2022 Summer Issue - 20

develop
Lighting the Way
to Net Zero in Asia's
Largest Cities
Technology and contributions from
all stakeholders will be crucial if
Asia's cities are to meet their net
zero targets.
Earlier this year, a series of three
webinars organized by ULI China
Mainland covered the efforts and
challenges of several cities and
organizations around the world to
give some focus to the efforts in
Beijing, which is one of the cities in
ULI's Net Zero Imperative initiative.
The discussions also focused on
the Chinese capital as well as Hong
Kong and Singapore.
The ULI Net Zero Imperative
initiative focused initially on eight
cities around the world: Austin,
Kansas City, Los Angeles, Minneapolis,
and San Jose in the United
States; Toronto in Canada; and Beijing
and Shenzhen in China.
The five-year program involves a
two-day technical assistance event
in each city to help the public and
private sectors develop a road map
to decarbonization. ULI will run
events on the ground in each city,
as well as develop global resources
to help members accelerate decarbonization.
Committing
to Net Zero
Important themes that emerged
during the ULI China Mainland
webinars included the importance
of engaging stakeholders if companies
and cities want to move the
needle on sustainability and particularly
on net zero ambitions, which
require wider buy-in than just gov20
URBAN
LAND SUMMER 2022
ernment and business. Meanwhile,
China's emissions trading system
(ETS), which launched last year,
provides companies with a huge
market for trading and the opportunity
to demonstrate commitment to
China's 2060 net zero goal.
Key focus areas for the Beijing
Net Zero Imperative initiative
include examination of what China's
national decarbonization project
means at the local level, how
best to retrofit existing buildings to
get them to net zero carbon, and
how to manage a dynamic central
business district such as Beijing's
in a net zero environment. The initiative
also seeks to make a business
case for real estate in Beijing
to act now on decarbonization.
Jingjing Ma, general manager
of Beijing-based NordiQ Engineering
Consulting and moderator of
the webinar, detailed the global
pledge to net zero at the 2021
United Nations Climate Change
Conference, known as COP26, in
Scotland: 136 countries committed
to carbon neutrality, accounting for
78 percent of carbon emissions, 80
percent of the world's gross domestic
product (GDP), and 62 percent
of the global population. Ma also
outlined how China has moved
toward its goal of net zero by 2060.
Net Zero Buildings,
Neighborhoods
Charlie Zhu, deputy general manager
at architects and consultants
Top Energy, said that China needs
to start at the ground level, to move
from net zero carbon buildings to
net zero carbon neighborhoods,
and then to a net zero carbon society.
The first stage in Beijing has
been newer buildings in the city's
various commercial areas, which
have gone for Leadership in Energy
and Environmental Design (LEED) or
some other building certification.
Zhu spoke about initiatives in
a new Beijing development that is
seeking LEED Platinum accreditation
and a refurbishment project
that will upgrade an older building,
and significantly reduce carbon
across its life cycle.
Important factors for Beijing and
China reaching carbon neutrality
include using renewable energy
from various technologies and also
more companies signing up for
targets alongside the 1,029 companies
in Greater China that have
signed up for the Science Based
Targets Initiative (SBTi).
Office Strategies That
Reduce
Catherine Xiong, executive director
of China project management at
CBRE, spoke about her firm's commitment
to carbon neutrality by
2040, using the SBTi and focusing
on Scope one, two, and three initiatives.
The company has a six-stage
process from planning and design,
and procurement and supply
chains, through waste management,
technology, emissions, and
offsetting.
Xiong used the example of
CBRE's own Beijing office, where
a 360-degree workplace strategy
is employed to increase efficiency
and reduce the amount of space
needed. This strategy involves hotdesking
and a paperless office.
There also is a digital carbon
energy management system that
uses the internet of things to
2022 Summer Issue

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