Green building on the agenda
The board of the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) will meet in Melbourne on Sunday in a prelude to the Green Cities conference which will be held in Melbourne from 27 February to Wednesday 2 March.
According to Chairman of the WorldGBC, Tony Arnel, green building is now one of the world's fastest growing industries.
"McGraw Hill Construction has found that, while just 13 per cent of global construction firms were dedicated to green building in 2003, this had grown to around a third by 2008 - with more than half predicting they'd be fully committed to green building by 2013.”
"As positive proof of this transformation, the WorldGBC's network has more than tripled in three years - up from 26 green building councils in 2007 to 82 in 2010.
Mr Arnel said the WorldGBC's four strategic priorities for 2011 would be creating a global common language for green building, building a strong global GBC community, increasing the profile of the green building movement and demonstrating the value of green building to governments.
"The WorldGBC has an important role to play in connecting people, companies and countries. We are committed to supporting the development of green building councils, providing education and knowledge exchange to ensure we accelerate the rate of sustainable development,” he said.
"The growth of the global green building market is underpinned by the increasing understanding of the long-term value of green building, both as a mechanism for mitigating climate change and as a means for improving the social and economic conditions of people around the world. The World Green Building Council is at the forefront of this paradigm shift.”