Meeting stresses the importance of sustainability in city planning, development and construction in the face of unprecedented urban migration.
In his keynote address during a training seminar to more than 200 local government representatives and businessmen, Michael C. Mitchell, founder and CEO of MCM Group International, guided the region’s leaders through the sustainable planning and design process as cities prepare for unprecedented urban migration.
Every year for the next 20 years, up to 10 million people will move from China’s rural to urban areas, placing huge demands on existing cities and on the environment. On average, Chinese city dwellers use three times more energy than their rural counterparts, and by 2020 China will account for 16% of the world’s total energy consumption.
The importance of employing LEED’s certified sustainable planning and construction has never been timelier in China. Since the 1970’s, Mitchell has long been dedicated to advancing the theory and practices of green building with new approaches to the design and implementation of green building rating systems, integrative strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, new insights into the development and evaluation of public policies, and new approaches to understanding the cost and value premiums associated with sustainable projects.
Addressing the official, Mitchell said, “China central government recently released relevant policies and regulations to stimulate the development of green building in China such as green building rating system, certificating system of environmental labeling products, subsidies and incentive policies of taxation on green building and arranged government purchasing of the green building materials.”
The success of his presentation was marked by the local Jiaonan government officials inviting him back and seeking out his consultation regarding upcoming local and regional expansion projects.