These 3 Cities are Stepping Up Their Green Building Game (and We Should Watch)

In more recent times, the push to go green has been stronger than ever. Historically speaking, most European countries have been quite proactive when it comes to taking steps to cut back on energy expenditure – these days, even American cities are making the pledge to switch completely to renewable energy in the next 10 to 20 years.  

 With this decrease of energy consumption came a completely new concept that has revolutionized conservation – green buildings.

 Green Buildings and Protecting the Environment

 The emergence of green buildings has had an incredibly positive impact on the environment by reducing CO2 emissions by nearly 35%, conserving energy and water, and making use of eco-friendly construction materials. Indeed, the movement for green buildings is incredible, and here are some of the cities leading the way in promoting green buildings and healthier living spaces:

 1. Tokyo

 Ever since the “Building Environment Plan” was rolled out in 2002, Tokyo has taken an active approach to go green. One of the ways that the city was able to do this was through new building codes which require all buildings larger than 5,000 square meters to meet specific energy-saving guidelines. Companies are also encouraged to make their buildings green through a number of different tax incentives.

2. Singapore

Ever since 2005 when Singapore launched the Green Mark Scheme, the city-state has taken extraordinary measures to ensure that Singapore becomes one of the world’s leaders in terms of green buildings and sustainable living. Not only has Singapore worked to ensure that all new buildings meet the city’s energy saving and eco-friendly criteria, there have also been significant efforts to retrofit older buildings with green technology.

One of the ways that the city is successful in promoting green buildings is through its Building Energy Submission System (BESS), a plan that opens transparency and requires that all energy saving data and insights are shared among government officials and architects.

3. New York City

America’s largest city started its pledge to go green in 2010 when it created the New York City Energy Conservation Code (NYCECC) with the goal of building green buildings and implementing energy-saving technology. Since then, the city has committed to reducing building emissions by no less than 30% by 2025.

 This plan, called PlaNYC, has been put into action by having city-owned buildings shift towards renewable energy and retrofitting older buildings’ green technology to reduce carbon emissions. As the nation’s leader in energy-saving research, New York City spends roughly $250 million dollars coming up with new ways to build eco-friendly buildings.

 The Bottom Line

 As you can see, there has been a major shift in global cities around the world to reduce carbon emissions and come up with new ways to save energy. Because green buildings utilize the power of renewable energy, they also put less of a strain on the city’s electrical grids and cost owners much less money to run.

You can read more about research and trends with green buildings by reading this whitepaper at Solidance Research’s website.