On the morning of January 10th, the Second International Forum on Low Carbon Development of Guangdong under the theme of “Green Building Makes Life More Beautiful” was held in GDUFS. This forum is sponsored by Guangdong Research Institute for International Strategies and organized by Siemens China Co., Ltd., British Consulate General in Guangzhou, German Consulate General in Guangzhou, Nanfang Daily and Guangdong University of Foreign Studies. There are also co-organizers as Guangdong Provincial Development and Reform Commission and Department of Housing and Urban-rural Construction of Guangdong Province.
Present were experts, scholars, supervisors and people concerned from about a hundred units including British and German Consulate General in Guangzhou, provincial and local government departments, colleges and universities, research institutes, industry associations, public institutes, enterprises and non-governmental organizations.
Sui Guangjun, deputy executive director of GRIIS and CPC secretary of GDUFS, hosted the opening ceremony. He asserted that Guangdong should borrow international experience of green buildings in policies, mechanism and realistic cases so as to promote the building of “Happy Guangdong”.
Li Chunhong, deputy secretary general ofGuangdongprovincial government and director of Guangdong Provincial Development and Reform Commission (GPDRC), gave a speech at the Forum. First of all, he expressed warm welcome and gratitude for all the distinguished guests present on the behalf of GPDRC. Then he raised the issue that the Earth is our home and it is our corporate responsibility to protect it. Since the Chinese government declared to undertake common but distinct responsibilities and listedGuangdongas an experimental unit in October 2010,Guangdonghas been making huge efforts to promote the development of low carbon and achieved some results. As the provincial Party committee and provincial government have long been attaching importance to developing low-carbon green buildings, it was hoped that the Forum can motivate in-depth communication and discussions about the construction of ecological civilizations inGuangdong, creating a favorable atmosphere for all to concern about and participate in the development of low carbon.
Mr. Stefan Gallon, consul-general of German Consulate General inGuangzhou, Mr. An Xiaojie, senior vice president of Siemens China, Co. Ltd., and general manager of Siemens Building Technologies, Mr. John Edwards, counselor for sustainable growth of British Embassy inBeijingalso gave addresses to the Forum.
In the keynote speech session, the experts and scholars shared experience of advanced countries and regions under the theme of the Forum. They talked on “International Experience in Green Buildings: Policies, Mechanism and Cases” and “Green Buildings: the Practice and Vision in Guangdong”. It turned out to be a spiritual treat to the audience.
In Session One “International Experience in Green Buildings: Policies, Mechanism and Cases”, Mr. Conrad Wong, chairman of HK Green Building Council, gave a keynote speech titled “A Vision for A Low Carbon Sustainably Built Environment in Hong Kong by 2030”. After that, Chris Twinn, Arup Fellow and director of Arup, Ni Yang, professor of South China University of Technology and Cheong Kheng Hwa, vice general manager of Siemens Building Technologies gave keynote speeches titled “Why are the Eco-cities big ideas not being delivering?-Learning from feedback”, “Talk on My Daily Commute” and “Reducing Carbon Emission in Building” respectively. Lu Xiulu, deputy director of Guangdong Provincial Development and Reform Commission gave a summary speech to conclude the morning.
Professor Gu Yeli, vice president of GDUFS hosted Session Two “Green Buildings: the Practice and Vision inGuangdong”.
InSession Two, experts put emphasis on the practice and vision inGuangdongof constructing green buildings.Mr. Zhong Hanmou, director of Scientific Education Division of Department of Housing and Urban-rural Construction of Guangdong Province, Mr. Wan Yang, ISC's China Country Director, Mr. Yang Shichao, deputy director of Guangdong Provincial Academy of Building Research, Mr. Xu Dong, director of Energy-Saving of Siemens Building Technologies of Siemens China Co., Ltd., and Mr. Zheng Weizhong, deputy chief engineer of Guangzhou Development Zone Construction and Municipal Works and Gardens Administration Bureau respectively gave speeches titled “Current Situation and Vision of the Green Building Development in Guangdong Province”, “Improve energy efficiency in Guangdong's public sector buildings by removing mechanism barriers”, “Current Situation of Energy Consumption and Analysis on Reducing Energy Consumption through Technology”, “Best Partner for Energy Saving, Safety and Conformability” and “Thoughts and Explorations to Build a Green Industrial Park of Sino-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City”.
In the Free Discussion part, the audience took an active part in raising questions. Experts and scholars had a heated discussion about the construction of green buildings.
At last, Professor Sui Guangjun gave a summary speech and congratulated on the success of the Forum. In his speech, he spoke highly of what Guangdong has achieved in the development of low-carbon economy and green buildings. As global warming has been threatening the existence and development of human beings, it urgently calls for effective ways of energy conservation and emission reduction. At present, Guangdong has entered into the execute phase as a provincial experimental unit. Only with innovation of low carbon development mode and potential tapping can the target of energy conservation and emission reduction be achieved. The Second International Forum on Low Carbon Development of Guangdong contributed a lot of advice and suggestions to the construction of green buildings and low carbon development in Guangdong.
Participants spoke Chinese, English and German at the Forum. It adopted the theme of “Green Building Makes Life More Beautiful”, which had both theoretical and practical impacts on Guangdong’s future practice of green buildings.
