tools that significantly accelerate market transformation from traditional, inefficient building practices, to a new, high performance generation. Through education and transformation of skills and knowledge, it assists countries to realise their own commitments to reduce carbon emissions and redress other environmental impacts.

COOPERATION AND COMMITMENT

As momentum has grown in China for the establishment of a green building council, the GBCA has reached out to this regional neighbour and strong trading partner, with a number of initiatives to assist the dedicated group behind the dream. These include Australia’s international aid agency AusAID which, in September 2009, sponsored the attendance of two representatives from China at a two-week Asia Pacific Green Building Leadership Forum in Australia designed to accelerate the uptake of green buildings in the Asia Pacific Region, and the attendance of Professor Wang Youwei, Founder and Chair of the CGBC, at the 2008 World Sustainable Building Conference, SB08, in Melbourne.

Professor Wang spoke of aspirations within China for the formation of a green building council and the steps that were already being taken towards that goal.

In addition, the GBCA has organised two missions from Australia to China with the key purpose of sharing green building ideas and the experience of members with China’s green building leaders and others with an interest in reducing the carbon footprint of buildings in China.

These activities have allowed Australian green building experts to see first hand what is happening in China and to provide advice and information as required. The expectation for the future is that there will be many more such missions and information exchanges at events such as GBCA and CGBC conferences in the coming year.

BENEFITS FOR AUSTRALIA AND CHINA

The GBCA obviously has much to offer and can provide inspiration for the CGBC members. Only formed in 2002, the GBCA has grown to 785 members, more than 220 Green Star certified buildings and more than 460 registered for Green Star. A number of GBCA members have been working in China for many years, in partnership with local firms, or contracting or consulting to local Chinese or international firms in the building and construction and infrastructure industries.

These GBCA members include development and construction company Grocon, carpet tile specialist InterfaceFLOR, decorative surface manufacturer Laminex Group, consulting engineers GHD, design and construction project managers Hooker Cockram and architects Woods Bagot and Hassell.

Their knowledge is invaluable in assisting the GBCA to provide support and advice to the CGBC. China and Australia are strong trading partners, with long-established relationships on a number of government, commercial and individual levels.

China is the most rapidly urbanising country in the most rapidly urbanising region in the world – Asia. As such, it presents commercial opportunities and opportunities for Australia to provide assistance and mentorship in many areas, including sustainable building.

In fact, Australia unquestionably has two intents in its engagement with China, particularly on green building: to participate in the great economic opportunities as China urbanises, advances its technological capabilities and the wellbeing of its people; and to help China find a sustainable pathway forward as it participates as a true leader in the global economy.

Australia has strong green building expertise and experience – in both domestic and commercial buildings – and therefore has much to offer the CGBC and China in the period ahead.

ASIA PACIFIC NETWORK

The WorldGBC’s regional program is intended to assist countries worldwide to realise their own commitments to reduce carbon emissions and to redress other environmental impacts. In a first significant step towards this goal, the World GBC recently launched the Asia Pacific Network, through the GBCA. The CGBC will have an important role to play in this initiative in association with the WorldGBC with the GBCA.

The Asia Pacific is an epi-centre of urban growth worldwide as well being home to many nations that are highly vulnerable to increasingly severe weather events and rising sea levels resulting from climate change.

The GBCA looks forward to working in partnership with the CGBC as it evolves, to assist and encourage many of these regional nations to prepare for, and respond to, the predicted and already unfolding impacts of climate change.

There is much work to do in our region alone, but in the spirit of green building councils, the GBCA is confident that working with the CBCA and other regional green building councils, we can secure a long-term future for not only the people of this region but for the entire globe. ■

*Tony Arnel is the Chair of the Green Building Council of Australia and Chair, World Green Building Council. Tony will be speaking at the Sixth International Conference on Green and Energy-Efficient Building and New Technologies and Products Expo in Beijing on March 29. For more information visit www.chinagb.net

**The CGBC remains in its formative stage and is currently an “Associated Group” to the WorldGBC. For more information on the China Green Building Council visit the WorldGBC’s website: www.worldgbc.org