march

Does China need Green Architecture

What are the challenges for Sustainable Design in becoming standard in China’s booming architectural market?

Shanghai, China, March 29th 2011 – Industry experts and leading Chinese real estate developers gathered for the forum ‘Sustainable Building Design and Technology’ in Shanghai on March 22nd to discuss Green Architecture and Sustainable Design in the Chinese market. Key Note speech by Mr. Frank Krueger, Creative Director of logon; a German-based international design firm argued the need for a realistic and practical approach to Sustainable Design as China now faces the ‘era of consequences’ in the building industry where we now need to manage the effects of China’s rapid urbanization and modernization.

Krueger challenged the audience on ‘Green Architecture’ as the solution for China’s real estate mass market. “Green Architecture only account for a fraction of the newly built architecture in China, it’s the high-end of the market”, he commented; “…how can Green Architecture ever filter top-down in the Chinese property market?” Instead, he proposed Sustainable Design based on the three E’s of Economy, Equity and Ecology along with other methodology to be incorporated into every project. Currently in China most architecture is low-end, “…this means we should target the market bottom-up”, said Krueger.

“China is at a critical moment in the shift towards sustainable design standardization, we need communication in the Building Industry where all parties can understand each other’s challenges; this will facilitate to greater awareness and change” Krueger concluded. This forum was co-organized by ABBS Media and VNU Exhibitions Asia and held at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC) in accordance with the China Sustainable Building Forum & Expo 2011.