In recent years, the Travel and Tourism sector has received a great deal of media attention relating to its transportation emissions. While it’s true that there remains room for improvement in this area, what’s often overlooked is the energy efficiency of the built environment.
Buildings remain the single largest contributor to global warming; accounting for 48 per cent of annual US energy consumption (US Energy Information Administration). This figure is staggering in itself, but when put in a global context, power plant-generated electricity used to operate buildings rises to a staggering 76 per cent!
EC3 Global’s CEO Stewart Moore recently attended the Green Growth Business Summit in Korea. There, he presented his views on the challenges and opportunities associated with sustainable design.
Although few Australians have encountered it to date, a new compliance measure has come in to force in the State of Queensland. The Department of Infrastructure and Planning (www.dip.qld.gov.au) now requires those selling homes, townhouses or units to provide a compulsory Sustainability Declaration, when placing their property on the market.
The objective of this declaration is to inform buyers about the sustainability features of a property, by identifying the dwelling’s environmental and social sustainability features. Four key areas are assessed - energy, water, access, and safety – and its hoped that the declaration will help place a value on sustainable building practices.
It would be foolhardy to think that such a Sustainability Declarations won’t also be required of commercial buildings for sale or to let. Already around the world, the ramifications are starting to be felt of a wide range of new policy instruments, design codes, green star rating tools and building standards, which vary widely at national levels.
Building design, planning and construction processes are rapidly evolving. To help guide developers through the factors involving sustainable design, EC3 Global has available a suite of tools specifically developed for this purpose.
Further enhancing our collective knowledge internationally, the company recently entered into a Strategic Alliance Agreement with the Korea Business Council for Sustainable Development, who is well ahead of many such representative bodies in this field.