Clinton Climate Initiative and US Green Building Council Team Up

Late last month, the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) and the US Green Building Council (USGBC) announced a joint venture to “Show the World How to Go Climate Positive with 16 Demonstration Projects in 10 Countries.” According to the press release, green building and development will create jobs while saving energy, water, and money. The cooperative venture foresees this relationship as pervading every level, “from green retrofits of individual existing buildings to the infrastructure of entire cities.” The Climate Positive projects will

use a number of strategies that reduce energy use and generate clean energy. The initial 16 projects will see property developers and local governments working together to holistically integrate specific priorities, including implementing economically viable innovations in building, waste management, clean energy generation, water management, transportation and outdoor lighting systems.

The projects participating in the Climate Positive Development Program so far are:

Destiny, Fla., USA.

Dockside Green, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

Godrej Garden City, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India.

Elephant & Castle, London Borough, Southwark, UK.

Albert Basin, East London, UK.

Magok Urban Development Project, Magok-dong Gayang-dong, Seoul, South Korea.

Mahindra World City, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India.

Menlyn Maine, Pretoria, South Africa.

VicUrban @ Officer, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Panama Pacifico, London & Regional, Panama.

Zonk’izizwe Town Center, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Victoria Harbour, Docklands, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Toronto Waterfront-Lower Don Lands, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Treasure Island Redevelopment Project, San Francisco, Calif., USA.

Stockholm Royal Seaport, Stockholm, Sweden.

Pedra Branca Sustainable Urbanism, Palhoça, Greater Florianópolis, Santa Catarina State, Brazil.

The latest project pairing up the two organizations follows on the heels of earlier joint ventures between the CCI and USGBC. Only a few of the 16 projects listed above are in the developing world. A few months ago, 2nd Green Revolution wrote about five projects in the developing world, which are based in China, India, and the Philippines. The developing world represents a wonderful opportunity for clean energy to replace non-renewable, polluting energy sources. In addition, the developing world is the perfect place to initiate sustainable development. As these countries strive for western style development, they are the ones that can lead and show the west how to develop sustainably. 2nd Green Revolution will continue to follow the “Climate Positive” projects and report back on their success.

- Eric Wilson

[image source: Alliance to Save Energy]