China's Building for the Environment

The South China Morning Post, on 6 July 2005 reports: - A growing number of developers are adopting green building strategies as a way to vie for multinational corporate tenants who prefer features that will save energy, reduce waste and increase productivity. Several multinational corporations have started employing independent consultants to examine the environment and energy efficiency of buildings before they ink their leases, according to Kevin Edmunds, deputy director of the Business Environment Council (BEC). "Not many companies have adopted the practice, but it is a sign that they are now asking for more than space efficiency," he said. The Royal Bank of Scotland and the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi separately employed consultancy firms in fields such as mechanics and information technology to analyse design features of the new AIG Tower in Central before signing up as tenants, according to market sources. Mr Edmunds said more corporations were issuing reports under sustainability reporting guidelines drawn up by the independent Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), a collaborating centre of the United Nations Environmental Programme. These corporations' demand for environmentally friendly regional offices was increasing accordingly, he said. " Environmental designs have become part of the design process for new office design," Mr Edmunds said. However, the Grade-B office and residential sectors had been slow to follow suit.