World Green Building Week is the flagship event of the global green building movement organised by WorldGBC and led by its network of over 70 Green Building Councils and their 32,000 member companies. Watch out for further details as the plans for 2017 develop.
Did you know that buildings contribute to climate change? They account for over a third of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. But that can change.
When buildings are net zero they use clean energy, are highly efficient and don’t waste energy – helping us to win the fight against climate change. That makes them heroes. Let’s make all buildings net zero by 2050.
World Green Building Week, 25 September to 1 October 2017, is an annual event that empowers the green building community to deliver green buildings for everyone, everywhere. Buildings can be heroes in the fight against climate change – and so can you.
What is a net zero building?
Net zero buildings are highly energy-efficient buildings which generate or supply the energy they need to operate from renewable sources – like solar energy – to achieve net zero carbon emissions. They are the homes, offices, shops, stadiums and theatres of the future.
But net zero buildings aren’t only about carbon emissions and energy. We recognise that the term “net zero” can be applied to water and waste, and can be used in reference to these during the operation of a building (e.g. operating emissions) or across the whole lifecycle of a building, from the extraction of raw materials to deconstruction and disposal (e.g. emboded carbon).
Why is the shift to net zero important?
If we continue to emit greenhouse gases at current rates, we are headed for a world where global temperature rises will exceed two degrees. Keeping the temperature rise below two degrees, within the limits set out in the Paris Agreement, means we avoid the most extreme impacts of climate change.
In order to achieve this target, we have set two goals:
- All new buildings must operate at net zero carbon from 2030
- 100% of buildings – new and existing – must operate at net zero carbon by 2050
We recognise that this is not easy and will not happen over night, and we applaud all efforts on green buildings – not just those on net zero – that help us on our journey to a net zero carbon built environment by 2050 [from World GBC web site].
My World Green Building Week 2017 (find me on the map :-))
- Event: RESTORE Core Group meeting
Date: September 26, 2017
Time: 10:00 am
Address: Avenue Louise 149
1050 Brussels (Belgium)
- Event: IEQ Working Group 2017 General Assembly
Date: September 27, 2017
Time: 1:30 pm
Address: Via Alessandro Volta 13a
39100 Bolzano (Italy)