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​​JLL Joins World Green Building Council’s Expanding APAC Network

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JLL has announced that it has joined the World Green Building Council’s (WorldGBC) Asia Pacific Regional Network (APN). The APN Is led by 17 Green Building Councils (GBCs) and three regional partners, representing a region home to over 60% of the world’s population and expected to contribute to over 50 percent of global GDP growth in the coming decades.

 

The announcement is reinforced by the region’s position at the forefront of adopting green building practices, with several countries implementing stringent green building codes and standards. However, the region is also vulnerable to the impacts of climate change; rising sea levels, extreme weather events, and biodiversity loss are amongst the many challenges faced.

 

The dual drivers of high adoption of green building practices and the impact of climate change will likely ensure that the region is a critical focus for climate resilience initiatives. For JLL, the APN brings opportunities to address the climate crisis at both a local and global scale and from an economic perspective, supporting the region’s ambitions as a key hub in global manufacturing and supply chains,

 

“There is no bigger conversation within the built environment than sustainability actions, initiatives and strategies. Our clients are proactively working towards net zero carbon targets and demanding more from us as advisors. This platform will be boosted hugely with our closer linkage with the World GBC,” said Lili Tao, Managing Director, South East Asia, Project and Development Services (PDS), JLL (pictured above).

 

“We are thrilled to welcome JLL as a Regional Partner. Their collaboration further strengthens our commitment to advancing sustainable built environments across the network and beyond. The Asia Pacific region is pivotal in shaping the future of global sustainability. With JLL’s expertise and leadership in real estate, we are confident that by working together, we can drive meaningful change to ensure that our built environments support, and actively contribute to, a sustainable future, for our region and the world,” said Joy Gai, Strategic Partnership Lead and Asia Head, WorldGBC.

 

 

New Digital Library Of Exemplar Sustainable Buildings From Across The World Launched

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In November 2019, the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) launched a new digital case study library showcasing examples of the world’s most cutting-edge sustainable buildings.

Each case study demonstrates enhanced performance in relation to health benefits or achieve net zero operational carbon, as verified by established certification schemes, rating tools or other third-party verification.

Buildings and construction together account for 36 percent of global final energy use and 39 percent of energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions when upstream power generation is included. Additionally, people spend 90% of their time in buildings, and there is a consistent association between unhealthy indoor environments and negative human health impacts, for example exposure to damp and mould is recognised to raise likelihood of asthma attacks by 40 percent. Building operations, therefore, represent a significant opportunity to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions, improve air quality and create healthier places for people and communities.

WorldGBC has launched the case study library in recognition of growing market demand to highlight the ‘best in class’ buildings that excel in key areas of sustainability, and the role of certification schemes to provide third party assurance of performance.

This ‘go-to’ resource for verified exemplar projects within the built environment globally will launch at USGBC’s Greenbuild conference in Atlanta on 19 November 2019. Following the launch, it will be open for new submissions via the website on a rolling basis.

Submissions are reviewed against qualification criteria, developed by WorldGBC with input of an advisory committee of development partners. This process is to ensure that each project featured in the library represents an outstanding example of sustainability in the built environment, as a net zero carbon building or across different areas of health and wellbeing.

Net zero carbon case studies are existing buildings or spaces that can demonstrate they have achieved high levels of energy efficiency and either generate or procure sufficient renewable energy to meet the building’s demand over 12 consecutive months. This can be demonstrated either through the use of Green Building Council or other market rating tools that certify net zero carbon performance, or by providing third party verified data to support the net zero claim.

Healthy case studies are existing buildings or spaces that can demonstrate they excel in the provision of features that enhance human health, as verified and certified using rating schemes demonstrating outstanding achievement of health elements of a holistic green building certification scheme, or achieve specific health-based certification, or demonstrate equivalent levels of performance using verified data.

The library also features industry “game changer” projects – those that have achieved the criteria for bothhealthy and net zero performance criteria – and information from the case studies about their specific features, lessons learned and additional useful project information. It is therefore a useful resource for sharing and learning about best practice approaches to achieving pioneering levels of sustainable performance.

An example of a “game changer” project is Floth’s office in Brisbane, Australia which has been certified as carbon neutral by the National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS) standard, and which achieves exemplary performance for healthy impacts in both NABERS Internal Environment and the Green Building Council of Australia’s Green Star rating system. 

CBRE’s Vancouver office is also included on the map for achieving Gold certification under the WELL building standard and for its multiple features that promote a healthy work environment.

Several buildings that have recently been awarded certification under DGNB’s Carbon Neutral Framework for demonstrating best practice in energy efficiency and a balance of renewable energy are also featured, including City Hall in Freiburg, Germany, the biggest surplus energy building in Europe.

Over time, the case study library will be developed to respond to the changing nature of sustainability and the impact of the WorldGBC global network of almost 70 Green Building councils, closely linked to the UN’s Global Goals. 

By keeping track of these projects, WorldGBC will be able to share insights about global trends in providing solutions to reducing the environmental impact of buildings, to help inform policymakers, designers, and developers about the feasibility, best practices, while promoting advanced sustainable building performance.

The case study library will be regularly updated to display the latest leading examples of sustainable building worldwide. WorldGBC will be accepting submissions on a rolling basis. Applications for case studies can be submitted at www.worldgbc.org/case-study-library-submission-form

World Green Building Council to Shine a Light On Building Lifecycle for World Green Building Week 2019

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The World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) will use the 10th annual World Green Building Week (23 to 29 September 2019) to focus on end-to-end carbon emissions created across the building and construction industry, highlighting the need for the sustainable production, design, build, use, deconstruction and reuse of buildings and their materials.

Today, buildings and construction together account for 36 percent of global final energy use and 39 percent of energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions when upstream power generation is included.

Operational emissions from buildings account for 28 percent overall, while the remaining 11 percent are attributed to embodied carbon emissions, which refers to carbon that is released during material manufacturing and the construction and demolition process.

The issue of addressing embodied carbon emissions is becoming increasingly important to the building and construction industry as major organisations look to collectively achieve net zero carbon along the entire lifecycle of a building.

A detailed report put together by WorldGBC will outline the pressing issues around embodied carbon in the industry, presenting a vision for a net zero carbon construction future and a call to action to radically transform processes right along the planning and construction supply chain.

The report will help to raise awareness of this vital issue and will highlight examples of leadership and best practice from across the sector. In the report, WorldGBC will call for urgent action, recommending specific steps that business, government and civil society can take to help shape a net zero carbon future for the whole lifecycle of all buildings.

The report will be released during World Green Building Week in September 2019.

The focus for this year’s World Green Building Week campaign dovetails with the issue of air pollution, which was the theme of this year’s World Environment Day on 5 June 2019. Green building is one key solution to improve air quality in the built environment. The energy used in material manufacture, construction and operation of buildings must come from clean, renewable sources of energy and not from burning carbon-emitting fossil fuels, which exacerbate global warming, pollute the air and damage human health.

WorldGBC will be looking to its global network of green building and construction industry experts to act as ambassadors throughout the week to promote action on total emissions and the whole life cycle of buildings. This will take the form of proactive media opportunities, hosting events, publishing reports, thought leadership articles and manifestos, making net zero carbon building commitments, and promoting the week on social media platforms using the hashtag #buildinglife.

For the last decade, World Green Building Week has been a global platform to help raise awareness of green building and shape responses to some of the most pressing issues relating to the implementation of sustainable practices in the construction and building industry. These issues have included net zero carbon buildings and green homes. WorldGBC’s green homes campaign in 2018 reached over 155 million people from the green building community and beyond.

WorldGBC is on a mission to achieve green buildings for everyone, everywhere. Their global network of almost 70 national Green Building Councils believes that green buildings can help combat climate change, as well as achieve numerous other wider social, economic, environmental and health benefits.

WorldGBC’s vision is to help shape a future in which every building in the world is net zero carbon, eliminating the buildings and construction sector’s reliance on fossil fuels which are causing irreversible damage to the planet.

In order to achieve this vision, the buildings and construction industry must take urgent action and consider the impacts of design and procurement decisions on the emissions associated with materials and construction processes.

For more information, please visit https://www.worldgbc.org/worldgreenbuildingweek