"The
potentional for development in China is fantastic. There is
nothing parallel to this in the history of mankind and that's
the main reason that I am here…to be part of this."
"In
one year, the total volume of new building construction in Shanghai
alone surpasses 20 million square meters. This amount is equal
to the construction volume of all of Europe."
“If
you’ve got a developer who has a foreign investment partner
then you’re likelihood of doing green business is very
high because the foreign investment partner is going to say
‘this is how we want to build here… this is what
we want to put our money into’. You bring in the western
expertise and the Chinese developer and they make it happen
together.”
"I
feel the opportunity of making China green is more challenging
but also more interesting and I feel that it will happen faster
in China because the construction and resource costs in China
are much lower than the West."
An average office
building in Beijing costs 6,000RMB/sqm to build but Accord 21
[China's 1st truly green building] only cost 5,400RMB/sqm.
- Jin Ruidong, NRDC
The World Bank estimates that between now and 2015 roughly half
of the world's new building construction will take place in China.
With over 2 billion sqm of floorspace built every year there is
enormous opportunity for green construction. According to EMSI, the number of LEED-certified
projects in China is growing at over 130% annually and there are
now roughly 4 million m2 of LEED-rated construction.
Issues
and Opportunities
The Chinese green construction industry
is fragmented. There is an opportunity to establish local and national
green building organizations to train professionals across the entire
industry and create networking platforms to share ideas and collaborate.
Quality assurance will remain an issue, however. The majority of
construction laborers are unskilled, part-time workers from villages
outside the cities. These laborers are not trained to install
sophisticated building materials or ensure an extremely tight envelope.
Very few new Chinese buildings comply with current
laws and enforcement is difficult given the incredible amount of
construction. While many focus on improving building standards,
providing worker training and expanding inspections and enforcement,
some industry experts such as Rob Watson see an opportunity for
modular or pre-fabricated construction. These projects would theoretically
be easier to quality-ensure since workers would be full-time, trained
professionals and inspections could focus on the factories instead
of numerous disparate building sites. China's largest residential
developer, Vanke,
is considering pre-fabricating some of their residential construction.
Architects in China do not
have the same level of prestige as in the West. There is little
creativity and a lot of copy and paste. Nevertheless, local
architects know the Chinese building code regulations as
well as the local availability of materials. They can be drivers
of sustainability if they are provided with a network of educational
opportunities, detailed case studies and best practices, as
well as locally available green building products.
Government agencies don't communicate, cooperate, coordinate
with each other. This can be daunting for both local and foreign
project managers but there may be an opportunity here for
local design institutes to manage this communication link
because they work with so many different groups - developers,
designers, design consultants, etc. They could also potentially
function as a central repository of green building knowledge
and information.
Advertising LEED around a new
green development in Beijing
The government has a lot more power in China to implement if it
so decides. For example, the central government can push a given initiative
and the local governments responsible for implementation can push
through projects much more quickly than in the West.
The speed of Chinese construction is incredible.
Interviewees explained that this is often because of low labor costs,
enabling massive numbers of laborers and multiple shifts. While
they admitted that coordination was difficult and mistakes were
often made, overall project progression was extremely rapid.
Office or public buildings are rarely built and
operated by only one company. You will often see one company providing operations and management services
but the building itself has multiple owners. This makes implementing energy efficiency
measures difficult and also frustrates real estate funds that would
like to purchase entire buildings.
Residential developers are not very focused on
green aspects or energy efficiency because once a project is completed
they are out of the picture. Residential consumers are mainly concerned
with location and then exterior aspects such as whether the compound
has a pool, etc. There is a need to educate consumers so that they
will demand green. All the developers we spoke with stressed that
if the consumers demand green then the market will quickly shift
in this direction.
Mass-market residential developments represent
the largest building market and are in need of sustainable design
innovation. These "superblocks" are walled compounds of
multiple buildings containing 500+ units. Visionaries are developing
new "ecoblock"
designs that are open to pedestrian traffic and resource self-sufficient.
Chart
1: Shows that LEED-certified buildings in China are on the
rise.
There are now around 4 million m2 of LEED rated construction
in China when there was virtually none 7 years ago. Source: Ken Langer, EMSI
Chart
2: Indicates
this is happening largely through
new construction centered around Shanghai. Source: Ken Langer, EMSI
The Role of Developers and Local Design
Institutes
Foreign access to this industry is limited. Foreign
architects can only design the concept phase deliverables of a project
and foreign construction companies are not allowed to setup business
in China. The key to success of many projects is the quality of the
developer and the local Chinese design institute. In China, there
are three major architectural deliverables and all need to be stamped
by the government. First, a developer will call for architectural
bids (usually from international firms) and the Concept is developed
by the winning firm. This is then handed off (by the developer)
to a local design institute to create the Extended or Schematic Design. Finally, the local design institute creates the Construction
Drawings.
James Heinrick of Roggeo Design explains that,
unlike in the US, "it is possible to dramatically change the
design of a building after receiving approval from the government
planning department." James says that in the western world,
"the architect controls the entire project…all the design;
they control the subcontractors, they control the materials, and
they control the final product. In China that’s all done by the
developer.” Many green designs have been watered down by developers
as they cut project costs. Furthermore, local design institutes,
often very large, previously state-owned enterprises spun off from
government engineering entities and academic institutions, have
less experience designing efficient buildings as their foreign counterparts.
When foreign architects hand off their designs the cultural, language
and skill differences often lead to errors in architectural details
Some architectural firms, such as SOM, have adapted
their project concept deliverables to be much more detailed, reducing
the likelihood that their design aspects will be lost when the local
design institutes create their deliverables. Other firms, such as
Roggeo Design, have created joint ventures with local design institutes
in order to participate in a project through to completion. Many
firms also create close partnerships with trustworthy developers
that agree to have them oversee the project to completion, including
leadership over architectural details and any product substitutions.
Green
Building and the 5 Stages of Market Transformation
Rob Watson
explains market transformation as being comprised of 5 stages. The Chinese green building movement is in the 4th stage and
Rob expects that it will be another 2 years before we reach the
tipping point.
Stage 1: Launch demonstration
projects to show that green building is possible. China's first
truly green building was Accord
21, completed in 2000 in Beijing.
Stage 2: Develop standards based on the demonstration
projects. In China's case, Accord
21 formed the basis for many of China's building efficiency
codes and green standards. Jin
Ruidong says that, from 2003, China started seriously
talking about sustainable development. Accord
21 showed the government and building industry how to build
sustainably and provided baseline performance data. Based
on this data, the government developed China's first energy
efficiency design standards for commercial buildings.
Stage 3: Launch pilot-scale demonstrations
of the new standards. Pilot green projects have been implemented
by a number of developers. Some early leaders included Jason
Hu and Fei Chunlu. Project
examples include Fraser
Place in Shekou, Shenzhen and Anting
New Town in Shanghai.
Stage 4: Build the industry through further
expansion of projects and the development of industry networks.
JUCCCE is
one organization helping to establish formal industry networks.
Rob Watson believes we are
in this stage.
Stage 5: Full-scale implementation of environmentally
preferable construction. To get to the next step, Rob
Watson says that China needs to begin consolidating the
green building industry. Some aspects of this process include:
establishing local and national green building organizations,
implementing an aggressive training program that covers all
aspects of the industry, creating venues where people can share
ideas, and further collaborating on demonstrations that are
then actually built.
INTERVIEW
CLIPS, click ‘play’ to see the selected clip from the
list below:
Qian Defu
(钱德福)
Chinese
Government official in Lianyungang, Jiangsu (江苏连云港)
Deputy Director General of the Urban Planning Bureau;
Deputy Secretary of the Party Leadership Group (副主任，连云港市规划局党组副书记，规划局副局长，注册规划师)
Lianyungang Development District of Technology and
Economy www.lyg.gov.cn
Qian Defu led the creation of his city's sustainable development
plan and is striving to reshape the image of Lianyungang.
Market history and future, looking at the city of Lianyungang.
Hannah Routh English
Environmental consultant in Beijing (北京)
Managing Director (经理)
ESD Sinosphere (博信国际信息咨询公司) www.camcoglobal.com
Hannah is working with REEEP to explore carbon finance options
for the building industry. She is also working with Jason
Hu to ensure his One Planet Living community will be carbon
neutral. She is also involved with JUCCCE.
The scale of the opportunities for carbon reduction in China.
Wang Hong (汪洪) Chinese/English
Green building consultant in Beijing
General Manager (中国区总经理)
Environmental Management Solutions, Inc. (EMSI) (美国EMSI环境管理咨询有限公司) www.emsi-green.com
Wang Hong heads up EMSI's China operations which have consulted
on almost 30 LEED projects in the country. View Bio
Xu Wei (徐伟)
Chinese
Government official in Beijing (北京)
Director, Researcher （院长 研究员）
China Academy of Building Research (CABR),
Institute of Built Environment and Energy Efficiency
（中国建筑科学研究院 建筑环境与节能研究院） www.cabr.com.cn
Xu Wei Works for China's largest research, development, and
technology promotion group. Specifically, he focuses of research,
development and regulations regarding energy efficiency
aspects of buildings and building-integrated technologies.
View Bio
Three aspects to the building energy efficiency industry.
Qian Yingchu
(钱颖初)
Chinese/English
Green building consultant in Shanghai (上海)
District Manager (Shanghai & South China), Director
of Projects (区城经理（上海及南中国），兼项目总监)
Environmental Management Solutions, Inc. (EMSI) (上海EMSI环境管理咨询有限公司) www.emsi-green.com
Qian Yingchu has consulted on a number of LEED project in
China and also has experience with training programs for government
officials. View Bio
Strategies for expanding the green building market.
Charles R. McElwee English
Environmental lawyer in Shanghai (上海)
Counsel
Squire, Sanders & Dempsey L.L.P. www.ssd.com
Charles advises foreign companies on environmental compliance
issues in China as well as the opportunities that have been
created by China's environmental situation. He is also involved
with JUCCCE. View Bio
The green building market exists but is comparatively
small and need to focus on mass-market residential.
Rob Watson English
Environmental consultant in New York
Chairman, CEO & Chief Scientist
American Sinotech www.american-sinotech.com
A pioneer of the modern green building movement for over twenty
years, Rob co-founded the USGBC and helped develop their
LEED program. He was also deeply involved in the construction
of China's 1st green building, Accord 21. He is also involved
with JUCCCE. View Bio
Getting to the tipping point - the 5
stages of market transformation.
Silas Chiow
(周学望)
English/Chinese
Architect in Shanghai
Associate Partner / Director of Business Development (副合伙人，大中国区业务总监，美国注册建筑师)
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) www.som.com
Silas oversees SOM's China business and design. He is also closely
affiliated with the Urban Land Institute. SOM did the design for the Xintiandi development in Shanghai and their sustainability design
was chosen for Chongming island, off Shanghai (the site of the planned Dongtan Eco-city). View Bio
Barriers to entry: coordination with the government
and limits on foreign architects and builders.
Dr. Roland Winkler German/English/Chinese
Sustainable construction consultant in Shanghai (上海)
Project Development Coordinator, Building, Energy & Environment
Econet China www.china.ahk.de
Roland founded a green building association called Sinobao which
initiated a green building expo between Hamburg and Shanghai
called Ecobuild Shanghai 2006. He also has a sustainable development consulting firm based in Munich. He is also involved with JUCCCE. View Bio
Jervy Zhu Chinese/English
Architect in Shanghai (上海)
Asia Operations Manager (亚洲部执行主管)
GBBN Architects (GBBN建筑师事务所) www.gbbn.com
GBBN has a strategic partnership with China's largest residential
developer, Vanke (万科集团) and Jervy heads up GBBN's China operations.
The role of architects in China.
Wang Hui
(王辉)
Chinese
Architect in Beijing (北京)
Partner
Beijing Limited_Design Ltd., Beijing 2529 Architect Studio, 北京有限设计有限公司合伙人,北京二五二九建筑工作室合伙人 www.mima.cn
Wang Hui’s design work has been featured in over 17 domestic
and international exhibitions. Recent projects include the
Beijing Worker’s Stadium Retrofit and Beijing 798 Art District. View Bio
There is good reason to have local design
institutes complete detailed schematics.
David Nieh
(聂耀中) English/Chinese
Developer in Shanghai (上海)
General Manager - Planning & Development (总经理－计划及发展)
Shui On Development Ltd. (瑞安房地产发展有限公司) www.shuionland.com
David is passionate about sustainable development and smart
urban planning. Some of his recent Shanghai projects include Xintiandi and the Knowledge & Innovation Community (KIC).
He is also involved with JUCCCE. View Bio
China's urbanization and the role of local design institutes.
Dr. Jean Rogers English
Green building consultant in San Francisco
Associate Principal
Arup www.arup.com
Jean is leading Arup's sustainability consulting on the Qingdao
Eco Block project with Harrison Fraker and Leon Huang. She is
also leading Arup's work with San Francisco's Treasure Island community. View Bio
Two differences between sustainable development in the US
and China: utility costs and stakeholder participation.
Charles R. McElwee English
Environmental lawyer in Shanghai (上海)
Counsel
Squire, Sanders & Dempsey L.L.P. http://www.ssd.com
Charles advises foreign companies on environmental compliance
issues in China as well as the opportunities that have been
created by China's environmental situation. He is also involved
with JUCCCE. View Bio
Driving green construction through enforcement vs. market
mechanisms
Hideki Hirahara
(平原英树)
Japanese/English
Associate in Beijing (北京)
Steven Holl Architects www.stevenholl.com
Hideki is an architect working on the Modern Investment Group's
massive MOMA Linked Hybrid residential complex in Beijing. The
2.3 million sq ft project will have one of the world's largest
geothermal systems as well as a waste water recycling plant.
Labor and the speed of construction on Modern MOMA in Beijing.
Roger Wood English
Green building consultant in London
Associate Director
Arup www.arup.com
Roger is a civil engineer with Arup and has been the project
manager for the Shanghai Dongtan Eco-city project for the
past 3.5 years. Dongtan is an 86 sq km (33 sq mi) site located
on Chongming island, the 3rd largest in China, and will be
the first "truly environmentally and economically sustainable
city."
Finding a new economic model…and explaining it to developers.
Stanley Yip
(叶祖达)
Chinese/English
Sustainability consultant in Shanghai (上海)
Director, Planning & Development (规划及发展总监)
Arup (Shanghai) (英国奥雅纳工程顾问有限公司 上海分公司) www.arup.com/eastasia
Stanley is responsible for the development and implementation
of Arup's planning practices in Mainland China. For
the past 2 years, he has focused on the economics of sustainable
urban planning. View Bio
Need for pilot projects.
Stanley Yip
(叶祖达)
Chinese/English
Sustainability consultant in Shanghai (上海)
Director, Planning & Development (规划及发展总监)
Arup (Shanghai) (英国奥雅纳工程顾问有限公司 上海分公司) www.arup.com/eastasia
Stanley is responsible for the development and implementation
of Arup's planning practices in Mainland China. For
the past 2 years, he has focused on the economics of sustainable
urban planning. View Bio
Dr. Zhan Erpeng
(展二鹏)
Chinese/English/German
Government official in Qingdao, Shandong (山东青岛)
Chief Planner (总规划师)
Qingdao Urban Planning Bureau (青岛市规划局)
Zhan Erpeng believes restoration and development are equally important.
He is working with Harrison Fraker, Leon Huang and Arup to develop
the Eco Block project. View Bio
The opportunity for open residential communities.
Li Dexiang
(栗德祥)
Chinese
Professor in Beijing (北京)
Professor and Director of the ADRITU Green Architecture
Studio (教授 博士生导师，国家一级注册建筑师)
Tsinghua University, School of Architecture (清华大学建筑学院) www.tsinghua.edu.cn
Professor Li recently completed
the eco-design planning for Zhongguancun Science Park in Beijing
and the Super Low Energy Demo Building at Tsinghua University. View Bio
Tsinghua research and development.
Lao
Weixing (劳卫星)
Chinese
Government official in Cixi, Zhejiang (浙江慈溪)
Senior Engineer (高级工程师)
Cixi Construction Bureau (慈溪建设局) www.cixi.gov.cn
Unique aspects of Chinese construction labor and its impact
of quality.
