| Montreal, 23/03/2006 – The Secretariat of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) announced today that it has initiated an independent study on the challenges and opportunities for green building in North America.
Commercial and residential buildings have huge environmental impacts in their production of waste and consumption of energy and other resources. According to a 2003 report by the US Green Building Council, commercial and residential buildings in the United States consumed 65.2 percent of all electricity generated, 12 percent of fresh water supplies and 40 percent of all raw materials, as well as accounting for about 36 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions in the United States.
Today, concerns about resource depletion and energy security are fueling a movement that is striving for sustainability in our built environment by designing buildings in an environmentally conscious manner. Green building practices can address the consumption of energy and resources and generation of waste by applying concepts and technologies that are an environmentally beneficial and economically favorable alternative to the designs of the past.
The study will profile the current status and prospects for green building in North America, highlighting factors behind notable successes or difficulties, and identifying the potential for environmental benefits. It is expected that a series of recommendations to the national governments of Canada, Mexico and the United States will emphasize public and private measures for fostering the adoption of green building practices.
Opportunities for expanding the North American market for green building, promoting education and awareness about green building, developing policies supportive of green building, and increasing government investment in or procurement of green buildings, will all be addressed.
The CEC Secretariat will convene an advisory group comprising prominent experts from the private sector, government, nongovernmental organizations and other stakeholder groups with knowledge and expertise relevant to green building. Together, they will help further define the scope of the report, and guide analysis of the issues to be addressed in the report.
As with other reports initiated by the CEC Secretariat under North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation’s Article 13, the green building study will include input from interested members of the public, as well as the three NAFTA governments. Public input will be solicited throughout the study process, and a final report is expected in 2007.
For more information, contact Spencer Tripp at (514) 350-4331.
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