Modern Vision for a New China in One World Trade Center

China Center New York unveiled its high-profile interior concept design, "Folding Garden" for its future home at One World Trade Center. Once in place, the vertical Chinese garden folding through 64th to 69th floors provides an extraordinary space for Chinese and U.S. business leaders to build relationships and provides a dramatic showcase for the rise of modern China.

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"The China Center Space will boldly combine culture and business," said Weng Ling, the art director. "It is both aesthetic and functional."

As a leader in green development, Mr. Feng Lun has pledged to build China Center as a LEED platinum space, the highest standard for green interior design as established by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

China Center New York LLC is the unequivocal platform for China-U.S. business and cultural exchange. In 2009, it became the first corporate tenant for the iconic redeveloped One World Trade Center tower and set to move in 1 WTC in 2014.

Source: Digital Journal, 2011-04-14, Link

Green Building Congress To Be Held In Shanghai

Asia Eco Green Building Congress 2010 will be held on May 12th-14th at Renaissance Hotel Shanghai, China.


This is one of the most high-level summits concerning green building communities across Asia. Inspired by the great success of inaugural Asia Eco Green Building Congress 2009, It will be held for the second time in Shanghai. This congress includes one day pre-conference workshop and two full day conference. This event is endorsed by Building & Construction Authority, HK Green Building Council, HK-BEAM, Hong Kong Association of Energy Service Companies (HAESCO), World Association of Chinese Architects (WACA), India Green Building Council, China Green Building Council, as well as great support from Dongtan Consulting, and Econet.


Asia Eco Green Building Congress 2010 will focus on the sustainable strategy and practice of global buildings' construction and maintenance, including government's latest legislation on green buildings, various rating systems of green building around the world and their standards, real case study sharing on LEED Platinum projects, finding the green value-the green innovation road to environmental sustainability, the ROI of green building investment, design for the climate-how to engineer buildings respond to their environment, green community and eco-cities (Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city and Dongtan Eco-city), sustainable building technologies and green building materials.etc

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Source: Chinanewswire, 2010-02-05, Link

China Green Building Events Run With Success

Running from December 10-11 Noppen's China Advanced Green Building Summit 2009, organized in conjunction with Shanghai Green Ecosystem Building & Living Environment, Science-Technology Expansion Centre in Shanghai, focused on cost, energy and environmental solutions in buildings in an attempt to increase the country's uptake of green building solutions.
Currently, developers in China are hesitant to pursue green building due to common misconceptions that the market is not mature enough and that the cost of green building is higher and green building initiatives lack government support. These false impressions are a result of a lack of awareness in the country, which is a problem the two day event was aimed at solving.

The summit brought together green building project developers, investors, bankers, customers, and technology solution providers to share best practice methods for green building construction. Low cost and financial benefits were demonstrated through case studies on a global scale, including some examples from China itself.

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Source: PV-Tech, 2009-12-21, Link

Eco friendly building opened in Dezhou, Shangdong

China may have a reputation for emitting huge amounts of harmful carbon gases, but the country is also considered as a global leader in renewable energy technology.

The East Asian country has built some of the world’s most impressive green infrastructures, including the recently opened building in Dezhou, Shangdong.

The building, located in the northwest part of China, will serve as the main venue for the 4th World Solar City Congress. The green building has a sun-dial design and a total land area of 75,000sqm. It features a hotel, exhibition centres, and facilities for scientific research, meetings and trainings.

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Source: Electric, 2009-12-18, Link

Pratt & Whitney Shanghai Engine Center to Achieve LEED(R) Platinum

The Shanghai Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Engine Maintenance Co., Ltd (Shanghai Engine Center), a joint venture between China Eastern Airlines and Pratt & Whitney, has become the first facility in China and the 21(st) outside the United States to be awarded Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED(®)) Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. Pratt & Whitney is a United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) company.

"We are honored to be recognized as the first LEED(®) Platinum facility in China - the first also for Pratt & Whitney and United Technologies Corp.," said Todd Kallman, president of Commercial Engines and Global Services for Pratt & Whitney and Vice Chairman, Board of Directors for the Shanghai Engine Center. "Pratt & Whitney offers a complete range of products and services that are environmentally friendly from commercial engines, such as the PurePower® PW1000G, to EcoPower(® )engine wash service and now our LEED(®) Platinum facility that houses CFM56(®) engine repairs."

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Source: PR Newswire, 2009-12-09, Link

Green Building to Help China Reduce CO2 Emission

"As entrepreneurs, we are very glad to see the Chinese government made a strong commitment to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions and we fully support the decision," said Wang Shi, Chairman of China Vanke Co. Ltd. - the biggest real estate company in China.

He made the remarks Saturday in an exclusive interview with Xinhua on board the Climate Express from Brussels to Copenhagen where the UN climate change conference is set to begin Monday.

The Climate Express, which was be powered by 100 percent renewable energy as part of the Train to Copenhagen campaign organized by the International Union of Railways, took on board more than 400 climate change negotiators, campaigners and other high-profile personalities going to Copenhagen.

"As a member of the Chinese civil society, I hope the voice of Chinese people can be heard by the world during the conference," Wang said as he explained the purpose of the trip to Copenhagen.

Wang is among several Chinese entrepreneurs, members of NOGs and environmentalists who were invited by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to take the Climate Express to the Danish capital.

Wang, who also chairs Society of Entrepreneurs and Ecology, an environmental NGO in China, said his company has been increasing investment in "Green Building", which he said will contribute to the realization of China's emission reduction target.

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Source: Xinhuanet, 2009-12-06, Link

Carrier Strengthens Building Automation Presence in China with JV

Carrier Corporation continues to expand its sustainable building solutions and services in Chinaby signing a joint venture agreement with Sinostride Technology Co., Ltd., aleading Extra Low Voltage (ELV) contractor in East China serving the buildingautomation market. Carrier Corp. is a unit of United Technologies Corp.

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As a total green building solutions provider dedicated to sustainability, Carrier has expanded its service scope from traditional air conditioningequipment and building automation systems to comprehensive green building andenergy management services for both new and existing buildings.

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Source: Reuters, 2009-10-29, Link

Asia Enjoys The Highest Growth In Green Building Market

Indian and Chinese building sectors are the major growth drivers in this region. The Chinese building market is chiefly driven by demand for commercial building space. The commercial office buildings with an area between 100,000 and 150,000 square meters and residential developments spanning across more than 500,000 square meters of construction area will be in demand in China over the next 15 years. A growing market combined with favorable government policies mark the Asia-Pacific region as the next growth driver for the global green building industry in the coming years.

Green buildings help to reduce carbon dioxide emissions through low consumption of energy. The global carbon offset trading market stood at around US $100 billion in 2008. Globally, buildings account for 39% of total energy usage and 38% of the carbon dioxide emissions. Green buildings use 30% lesser energy than the conventional buildings and thus help to reduce CO2 emissions. Reduction of each ton of CO2 will lead to generation of one Certified Emission Reduction (CER) valued at around US $16 in the United States and around US $22 in Europe.

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Source: PR Log, 2009-10-21, Link

Tower Under Construction In China Could Lead Way In Green Building Technology

BBC environment analyst Roger Harrabin reports on the tower block under construction in China which could lead the way in green building technology.

Rising high through the polluted air of Guangzhou City in southern China is a 71-storey tower block which, according to its designers, will be the most energy-efficient in the world.
Among a host of features designed either to make or save energy, the one that caught my eye was the shape of the Pearl River Tower itself.

It is built in a curve, facing the prevailing winds. And it has been deliberately sculpted to increase the speed of that wind and force it through slots in the building where wind turbines will be located.

Now, on many buildings, wind turbines are a waste of space because there's so much turbulence in cities. I heard an apocryphal story about a Japanese firm that installed a turbine which needed electric power to keep it turning to save the face of its would-be-green owners.

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Source: BBC News, 2009-10-21, Link

Australia Looks to Capture Green Opportunities in China

Australian building companies are set to benefit from China’s commitment to a sustainable future with a new agreement with China on sustainable urban development in Hunan Province.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) will today be signed by Austrade’s Regional Director for North East Asia Laurie Smith and the Mayor of the Changsha Municipal Government Mr Jianfei Zhang.

Birthplace of Chairman Mao, Changsha is the capital of Hunan province in rapidly developing interior China, and is set to link up with two neighbouring cities Zhujiang and Xiangtan to form an urban centre of 13 million.

Austrade’s Regional Director for North East Asia said that it is in inland cities – or tier 2 cities – like Changsha where Austrade sees strong potential for Australian companies to deliver green building expertise.

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Source: The Gov Monitor, 2009-10-15, Link

BCG and NRDC Release New Report on Green Buildings and Sustainable Growth

Improving Building Energy Efficiency by 2015 Could Cut China’s Energy Use by 170 Billion kWh and Reduce CO2 Emissions by 170 Million Tonnes Annually According To A New Joint Report by The Boston Consulting Group and The Natural Resources Defense Council

BCG and NRDC Provide Suggestions On How Government, Building Developers, Commercial Building Tenants, Media and Other Organizations Can Help Improve China’s Environment by Improving Building Efficiency

Improving the energy efficiency of China’ s buildings can help achieve sustainable urbanization and economic growth according to a new report jointly published today by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

In From Gray to Green: How Energy-Efficient Buildings Can Help Make China’s Rapid Urbanization Sustainable (Chinese version available now, English version coming soon), the authors set out the case for improving building efficiency, including estimated potentials of benefits. They also identify the key stakeholder groups in China and suggest actions for each group.

“What is not commonly understood is that building operational use accounts for around 25% of China’s total energy consumption”, said Justin Fung, co-author of the report and a Project Leader in BCG’s Hong Kong office. “That is more energy than China’s cement, iron and steel sectors combined. And if you include energy used for manufacturing and transporting building materials and products, China’s buildings consume 30-40% of the country’s total energy.”

As China’s middle class continues to grow and the population continues to urbanize, the energy consumption of buildings will continue to increase: city residents typically use three times as much electricity as their rural cousins.

Fortunately, as Beijing’s Agenda 21 Building and many similar green buildings in different parts of China have shown, it is feasible to achieve 70% savings in energy consumption by applying existing building efficiency technologies. So the benefits from an aspirational but potentially achievable greening of buildings could be substantial. For example, if by 2015, the end of China’s 12th Five-Year Term, 5% of existing buildings and 60% of new buildings were to achieve levels of energy consumption 50% below those of comparable non-green buildings in similar climate zones, the subsequent annual energy savings would be 170 billion kWh electricity, equivalent to turning off all the lights in America for one month. CO2 emissions would be cut by 170 million tonnes.

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Source: NRDC, 2009-09-07, Link

U.S. and China Agree to Study Ways to Make Buildings More Energy-Efficient

Ending his first official visit to China, the United States energy secretary, Steven Chu, said the two nations had agreed to plan joint studies on ways to improve the energy efficiency of buildings, a major issue in addressing China’s contribution to climate change.

Mr. Chu said that the United States and China had drafted a memorandum of understanding for creating a team of experts that would study ways to provide heat, air-conditioning and light for buildings while minimizing their electricity needs.

He spoke after touring an American-built model house with energy-efficient windows, appliances and other features with Chinese officials and the United States commerce secretary, Gary Locke.

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Source: The New York Times, 2009-07-16, Link

ADB partnered with Standard Chartered Bank and Johnson Controls to support energy efficient projects in China

China is always in the top of the table for any kind of comparisons in terms of numbers. What can you say? 1.3 billion population. So it is not surprising to know that China is the second largest energy consumption country in the world, and also sits on the top of the greenhouse gas emission table.

Everything has a positive side. This not-so-glamourous record perhaps has caught the attention from Asia Development Bank (ADB). ADB recently joined hands with Standard Chartered Bank and Johnson Controls to support private sector-led energy efficiency projects in China. This initiative plans to provide RMB 800 million as a partial credit guarantee program.

Johnson Controls, a private energy management company, will use their expertise to identify both existing buildings with retrofit opportunity, and new building construction projects. Standard Chartered is brought in to share the project credit risk of the program.

LRS Architects aims to achieve the first LEED Platinum rating in China

LRS Architects recently won the bid of Shanghai’s Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park in China, according to an article from The Asian Reporter. The firm intends to design the project to become the first Platinum-certified project in China.

The 2.2-million square feet project covers multiple buildings development. Several design elements will be adopted to fulfill the energy efficient purpose, including maximizing sunlight in the buildings and cooling power by the wind. Roof gardens are also in the drawing board. The purpose is two-fold - to reduce heat under the sunlight, and collect rainwater for irrigation and flushing.

The project is expected to commence in the 2009 Q1 and will be completed by the end of 2010.