The International Green Habitat Forum, held on Nov 12 in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province, explored concepts for ecological cities and the interaction between modern green habitat and creative urban environments.

Now in its eighth year, the forum, themed "Green Habitat and Creative City", focused on the development of rising industries that can transform economies, better use city space and provide modern services.

The event includes sub-forums on "Low-Carbon Policy and Public Participation", "Ecological City and Creative Industry", "Integration and Application of Green Technologies", and "Green Industry Chain".

In the sub-forum "Green Industry Chain", experts from property companies, design institutions, construction companies and equipment producers discussed the whole process of green building, ranging from research, design, production, installation and management. It also had a green product demonstration to give participants a better understanding on their benefits in daily life.

The session studied the Beiguwan Club design project from Zhenjiang, which was this year's entry in the Green Design Competition. In addition to its functions and artistry, the club illustrates the use of design standards needed to save energy, water, cost, space and materials while protecting the environment.

One of the forum's co-sponsors, China Merchants Property Development Co Ltd (CMPD), has been a green development pioneer in China's real estate development sector, using environmentally sound building for 27 years.

Among the 140 construction projects that received National Green Architecture status by February 2011, nine were from CMPD.

Known as the International Green Property Forum in its first six sessions, the annual event was renamed the International Green Habitat Forum last year.

It provides a platform for international cooperation on green and low-carbon development, and includes academic seminars, exhibitions, rewards and news releases.

The themes of previous forums were Idea and Application of Sustainable Development; Green Community and Harmonious Home; Green Architecture and Recycle Economy; Green Application and City Rebirth; Green Development and City Renovation; Green City and Low-Carbon Development; and Green Economy and Harmonious Habitat.

After seven-year of development, the forum has grown into a meeting of national and international experts and scholars on ecological community development and green architecture, and one of the highest-level academic conferences on green development.

This year the forum attracted more than 1,500 participants, including many reputable national and international guests, scholars, and government officials such as Wei Jianguo, director of the International Cooperation Center of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC-ICC), Li Bingren, director of the Science and Technology Committee of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development (MOHURD-STC), and Curt Garrigan, coordinator of the Sustainable Building and Climate Initiative of United Nations Environment Program (UNEP-SBCI) .

It was co-hosted by the NDRC-ICC the MOHURD-STC, the UNEP-SBCI and CMPD.

(China Daily 12/02/2011 page5)