World Green Building Week honours top architects and retrofitters

Green buildings often cost up to 5 percent more than traditional buildings during construction, but will reduce waste output by 70 percent, water usage by 40 percent and energy usage by 30 to 50 percent. As part of the campaign, the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) has released a new report outlining the impact of building green.

According to the United Nations Environment Programme, buildings consume between 30-40% of global energy. There is no single larger global contributor – and thereby potential reducer – of carbon than the building sector. Green buildings can also play a central role in providing affordable housing, job creation and disaster recovery, according to a new report from the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) launched today at the start of World Green Building Week. The building sector directly employs 5-10% of the workforce in most countries.

Tackling Global Climate Change, Meeting Local Priorities highlights how green buildings can play a valuable role in meeting local needs worldwide, including in areas hit by natural disasters, as well as providing the most cost-effective way of tackling climate change.

"In the past some thought we could only address environmental concerns when the going was good and that 'green' had to take a back seat to economic growth when times got challenging" notes Jane Henley, CEO of WorldGBC. "This report shows that to be a false choice. We have a growing evidence base of international examples in which homes, buildings and communities are addressing pressing local needs and reducing carbon emissions at the same time."

"Buildings are simply the most cost-effective way of reducing carbon emissions and policy-makers around the world must recognize this at the upcoming international negotiations at COP16 in Mexico," Jane Henley says.

"This is a timely message. The impact of the financial crisis is still with us, while the situation in Pakistan provides a reminder of the terrible devastation that natural disasters can cause," says Paul King, CEO of the UK Green Building Council and Chair of the WorldGBC Policy Taskforce. "The challenges facing countries around the world may vary locally, but a common theme remains – the importance of the built environment in providing communities with a high quality of life. As we also strive to radically reduce carbon emissions we can't miss these win-win opportunities – tackling global climate change and meeting local priorities."

ABOUT WORLD GREEN BUILDING WEEK:

WorldGBC and its member green building councils celebrated the inaugural World Green Building Day on September 23 2009 to raise the profile of green buildings globally in the lead up to COP15 in Copenhagen.

This year's World Green Building Week will be celebrated through a number of key activities including the launch of the WorldGBC Special Report 'Tackling Global Climate Change – Meeting Local Priorities' and a host of synchronized green building events around the world.

Green building councils in over 20 countries around the world will be hosting an event in or around this week, including:

Australia: The GBCA will be hosting a 'Green Tie' Gala Dinner on September 22, as well as encouraging members to host their own events – from site tours and debates through to green treasure hunts. For more information on the range of activities: www.gbca.org.au/world-green-building-week-2010.asp

Colombia: The Colombia Green Building Council will be holding a Green Building Seminar on September 23 with invited government representatives to increase awareness of actions necessary to support the growth of green building initiatives across the country.

South Africa: The Green Building Council of South Africa will be holding its 3rd annual Green Building Convention & Exhibition on September 20-22. Drawing on the growing energy of the African Regional Network, the GBCSA will also be holding an Africa GBC Day on September 23, bringing together developing green building councils from across the African continent.

United Kingdom: The UK Green Building Council will be holding an event at City Hall in London, with keynote speaker Mayor of London Boris Johnson.

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Green realtors gaining market share in tough US real estate market

article from Chicago Daily Herald

In a bid to stand out in a sagging housing market, an increasing number of real- state agents are marketing themselves as eco-friendly -- connecting environmentally conscious buyers to "green" homes and helping sellers make their homes more eco-sensitive.

These agents are promoting their knowledge of eco-friendly and energy-efficient properties on their Web sites and blogs. Some are taking courses to learn about things like geo-thermal heat pumps and how to help home buyers qualify for grants and tax credits for energy-saving improvements.

Yet some housing experts question whether some agents are using a cursory knowledge of green building as a marketing ploy in a tough market. "A Realtor may support (a purchase) regardless of how green the home is," says Jay Hall, acting director of the eco-friendly home-building program at the U.S. Green Building Council in Washington.

Still, there are ways to check a real estate agent's earth-friendly credentials. And for consumers who don't know much about green building or the recent proliferation of green construction labels, these brokers can be helpful, Hall says.

Many Realtors hope so. Green Key Real Estate in San Francisco asks on its site: "Wouldn't you rather work with a Realtor who shares your values in environmental and social responsibility?" and sends its agents to environmentally friendly building courses.

Last fall, Harry Norman Realtors in Atlanta had 48 Realtors certified by EcoBroker International, which educates Realtors on eco-friendly homes and marketing. Meanwhile, individual Realtors are carving "green" niches for themselves: Celeste Karan, of Keller Williams Realty in Chicago, started www.greenhomechicago.com, a site where she lists properties and promises "to help home buyers understand what truly constitutes a 'green building.' "

Such agents say their knowledge of environmentally friendly designs and materials can help clients in several ways.

First, the brokers will link interested buyers to homes that are built with eco-friendly features, like solar power and energy-efficient appliances. Even if the property is old and lacks such features, agents can walk buyers through possible retro-fits that will lower their energy bills or improve indoor air quality.

When it comes to sellers, agents can advise them on simple projects that can make the home eco-friendly, such as improving insulation or touching up the interior with nontoxic paint in a bid to attract buyers.

EcoBroker International, which offers courses for Realtors, says its program has certified more than 2,600 agents total, doubling the amount since last year. Based in Evergreen, Colo., its classes include things like how to make improvements in indoor air quality, what types of eco-friendly retro-fits will be the most cost-effective, and how to piece together the state and local tax credits or grants for "green" projects. Realtors then earn an EcoBroker designation, something concrete that agents can use as a marketing tool, says EcoBroker chief executive John Beldock.

Kermit Baker, a senior research fellow at Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies, says it's a potentially good strategy at a time when there's a glut of homes for sale.

"Anything that would make you stand out in this market would help," he says.

Existing-home sales fell 2.2 percent in December from November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.89 million units, according to the National Association of Realtors, a national trade group. The median home price was $208,400 in December, down 6 percent from a year earlier.

Hugh Morris, the community outreach representative for the National Association of Realtors, the national trade group, says pitching environmental certifications isn't the only way Realtors are trying to distinguish themselves these days. A few are marketing themselves as experts in historic properties, while one even says his specialty is homes near nature trails. Yet Morris says interest in "green" properties has surged; he now answers about five calls a week from Realtors asking how they can get eco-friendly credentials, compared with none a year ago, he says.

When Tonia Lee wanted to sell her one-bedroom live/work townhouse outside Atlanta, she turned to local EcoBroker Carson Matthews after coming across his blog online. The home, which she listed at $325,000 a few weeks ago, is part of a sustainable-development community and has many eco-friendly features, including a highly efficient heating and cooling system, energy-efficient appliances and a permeable driveway surface (which absorbs the water instead of adding to run-off).

With his blog and knowledge of the benefits of "green" building, she figured Matthews was well-positioned to sell the property.

With a regular agent, "I don't think I would get the niche buyer I am looking for," she says.

The growing number of such real-estate agents come as the building community is in the midst of defining what "green" is. In December, the U.S. Green Building Council -- a nonprofit that rates commercial buildings on things like energy use and indoor-air quality -- introduced similar rating systems for people's homes. The National Association of Homebuilders, meanwhile, is working with the International Code Council to develop a green building standard. Yet another certification is available through the federal government's Energy Star program, which requires homes to be at least 15 percent more energy efficient than those built to the 2004 residential code.

States and local building associations, too, may have their own green building programs or guidelines.

Full article continues at: 'Green realtor credentials' prove lucrative in tough market



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Deep Green Design from RFP Magazine

Deep Green Design

article from: RFPmagazine.com

Issue 33 - August 07



Creating buildings that integrate seamlessly and benignly into their local environment could pave the way for a sustainable future.

Two statistics demonstrate the impact that building design in Asia can have in the global effort to achieve environmental sustainability. Globally, buildings are estimated to account for 30 percent of energy usage and carbon emissions. At the same time, more than half of the world’s new construction is taking place in Asia. Clearly there is a huge opportunity for the industries that make up the built environment to put the right foot forward.

The question that seems to be on everybody’s lips is: “Who will take responsibility for driving this change?” Is it the developers and building owners who should take the lead, the clients and consumers who should drive the demand, or the governments who should legislate? However, designers and architects are emerging as the leaders, mainly because they are the initial creators of the buildings we use. Increasingly it appears that without their vision and expertise, even the will to change cannot create an environmentally sound building.

integrating with nature

Dr Ken Yeang, principal of Llewelyn Davies Yeang (UK) and author of numerous books on ecodesign, has long championed the concept of environmental integration through architecture. He believes that design must begin by looking at nature and imitating its properties and processes. Yeang points out how nature’s systems re-use and recycle all waste, and says that “our built environment can and should imitate ecosystems.”

This process of ecodesign, says Yeang, “is designing the built environment as a system within the natural environment.” Following this, good eco-design is that which maximizes interaction between the natural (organic) and artificial (inorganic). This is the guiding precept behind Yeang’s approach, which uses a number of architectural strategies to blend and enhance this connection, connecting the outside environment with the very structure of the building.

misperception

This approach should not be confused with the common concept of ecodesign as a technological endeavour, says Yeang. He believes strongly that “we must not be misled by the popular perception that if we assemble enough eco-gadgetry we will instantaneously have an ecological architecture.” Instead, he states, the built environment should be balanced by “incorporating greater levels of bio-mass, ameliorating bio-diversity and ecological connectivity”.

zero-energy means zero carbon emissions

Another approach that is essential in ecodesign is zero-carbon design. While this concept has often been regarded as impractical, one Indian architectural collective is offering a uniquely Asian approach that is pushing the boundaries of zero-carbon. Manit Rastogi, Principal, Morphogenesis, says that design should take sustainability in all its forms, be it environmental, social, cultural or economic. He points out that nature itself gives us much that we re-create artificially. When looking at designing, he says, “you’ve got light that’s free, wind that’s free, climatic conditions that can be used. The question is: How much do we need to moderate it and how can we moderate it? That’s the starting point for zero energy buildings. We build it bottom up from there.”

Rastogi believes that traditional Asian architecture holds the key, pointing to an evolution driven by a lack of resources to use natural, low-cost solutions. The heart of his design approach goes back to these methods, “looking at how they dealt with that development, learning the principles, then using modern computational techniques and methods to analyze for current demands”.

If a truly global change is to happen, says Rastogi, the global design community must completely re-invent how buildings are created. “The problem of architecture today,” he says, “is that it’s such a highly competitive field that even practices within themselves are not collaborative.” Over the past few years, Rastogi has traveled throughout Asia and abroad, demonstrating successful examples of his architectural approach.


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