Another successful World Green Building Week has come and gone, and for 2018, that meant inspiring more people to look at new ways to create greener homes.
This year, over 300 activities and events were submitted to our Global Activity Map, with our worldwide network all putting their own spin on the #HomeGreenHome theme.
A huge range of activities took place from talking about the health impacts of better indoor air quality and natural light; to showcasing incredible zero carbon houses and hosting green building training sessions for members. Our global network of Green Building Councils and Partners inspired thousands of people around the world to see their home as a weapon in the fight against climate change:
- Dublin, Ireland: The Irish Green Building Council held a series of site visits to green-certified buildings around the city and hosted a series of seminars in Limerick and Galway about the practicalities of sustainable housing and how to meet the country’s housing needs sustainably.
- Amman, Jordan: The Jordan Green Building Council published booklets, one covering green affordable housing in Jordan and the other about the benefits of retrofitting existing building stock for greater energy efficiency. GBCs from our MENA Regional Network also gathered in Amman to attend the 7th FES Social & Sustainable Cities Workshop.
- Bogotá, Colombia: The Colombia Green Building Council held a webinar and conducted a social media campaign to explain the benefits of the locally developed CASA Colombia energy certification system.
- Nairobi, Kenya: The Kenya Green Building Society hosted an ‘Ask Us Anything & the Buildings I Want Challenge’ to give people information on making simple, effective changes to their homes.
- Auckland, New Zealand: The New Zealand Green Building Council hosted numerous events and activities nationwide, including a series of seminars and webinars, green building and campus tours, “Home is…” social media campaign, movie night and more!
We were also delighted to have two well respected Campaign ambassadors on board helping to spread the word about green building: His Excellency Nayef H Al-fayez, the Minister of the Environment Jordan for our MENA Regional Network and Karmenu Vella, European Commissioner for Environment Maritime Affairs & Fisheries for our Europe Regional Network.
Last week, WorldGBC’s Europe Regional Network launched a report through its Green Mortgages project. The report, Creating an Energy Efficient Mortgage for Europe: Towards a New Market Standard details the performance criteria for banks to use when issuing energy efficiency mortgages. We believe these standards could help transform the building stock across Europe. The report has already been covered in media worldwide, including Bloomberg, and received 139 million media impressions. Following a successful launch, we look forward to seeing the scheme grow.
This year, our social media campaign reached a record 3.2 million people. Using the hashtags #HomeGreenHome and #WGBW2018, people around the world made promises to build, lease and live in greener homes. From taking measures to reduce water and energy usage to installing solar heating and switching to a greener energy supplier, hundreds of people around the world committed themselves to small actions that collectively can make a big difference.
We want to thank you, our global network of Green Building Councils and Partners for making this an outstanding week of informative, inspiring events. Thanks to you, the message is out: green homes are accessible to all.