China is Going Green, and World Green Building Council and China Green Building Council Partner to Reduce GHG Emission

Posted by: YijunW

Do you know that China, the largest building construction market in the world, represents up to 2 billion square meters constructed per year and accounts for almost half of new construction in the next 10 years?

If China commits to green building, it would be a significant milestone for our green revolution.

During the 8th National Environmental Projection Conference on Environmental Protection in Beijing from May 18 to 19, President Xi Jinping called for actions against pollution and further supports of the green environmental construction. President Xi laid out plans to promote a clean energy revolution in clean energy which supports his objective of "beautiful China" by 2035 (China).

On April 2, 2018, World Green Building Council and China Green Building Council announce partnership to collaborate efforts to increase green buildings around the world and reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, reported by Marketline.

China is supporting the green building movement at an accelerated pace. With 523 million square meters of green building certified by China Green Building’s Three Star green building rating system, China is one of the largest countries for green building (MarketLine). Reported by USGBC on January 22, 2018, China remains in the top spot as the number one market for LEED outside U.S. with 47.16 million gross square meters, followed by Canada with 40.77 gross square meters and India with 20.28 gross square meters. In China, 5500 LEED and GBEL projects have been certified in total (Healthfx).

Estimated by Bloomberg Energy Finance, "China will go big on renewables," increasing wind and solar capacity by eight folds by 2040.

Looking back in recent years, China has made some efforts toward green movement. On June 7, 2017, Chinese President Xi Jinping met with California Governor Jerry Brown for nearly an hour, discussing global warming and green technology in the Great Hall of the People, a granite-columned building on Tiananmen Square reserved for high-level dignitaries, political gatherings and ceremonial occasions. Brown said, "It's very clear [President Xi Jinping] welcomes an increased role on the part of California… Xi "has definitely given the green light for more collaboration between China and California and, I would say, other states through this subnational-level arrangement” (Los Angeles Times). Last year, China launched five pilot zones to promote “green finance” and help pay for a war on pollution expected to cost about $450 billion a year (GreenBiz).

To read more, please visit:

http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/2018-06/03/content_51561171.htm

http://newsroom.usgbc.org/us-green-building-council-releases-annual-top-10-countries-and-regions-for-leed/

http://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-china-global-climate-20170606-story.html

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41370-017-0014-9

https://www.greenbiz.com/report/state-green-business-report-2018

https://about.bnef.com/new-energy-outlook/#toc-download