Dear Friends and Colleagues,

As we approach the end of 2007, we welcome the opportunity to reflect on the past year of enormous growth of the WorldGBC and to let you know about upcoming events and projects already planned for 2008.

This past year we saw the WorldGBC go from a volunteer organization to a formalized, staffed organization, with a Secretariat established just north of Toronto in Canada.  The capacity for the WorldGBC to build momentum and its presence in the world is critical, and the Secretariat has already proven that it is up to the challenge!  2008 will be a year of strategic planning and action, building a base of support for the Secretariat and for each of our GBC’s.

Most important – council development.  At the end of 2007, we have 11 countries who have been awarded membership status with the World Green Building Council: Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, India, United Arab Emirates, UK, USA, Canada, Japan, Mexico and Brazil.  Congratulations to all of you for the work you have done in your countries to accelerate the transformation of the building industry to more sustainable solutions.  We were also excited to recognize 3 countries who have worked hard to achieve emerging member status with the WorldGBC: Viet Nam, South Africa and Argentina.  We look forward to welcoming you soon as full members!   And there are 21 more countries where the WorldGBC is actively working with local industry and government to form green building councils.  We will keep everyone posted on progress in these countries.

International Events – The 7^th International WorldGBC Toronto Congress launched the Secretariat in July.  Over 100 delegates from all around the world met in Toronto over four days with one common goal, to advance green building principles worldwide. Representatives from every continent were present at the Congress, totaling 23 countries in all. 

The WorldGBC partnered with the USGBC and iiSBE to present the Greenbuild International Forum in Chicago in November.  Alicia Barcena, United Nations Under-Secretary-General, opened the forum for over 400 participants.  We are pleased to report that Ms. Barcena has agreed to become an honourary patron for the WorldGBC.  She joins Donna Cansfield, Minister of Natural Resources for the Ontario government, who has also accepted the appointment of honourary patron.   We appreciate their efforts on a national and international scale on our behalf.

Research Projects – Dr. Ray Cole, Professor & Director of the School of Architecture, University of British Columbia has been contracted todevelop a report for WorldGBC titled International Developments in Building Environmental Assessment Methods. The proposed project will provide:

• A review of the changing role of building environmental assessment methods.
• A detailed and critical review and comparison of recent and anticipated international developments in building environmental assessment methods. A number of rating systems will be drawn upon internationally as a means of understanding these emerging trends.
• A review of the relevant literature and discussions with the developers of the various systems.

While not presenting a side-by-side technical comparison of the methods, the project will identify the key consequences and lessons that can be extracted from the various studies that have done so.  This study will be made available on the WorldGBC website early in the New Year.

China Mission -

Nellie Cheng and I travelled to Beijing, China on December 3 to meet with the China GBC Secretariat. They have reported that the green building effort in China is going at full speed. Mr. Wang You Wei, Executive Director of ChinaGBC, reported on the progress that has been made to date, which is very encouraging.  We will continue to work with ChinaGBC in 2008.

In 2008, there is much to look forward to.  Early in the new year (February 24-27), the WorldGBC will host its 8^th International Congress alongside Ecobuild08 in London.  Our goal for this Congress is to provide a forum for established and emerging councils to hear from experts and work with each other to identify key issues and solutions to increase their capacity to effect change within each country.  With the UK-GBC providing much support in the organization of this Congress, we know it will be a great success. 

Also in the first quarter of 2008, you will see a new and improved WorldGBC website, focused on the support of our GBC members by providing current trend information and data.

The Board of Directors is also pleased to report that we have recently formed sub-committees of the Board to tackle issue-specific information more effectively.  We will draw on the expertise of the Board members, WorldGBC staff and industry representatives to inform our strategy and business planning from this point forward.  The first meetings of the committees will occur in January 2008.

As we look to 2008, the WorldGBC will be ever focused on how we can more effectively support our member GBC’s, how we can create well-resourced new councils, and how we can promote best practices on an international level.  We welcome feedback and input from our members in how we can serve your best interests as we work together for a more sustainable built environment globally.

We look forward to working together with all of you in 2008!

Warm regards,

Kevin Hydes

Chair

WorldGBC Board of Directors