Benchmark Study on Green Buildings - Royal Architectural Institute ...

Technology Early Action Measures (TEAM), and the Scientific Research and
Experimental Development (SR&ED) Program. Similarly, the Green Municipal Fund
(GMF) is a $550 million funding incentive program in Canada which supports
community projects that result in cuts to greenhouse gas emissions. Infrastructure Canada
is also investing billions of dollars in projects to improve numerous areas of Canada’s
infrastructure. Canada is also a user of the Energy Star standard, which labels energy
efficient products to distinguish them from average appliances. The Sustainable Condo is
a traveling exhibition of leading Canadian green building practice and green technology
companies, and hopes to make more people aware of what is currently available in terms
of green building. Green roofs are also becoming more prevalent in Canada due to recent
changes in provincial building codes and small municipal incentive programs. Finally, the
number of private companies offering financial incentives to customers interested in
improving their homes’ energy efficiency or reducing its energy consumption is
remarkable and among the highest levels of this kind of support in the world.
7.3 Germany:
Incentives seem to play a smaller role in the overall green building movement in
Germany compared to North America. This may be because of the greater population
density and comparable resource scarcity that exists in Europe, or because Germans take
more pride and initiative in being world environmental leaders and do not need the extra
push to take the environment into consideration. However, incentives for various green
building initiatives do exist in the country, and probably convince more people to build
green than otherwise would. Germany is world renowned for their prevalence of green
roofs. This simple concept has numerous environmental benefits, and can also result in
long-term cost savings and an improved living environment for building occupants. The
German Government has taken measures to increase public knowledge and awareness of
green building, and it seems to be helping the nation’s sustainability movements gain
momentum. Germany is a world-leader in renewable energy generation and renewable
energy technologies, with the world’s highest levels of solar and wind power generation,
and the ability to sell its technology for use in other countries. The German Research
Foundation continues to offer numerous grants for environmental R&D projects, and
provides support in other non-fiscal ways as well. Germany has recently introduced the
Energy Star labeling program, and is also working on its own national energy rating label
to increase awareness of product electricity consumption. The German ESCO industry is
the largest and most successful in the EU, and has served as the benchmark example for
other fledgling European ESCO market systems. German green building design and
construction firms, such as Baufritz, are among the most advanced and innovative in the
world, with representatives from other planning firms coming from all over the planet to
learn from their methods and observe their technologies. Local building codes in
Germany are based on the National Building Code (NBC), and often include green
requirements when a building exceeds a certain construction materials threshold or will
cover too much ground area. The country’s sustainable city districts, including Freiburg
and Vauban, are also of particular interest to the international community, which can take
a lot away from the overall German approach to green building and sustainability.
20