Vancouver City was on Thursday named the overall winner of 'Best Green Building Policy' at the World Green Building Council's (WorldGBC's) Government Leadership Awards.
Cities working to transform the built environment and realize the vision of a sustainable future were among the winners of the World Green Building Council's (WorldGBC's) Government Leadership Awards, announced Thursday in Warsaw.
Vancouver was feted for its Greenest City 2020 Action Plan, an example of excellence in sustainable city policies. The award recognizes the City's leadership on green buildings, and its ambitious targets for all new buildings constructed from 2020 onward to be carbon neutral and to reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions in existing buildings by 20 per cent over 2007 levels by 2020.
Held in partnership with ICLEI- Local Governments for Sustainability and UN-Habitat, this prestigious international awards program honors local government leadership in green building and highlights policies that maximize the opportunity for buildings to mitigate environmental impact. The biennial awards were first held in 2011, and aim to encourage the uptake of high-quality policies and practices around the world.
Cities from all regions were considered for the awards under the 2013 theme "Global Excellence in Local Green Building Policy."
Also recognized was Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, which received the 'Regional Leadership Award' for the Estidama Pearl Rating System – a program that has efficiently and effectively implemented sustainability requirements in the Emirate's development sector.
Christchurch, New Zealand, was presented the 'Urban Regeneration Award' for its policies and initiatives aimed at rebuilding sustainably after a series of devastating earthquakes. Also recognized was Seoul, Korea, with a 'Climate Action Leadership Award' for its comprehensive campaign to reduce energy consumption.
Honorable Mentions were also awarded to policies from Cape Town, Shanghai, and the United Kingdom's Brighton and Hove.
"These awards not only recognize the commendable efforts of local governments to transform their buildings, their communities and their cities," said Jane Henley, Chief Executive Officer of the World Green Building Council.
"They also acknowledge our challenge to implement sustainability measures on a city-wide scale in our increasingly urbanized world. The efforts of all of our nominees are proving that building industry solutions not only reduce emissions, but also make economic sense."
The winning cities were chosen by an expert panel of judges comprised of representatives from UN-Habitat, ICLEI and the WorldGBC. The winners were announced at the Warsaw Dialogue on Scaling-Up Local and Subnational Climate Action, held in conjunction with the UN Climate
Change Conference (COP-19) in Warsaw, Poland. More information on the awards and a publication with full details of all winners and nominees can be found at www.worldgbc.org/leadership-awards. |
