Green buildings the force behind sustainable cities

Climate change remains one of the biggest global challenges likely to affect livelihoods of future generations. There are different forces behind climate change that need to be addressed, and one of them is CO2 emissions. According to a Buildings and Climate Change document released by the US Green Building Council (USGBC), buildings account for 39% of CO2 emissions in the United States, mostly from high consumption of electricity. One of the mitigating factors has been to call on green building professionals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions of projects, thereby lowering the contribution of the projects to climate change. It is against this back drop that it was observed at the recent International Green Building Conference 2015 in Singapore that countries all over the world continue to submit carbon reduction pledges to the United Nations as one way to tackle climate change. About 98% of cities in the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group are experiencing climate disasters today that are putting economies and societies at risk, stated Terri Willis, Chief Executive of the World Green Building Council (WBGC). These climate disasters include floods, heatwaves and droughts. How are you as green building professionals combating climate change effects from your building projects? To read more about green building and sustainable cities, visit http://www.eco-business.com/news/green-buildings-sustainable-cities/