The Green Dragon Media Project: Report Summary

REPORT SUMMARY

""I’ve heard various people say this phase of growth in China will last another 30-50 years. All things being equal, I could see that happening. But can our planet sustain that given what is going on in the rest of the world? I’m not so sure."

- James Heinrick, Roggeo Design

The following three columns summarize the most significant takeaways from our research within four main topics: Construction Industry, Government, Awareness, and Products & Services. Click on the three column headers below and discover how certain barriers are leading to opportunity and therefore, action. We encourage you to take the initiative to address some of the opportunities and to contact organizations listed under Actions. At the bottom of this page we have also summarized the key geographies & audiences to target and the site footer links to detailed report pages.

Construction Industry
BARRIERS	OPPORTUNITY	ACTION
Lack of 3rd-Party Trade Organizations	3rd-Party trade organizations and local green building councils are needed to facilitate market maturation.	USGBC in China
China market entry difficult for smaller firms	When entering the China market, smaller companies with niche technologies and/or intellectual property (IP) concerns should form a consortium and focus around a platform when entering the China market.	Market to services firms already in China
Limitations for Foreign Architects and Builders	Foreign architects can partner or setup joint ventures with Local Design Institutes. They can also partner with leading developers.	Follow the lead of other architects
Limited visibility of projects, products, and techniques	Centers of Excellence in each of China’s five major climate zones. These would be a one-stop green shop combining museum/demos, offices, storage space, classrooms, and networking event areas.	Exposition area in pilot projects.
Few examples of green building	Current green building projects need to be fully documented including: products and techniques used, construction and operating costs, payback periods, and learnings. New pilot projects are also needed in all of the 5 major climate zones to demonstrate new building codes and green building certification points.	Public-Private Partnerships
Ad-hoc knowledge sharing	A network is needed to bring individuals together so that they can share knowledge and collaborate.	Online virtual industry network
Government
BARRIERS	OPPORTUNITY	ACTION
Artificially low public services & utilities costs	Raising the price of utilies such as electricity and fossil fuels to market rates would have a fairly immediate effect on energy efficiency.	Institute market pricing
Stakeholders not incentivized to develop efficient infrastructure	The bottom line for green developments that can significantly increase their efficiency and even handle the major of their waste management and energy production is often lower, if not cheaper, than typical developments dependent on new centralized utilities.	Central and local government policies
Lack of coherent, consistent product standards and certification	Develop 3rd-Party product certification that provides a set of standards that architects and designers can use when selecting appropriate building materials and products. Consolidate standards around internationally recognized regimes (ISO, etc.), government-supported testing (CABR, etc.), and/or 3rd-party industry labels (ex: Green Seal in US).	Government and other 3rd-party agents
Awareness and Attitudes
BARRIERS	OPPORTUNITY	ACTION
Limited Consumer Demand	Market 'green' as modern and comfortable to the Chinese general public .	Marketing Campaign
Limited Local Government Demand	Market 'green as modern' to local Chinese government leaders.	Marketing Films
Low appeal for green building	Need to increase the appeal of green building with local government and industry professionals. Opportunities for national and international recognition will drive demand.	Contests and awards
Limited Local Government Knowledge	Chinese mayors attend government training sessions that may last days or even several weeks. During these sessions, modules on sustainable development and green construction could be taught.	Mayoral Training Modules
Limited Industry Knowledge and Experience	Develop toolkits for Local Design Institutes, including case studies, architectural details, and how to select and implement specific technologies. Translate and publish international books on key topics.	Toolkits
Products and Services
BARRIERS	OPPORTUNITY	ACTION
Limited Project Funding	Often times, only foreign high-tech products are eligible for clean development mechanism (CDM) funding under the Kyoto Protocol because local products are considered to be "standard practice" and therefore don't qualify for carbon finance. Tradable white certificates may become a viable market driver for energy efficiency projects.	Carbon Finance and Tradable White Certificates
High cost of some green building products	A Bulk Purchasing Consortium could drive down the price of key high-priced products. It could potentially be linked with a requirement that eligible projects must be green building certified.	Bulk purchasing of key components
Lack of information on green building product availability	A centralized, shared database of locally available green building products is needed for all industry stakeholders.	Online Products Marketplace
Lack of Availability for High-Tech Green Products	Green products related to concrete, insulation, lighting controls, HVAC and renewable energy are especially needed.	Firms facilitating market entry
Carbon intense building in rural areas	Straw building techniques cost the same as fired red brick, are less energy intense, very insulative, and earthquake resistant. ADRA recently completed the world's largest straw building project in Northeast China (606 buildings).	Green Dragon and ADRA straw building project

Target Geographies (in order of importance and foreign accessibility)

Rapidly growing, larger cities such as Tianjin and Chongqing.
Cities with reputations for greater business professionalism and efficient municipal government. Some of these cities include Qingdao, Suzhou, and Shekou/Shenzhen.
Smaller 2nd, 3rd and 4th-tier cities located close to the major 1st-tier cities and key logistics routes, such as Lianyungang or Cixi. These cities are less built out and offer more opportunities for green improvement. They are also under serious pressure from the central government to improve their environmental performance but lack much of the expertise and experience seen in the larger cities.

Target Audiences (in order of importance and foreign accessibility)

Commercial/Industrial Developer/Funders.
1. The largest industrial/commercial investors/developers – Prologis, Capital Land, Shimao, Hutchison Wampoa, China Merchants, Sun Hung Kai, Yan Lord, etc. – that care about their image and have enormous volume. These organizations will drive the mass Chinese market. Full-circle players that fund, develop, and manage are best (ex: Prologis).
2. Major banks that control much of the capital and would be swayed by arguments linking green building to reuced risk.
3. International companies locating operations in China that are concerned about corporate social responsibility (CSR).
Residential Developers. The initial target would be large owner/operators such as Vanke.
Urban Residents. Since they use 3 times the resources as their rural counterparts and the group is growing rapidly. Their primary concerns are closely related to green design: location, position relative to sun/airflow, comfort of relatives, and nationalism (environmental security).
Government. There is great potential here in both new and existing building projects but it is difficult for foreigners to access the market.

PAGE LAST UPDATED 04/25/2008