2009-11-29

Deal brokered on sustainable timber

THE Green Building Council of Australia has bowed to pressure from the Federal Government and the national forestry union to adopt an industry-backed certification scheme for sustainable timber.

The deal was brokered between federal Forestry Minister Tony Burke and the council in meetings last week, and will be announced today.

It means the Australian Forestry Standard for sustainable timber will now be considered as part of ''green star'' ratings of new buildings for environmental impact and energy use.

The council had previously considered only the stricter and internationally recognised Forestry Stewardship Council certification scheme for sustainable timber but has come under immense pressure from the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union and state and federal forestry ministers in recent months to relax its standards.

Environmentalists say the Australian standard is less environmentally credible than the internationally recognised Stewardship Council scheme, because it certifies 90 per cent of all timber chopped down in Australia as sustainable.

Currently, the Forestry Stewardship Council certifies only 5 per cent of the world's timber as being harvested in a sustainable manner. The Green Building Council's chief executive, Romilly Madew, said yesterday that the council would now consider timber with any sustainability certification from the start of 2010 and include it in green-star ratings for new buildings if it met five general criteria.

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Source: The Sydney Morning Herald, 2009-11-29, Link

Green buildings rapidly evolving as best design standard

PANELLING MADE from plastic waste, wood recycled from old ships, carpets of recycled plastic and CO2 monitors that regulate the proportion of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the room. These are just a handful of things you are likely to encounter if you walk into the ITC Green Centre in Gurgaon or the Patni Knowledge Centre in Noida, alongside more ‘conventional’ green measures like solar panels and fully day-lit office spaces. These two buildings , along with a few others across the country, have been among the early adopters of the green building movement in the country; a direct result of the increasing awareness on sustainability.

Quiz most people on why they are greening their buildings, and you can be guaranteed that the answer will touch upon them wanting to do their bit to save the earth and trying to cut down on emissions. So one tends to sit up and take notice when Anirudh Patni says, “We started going green because it makes imminent business sense. Using green intelligently can be beneficial to the bottomline.” The senior vice-president for strategy and corporate development at Patni Computer Systems says the company’s green spaces also make for healthier employees, directing impacting productivity.

A green building, by definition, is one which conserves natural resources, is energy efficient, and a healthier space for its occupants as compared to a conventional building. In India, the green building movement has been pioneered by CII which set up the Indian Green Building Council in 2001 at the behest of then US President Bill Clinton. “We decided that the headquarters of the CII-Green Building Centre in Hyderabad would be housed in a green building that would showcase all the different technologies which could be used in such a building,” says Jamshyd Godrej, chairman, CIISohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre.


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Source: Economic Times, 2009-11-27, Link

Green buildings not expensive, Wollongong told

The CEO of the Green Building Council of Australia has told a business luncheon in Wollongong sustainable buildings do not have to cost more.

Romilly Madew says Wollongong with its Green Jobs Action Plan is well-placed to be a hub for green buildings.

She says there is a misconception about the cost of green homes and green offices.

Ms Madew says it is possible to get cost savings up front and there are also long-term benefits.
"Look at those products that give you the big wins quickly: that's things like insulation and making sure that your building is facing the right way and that you are getting cross ventilation," she said.

"So if you can do some really simple things, some passive design things, that's not going to cost more."

Ms Madew says working on existing buildings is a faster and less-expensive option.

"The 98 per cent of the old buildings out there, they're the ones we need to work on, which is why the Illawarra plan is so crucial," she said.

"It's giving the skills to the industry to retrofit those buildings, whether they are the homes or the offices."


Source: ABC.net, 2009-11-26, Link

2009-11-14

Decision-makers Go Green

Corporate real estate executives, whose companies drive demand for office space, are increasingly willing to invest in refurbishing their assets to meet sustainability goals, according to a recent survey.

Some 70% of executives responsible for real estate portfolios totalling billions of square feet across the globe saw sustainability as a critical business issue today, according to the third annual sustainability survey conducted by Jones Lang LaSalle, a property consultancy, and CoreNet Global, a professional association for the global corporate real estate industry.

These results clearly show that sustainability as an issue is here to stay, but companies are increasingly aware of the commercial realities, said Chris Wallbank, JLL's head of Energy and Sustainability Services in Asia-Pacific.

"It is no longer enough to simply be green. Organisations want to see the benefits to the bottom line," he said.

While 67% of respondents said obtaining funds for sustainability strategies was difficult or extremely difficult, 74% would pay a premium to retrofit space to make it more sustainable, up from 53% last year.

But although most executives view sustainability as a priority, only 37% would consider paying a premium on rent and another 21% indicated that they would only be willing to do so if it was offset by lower operating costs.

A significant 89% consider sustainability when making leasing decisions, with 46% always considering energy labels (such as Energy Star or HPE), and 41% always considering green building certifications (such as LEED, BREEAM, Green Star, GreenMark or CASBEE).


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Source: Bangkok Post, 2009-11-13, Link

Green Boost For Office Buildings

The energy efficiency of commercial office buildings is the focus of a new national scheme designed to boost the green credentials of work spaces.

From the second half of 2010, building owners will be required to provide up-to-date energy efficiency information when selling or leasing office space covering more than 2,000 square metres.

"This means all parties - the building owner and potential buyers or tenants - will have access to consistent, credible and meaningful information about a building's energy efficiency and [be able to] make informed decisions when they buy or rent office space," said Environment Minister, Peter Garrett, announcing the scheme in a statement yesterday.

"Greener offices are not only more comfortable to work in, they can also boost productivity, bring down sick leave, support green building industry jobs and have the potential to deliver savings of 20-40 per cent on energy bills," he said.


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Source: G-Online, 2009-11-13, Link

It's The Real Solar Thing

ENERGY efficiency is a major feature of the new $85 million Coca-Cola Amatil distribution centre at Eastern Creek which came into operation last week.

It is partly powered by nearly 700 solar panels, which line the roof.

The 110-kilowatt solar photovoltaic system is the largest in the country and cost the company $1.2 million to install.

It is expected to generate 148 megawatt hours of renewable energy, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 148 tonnes and supplying more than 15 per cent of the distribution centre's annual energy needs annually.

The 30,000-square-metre warehouse, in Roussell Road, employs 250 staff.

It has energy-saving lighting controls and has water tanks to harvest 240,000 litres of rainwater.

The distribution centre is awaiting approval for a green-star rating from the Green Building Council of Australia.

Warwick White, Coca-Cola Amatil's managing director, Australia, said the company had invested significantly in water- and energy-saving technology to achieve environmental leadership in the beverage industry.


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Source: Blacktownsun, 2009-11-10, Link

2009-11-07

Green Building Certification In Taiwan

The number of buildings in Taiwan receiving or being pre-approved for green building certification in a single year has risen almost 70 times in eight years, to 349 in 2008 from five in 2000, the Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) said yesterday.

Considerable progress has been made in promoting sustainable buildings since the Ministry of the Interior launched a green building program in 2001, the CEPD said.

As of September this year, 2,295 buildings have been certified as "green buildings, " and they have reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 521,000 tons annually and saved users NT$2.16 billion in electricity and water costs.

Source: Taiwan News, 2009-11-07,
Link

Taipei 101 To Be World’s Tallest Green Building

Taipei 101, famous for being one of the world’s tallest buildings, is set to get some major eco-upgrades in an effort to save money, reduce its impact, and gain the much coveted title of “World’s Tallest Green Building.” In 2007, the Burj Dubai surpassed Taipei 101 in terms of height, but the Taiwanese building won’t give up the fight, throwing down $1.8 million in energy efficiency upgrades, which are expected to yield $20 million annually in savings and make it the Earth’s greenest building that’s also closest to the heavens!

Over the next 18 months, the skyscraper will undergo significant energy efficiency upgrades and will also seek LEED Gold certification for existing buildings. The certification will largely depend on the building performance after the upgrades and renovations take place. The owners of Taipei 101 are teaming up with SL+A International Asia Inc., Siemens and EcoTech International Inc. to complete the eco-upgrades, which were just announced this week.

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Source: Inhabitant, 2009-11-05, Link

Australia Gives AU$16.4m To Reduce GHG Emissions

Installation of renewable energy solutions such as solar electric panels and solar film are prominent among 37 projects funded by the Australian Department for Innovation, Industry, Science & Research.

“AU$16.4 million worth of projects make up the third round of the AU$90m Green Building Fund, a Rudd government initiative that reduces energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by retrofitting commercial office buildings,” says minister Kim Carr.

“Projected savings in GHG emissions from projects supported by the fund so far total over 101,000 tonnes a year. These projects combat climate change and support Australia’s economic recovery by generating investment of almost US$75m.”

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Source: Reinforced Plastics, 2009-11-04, Link