Feeling The Cool Breeze

Asia would do well to emulate the U.K.'s quest for sustainability. The government has already begun to phase in building regulations that aim to render all new homes built after 2016 carbon-neutral. Its Code for Sustainable Homes sets standards for water use, waste, building materials and energy consumption that will escalate three times over the next nine years as the zeroemission deadline approaches. "This is an excellent example of a long-term legislative framework," says Nigel Banks, a consultant at the environmental firm Faber Maunsell. "It has allowed developers to test ideas on a small scale [and] invest in new technologies with the knowledge that their investments will be rewarded."

The benefits of applying similar standards on a global scale are obvious, and the risks of not doing so extreme. Old-style buildings contribute heavily to global warming but new ones needn't. And with the bulk of new urbanization set to take place in Asia, it is there that greenhouse-gas emissions—and thereby global warming—can be contained in the next decade or two and even reversed in the longer term. Or not. Fraser Place may not look all that special, but much is riding on what it represents.

© 2007