Establishing a green building movement in the UK
July 18th 2006 Over the past 10 years, a dynamic and vibrant green building movement hasemerged in the United States. The catalyst for change was the formation in 1995of the US Green Building Council (US-GBC). From modest beginnings the USGBChas grown from ten founding members to over 6500 member organisations
Despite the UK being in thevanguard of green buildingdesign and construction, wehave nothing equivalent to theUS-GBC. This weakness was identified bythe 2004 Sustainable Buildings Task Groupwhich called for the 'advisory bodiesconcerned with sustainable buildings to besimplified and consolidated to provide aclean direction for industry'.
If real transformation is to be achieved on the scalerequired, a national coalition is essential to develop amovement that promotes and champions sustainabledesign, construction and management. This will deliverbuildings with demonstrably lower environmental impact,whilst optimising profit for business and enhancing theUK's world-class position in sustainable building design.
UK Green Building Council
For many the first thought arising when challenged todesign, construct and operate buildings moresustainably is, 'What's it going to cost and what will bethe impact on my business?'. A recent study by the BRETrust and Cyril Sweet (Putting a Price on SustainabilityISBN 1860817505) demonstrated that providedsustainability issues are considered at the outset of thedesign process, buildings can be constructed at a lowercost, while still achieving an Excellent BREEAM rating.
Also, green building practices really can make sense forbusiness for example,USA Green BuildingCouncil (US-GBC)member companiesout-perform those inthe NASDAQ, S&P 500and Dow Jones AllShare by aconsiderable margin.
The US-GBC is one ofeight members of theWorld Green BuildingCouncil which includesAustralia, Canada,India, Japan, Mexicoand Taiwan. 'The GBC isa tried and tested model,' says BRE Environment MD,David Strong. 'In the USA, we have seen the emergenceof a body of green building practitioners and a dramaticrise in the number of buildings with low environmentalimpact. Thirty other countries are considering setting upnational councils and becoming members of the WorldGreen Building Council. I think that speaks for itself.'
Among those thirty countries is the UK. 'While thiscountry has a good reputation for being in the vanguardof sustainable design and construction,'says architect BillGething of Fielden Clegg Bradley, and the RIBAPresident's Sustainability Advisor, 'good sustainabilitypractices tend to be patchy and un-coordinated soreducing their overall impact.'
There is now the widely held view that a UK-GBC willprovide the much needed focus and leadership forsustainable construction in the UK. A number of majororganisations have already pledged their support for a UKCouncil which will act as a champion for green buildingsand optimise profit for business by developing andenhancing UK sustainable building design. They will notbe starting from scratch the UK-GBC will be able to drawon the wealth of guidance and tools that are available inthe UK, including BREEAM, the international awardwinning environmental rating system for buildings.
The first concrete step was taken in February this year withthe publication of a prospectus for establishing a UK GreenBuilding Council that will provide a clear direction for theindustry. Through a national coalition it will promote andchampion the design and construction of sustainablebuildings in a practical and concerted manner, for thebenefit UK business as well as the environment.
'The Council will be an industry initiative set up and runby stakeholders for the general good, with both the willand the financing to bring about real change.' says BillGething. The UK-GBC will form strategic alliancesbetween members, key industry stakeholders, researchand technology organisations and government bodiesat the national and local level. The level of its success willdepend on the active involvement of industry leaders,the establishment of co-operative arrangements withother groups of similar membership and aims (egbuilding owners and managers, professional bodies,NGOs and foundations), and government endorsementand assistance but not subservience.
There are a number of pitfalls to be avoided, such asfunding that is conditional on approval of activities orrights of veto, the dominance of any one industry sector,a lack of industry experience in the initial founding groupand/or Board, and a launch without sufficient funding.
It is proposed that the UK-GBC should endeavour toobtain sufficient start-up funding to enable full-timestaffing for the first twothree years, with UK-GBC beingself-funding by the end of the third year. The US-GBCcurrently employs about 80 staff and has a turnover of $24million per annum. There is clearly much to do if the UKGBCis to achieve its mission of: Dramatically reducing theenvironmental impact of buildings by radically improvingthe way they are designed, built and maintained.
There is also an ever increasing recognition of the needfor action. 'Both in the UK and internationally there is agrowing enthusiasm and determination thatconstruction should take a leading role in addressingthe sustainability of its activities,' say BRE Trust ChairmanSir Neville Simms, 'be that reducing CO2 emissions,reducing demands on natural resources or producingproducts that have a lasting benefit to society.
'We in the UK need to bring together that enthusiasmand energy under a single banner and provide thewherewithal to make real progress I see the proposalto form a UK Green Building Council, to sit alongside itsinternational counterparts, as a focal part of thatimportant objective.'
The potential benefits for members a UK-GBC include: - gaining competitive advantage by establishing theirbusinesses at the leading edge of a rapidly expandingmarket for green building products and services
- connecting with a diverse network of professionals togain access to the latest green buildingdevelopments and information
- using the UK-GBC logo to differentiate theirorganisations in the market place
- playing an active role in green building opinionforming and in influencing policy making
- enhancing their organisations' environmentalcredentials and profile by being in the vanguard of animportant new movement.
There is a real need for urgency if the UK is to capitalise onits skills internationally and accelerate the agenda furtherdomestically. This was confirmed by a recent ScopingStudy on establishing a UKGBC undertaken by CranfieldUniversity (copy available from www.ukgbc.org) whichidentified key success factors. - Independent, not-for-profit
- Strong, influential and motivated Founding Members
- Initial financial commitment from founding membersto be sufficient for at least two years
- Affiliated to the international 'Green Building Council'network
- Consensus-based and transparent
- Open to, and aiming for, a wide and inclusivemembership
- Able and willing to take 'political' positions
- Committed to building sustainability assessmentmethodologies and labelling
- Aims to take the leadership role on buildingsustainability and to be influential with government
The Building Research Establishment (BRE) stronglyadvocates the formation of a UK Green Building Council(or coalition). It is important to note that BRE has noaspiration to own or manage the UK-GBC. In our opinionthe UK-GBC should be an entirely new, not-for-profitentity having no private ownership and a constitutiondeveloped and endorsed by its founding members. BREwould however welcome the adoption by the UK GBC ofBREEAM as the GBC's sustainability assessment tool.
World Green Building Council
The World Green Building Council, together with itsmembers (made up of Green Building Councils fromaround the world), is committed to changing theproperty industry.
The property industry is defined as all those whoproduce, develop, plan, design, build, alter or maintainthe built environment, and includes building materialsmanufacturers and suppliers as well as clients and enduse occupiers.
By bringing together the Green Building Councils fromaround the world, the World-GBC works to shareknowledge, resources and common principles toadvance the development of greener buildings. It alsoprovides other countries wishing to start their ownGreen Building Council with a diversity of solutions andrepresentation to ensure a successful start-up.
Membership of the World-GBC is only open to approved(not-for-profit) Green Building Councils. It is emphasisedthat each individual country's Green Building Councilwill be formulated for that country's needs.
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