As countries across the globe race to improve the sustainability of their buildings and infrastructure, it’s important to be mindful that green buildings are more than just “the right thing to do.” They are about market transformation.
The global green building market is being driven by the business case. Sixty-one per cent of firms globally will be doing 60 per cent or more green projects by 2015 – more than double from today’s 28 per cent. New commercial construction is driving future green growth, with 63 per cent of companies planning green projects by 2015.
A recent report by the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) on the cost and benefits of green buildings found that green buildings can be delivered at a price comparable to conventional buildings. As well, investments can be recouped through operational cost-savings. With the right design features, they can even create a more productive workplace.
To advance this case and rapidly accelerate the construction of green buildings in emerging markets, the WorldGBC has partnered with the International Finance Corp. (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group. The partnership will focus on urbanizing countries with surging population growth that need to build sustainably to avoid emissions growth, bolster energy security and minimize resource depletion.
This partnership will expand the availability of financial incentives and decision-making tools for green developers in developing nations. The IFC has recognized the central role that buildings play in mitigating climate change, creating jobs and improving the living conditions of millions of people. This landmark partnership will ensure existing global green building networks will more effectively deliver efficient, greener buildings, including projects that are being planned today.
Just last year, the IFC invested $15.5 billion in projects – $6 billion of which went to the world’s poorest nations. The IFC is increasingly looking to fund green building projects and is using voluntary building rating systems to identify sustainable, low-cost opportunities.
The WorldGBC, through its global network of 96 green building councils, will act as a delivery partner for IFC’s EDGE green buildings certification system. IFC’s EDGE is a new web application that reveals solutions at the early design stage to reduce energy, water and material consumption by 20 per cent. Through the partnership, the IFC will provide funding both for existing comprehensive green building design approaches and for the new, cost-effective, entry level EDGE tool to enhance the financial viability of green building projects.
More than half of the WorldGBC’s member countries are developing nations. Many of these markets operate with a “least first cost” development model, with very limited government policy to drive the uptake of sustainable building practices. This new WorldGBC and IFC partnership will proactively stimulate these markets to build more sustainably.
The IFC program is aimed at the large section of the market that is not currently pursuing better design practices. With this partnership, this market segment will now be able to make cost-effective design decisions to deliver measurably greener, better buildings.
Jane Henley is CEO of the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC). The WorldGBC is a network of national green building councils in more than 90 countries, making it the world’s largest international organization influencing the green building marketplace.
