Green Up Time for Asian Markets

In Asia where 90 of the world’s most polluted cities are located, the implementation of green technologies and solutions by developing nations will make or break the continent’s environmental future

- Oliver Irvine

The construction industry has reached crisis point. According to the United Nations, the global real estate sector accounts for somewhere between 30 to 40 percent of the world’s carbon emissions. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 91 percent of the global population lives in areas with unsafe air pollution. It also reports that 4.2 million people die per year as a result of outdoor air pollution. WHO’s detailed map of ambient air pollution around the world targets Central and Southeast Asia as among the worst affected areas.

In reaction, this decade has seen a mood swing among governments around the world, as they wake up to the fact that action is needed to curb the emissions of an industry that will not police itself. The Paris Agreement of 2016 sets out a common cause for all 194 member states and the European Union to fight climate change, while the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, ratified by all 174 of the United Nations member states, puts in place a framework for financial and economic growth to align with social and environmental priorities.

Against this backdrop, Asian governments are putting in place substantive guidelines and goals for the construction industry, with several nations even setting the pace for environmental policy around the world.

While the rigorously plotted Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) guidelines constitute the international standard for environmentally conscious design, Singapore’s Building and Construction Authority (BCA) has its own widely praised certification process. In place since 2005, the Green Mark (GM) scheme offers cash incentives to any developer who achieves a Gold standard or above for environmental building practices.