FWR Group Sustainability Articles
Is China ready to become more sustainable?
FWR Group had the opportunity in March/April to send one of its team members to China as part of Australia's first 'Green Building Trade Mission'. The trade mission was coordinated by Trade Queensland and provided the 10 companies represented with the opportunity to meet with many leading Chinese development, real estate, education, and government organisations, including attendance at the Expobuild China event, a lead up event to the Shanghai World Expo 2010. Michael Duggan, Managing Director at FWR Group, is giving you a glimpse behind the curtain of Chinese development in this short trip diary.
The pace of development in China is nothing short of staggering. From the moment we stepped off the plane in Hong Kong, our first stop on the trade mission, the smog in the air and sound of heavy machinery were always prevalent. Exploring Hong Kong's redevelopment areas, transport oriented and green building initiatives presented a picture of a city attempting to move down a path towards more sustainable development. We attended a Technical Workshop on “Design, Planning, Technology & Management for Green Building” presented by the Architectural Services Department of Hong Kong SAR Government. The organisation is pushing for green building design within Hong Kong and successfully linking with the newly formed Hong Kong Green Building Council (HKGBC) . The HKGBC are in the process of spearheading the drive for green development and the local government and businesses are moving to support these initiatives, including the development of a new airport built to LEED standards and focused on sustainable transport and technology initiatives that very well could lead to an example of world's best practice in airport design.
Next stop on the mission was the city of Foshan where we attended a seminar with the Nanhai Architectural Design Institute and toured the Foshan City Power Union building which is the only 3-star National level Green building demo project in Foshan and one of the top 7 green buildings in China . This demo project uses 15 energy saving solutions and saved 10%-15% of the running costs for the companies tenanting the building. In China, the highest rating for green building that can be achieved is 3-Star.
The delegation headed to Guangzhou and Changsha next visiting the YHIE Group and touring their developments. The YIHE Group has successfully invested in and developed many tourism estates in Guangzhou , Xi'an , Shenyang , Yinchuan and Kunming which include deluxe residences, specialized hotels, golf facilities, and experimental schools. YIHE Group, have implemented energy saving solutions in their existing buildings such as water conservation, sunshine shading, solar power, etc. These site visits included a stop at the YIHE Summer Palace , Guangzhou. Located in the junction of Nanhu tourism resort and Baiyun Mountains, the Summer Palace includes a 5-star YIHE Hotel, 18-hole international standard Golf Course, 10,000 square meters swimming pool and its 100,000 square meters forest park. It also corresponds to the Chinese traditional thought of “Nature made half, Man made the other half”. Domestic energy saving technologies such as roof/glass/aluminium alloy insulating material, environmental paint, wind power generation, sewage treatment, solar power, etc. were utilized in the Summer Palace.
The delegates also had the opportunity to meet with the Kingold Group one of the first foreign-invested enterprises based in mainland China, and anchored in the real estate industry. The Kingold Group's investments include education, culture, mass media, restaurants and hotels, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, health care and beauty, smart card systems and eco-tourism. Kingold group is developing 3 green building projects; two green projects in the CBD area of Pearl River New Town will apply the silver level of the LEED standard.
The trade mission finished with 4 days in Shanghai attending the Expobuild 2010 China event and meeting with national leaders in development, including the Shanghai Greenland Group, a major property developer in China , ranked No. 2 in Chinese property developing companies. Apart from its major business in property development, Greenland is expanding into energy and financial related industries. Shanghai is a city like none other the author had seen before. The population of Shanghai alone is 22.5 million people, slightly larger than the current population estimates for the entirety of Australia. The pace and diversity of development was overwhelming and, with the World Expo 2010 around the corner, was in overdrive building the equivalent of entire capital city suburbs in a matter of months.
The author left with a feeling that China was not yet moving rapidly towards a culture of green building/development. Whilst, the interest for education and understanding of sustainable practices is evident, the business case for a quick return on investment overpowers any case for sustainable development. Two areas of growth in the Chinese sustainability sector, and prevailing themes throughout the trade mission, are education for sustainability and energy efficiency. If you complete work in either of these sub-sectors and have the wherewithal to challenge the Chinese markets then the current opportunities are there for the picking.
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This work by FWR Group Pty. Ltd. is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 2.5 Australia License.
