Friday, February 22, 2008Going Forward

Steve FoxPreserving Our greatest assets by Going Green

Construction in the BVI is booming – new residential, commercial and resort developments can be seen throughout the islands, and the bustle in the market place is vigorous. The latest government statistics are reporting a strong and promising economy, but how can we ensure that this progress is positive and long-lived? The international financial and tourism sectors are essential to our economy, and help to make us one of the most stable and prosperous areas of the Caribbean. But in order to sustain this success, we must evaluate the critical challenges we face, and therefore need to address, in the next decades. We should be conscious of the long-term social and environmental implications, as the islands continue to develop at this unprecedented pace.

The beautiful natural environment of the BVI remains one of the Territory’s greatest assets. However, following the past 50 years of accelerated business and domestic development, there is much, justified, concern that our delicate and sensitive natural environment has been irreparably impacted, and continues to be seriously endangered through insensitive construction and overdevelopment.

Furthermore, we are all, in our own way, responsible for our contribution to climate change and global environmental degradation. Our reliance on the consumption of fossil fuels to provide us with power, transportation, imported goods, water and most other aspects of our energy-hungry lifestyles is the source. The facts and implications of global climate change have been established. A failure to adapt and mitigate, and a lack of preparedness, will lead to worldwide economic disruption, as predicted in the 2007 report on climate change by economist Sir Nicholas Stern, commissioned by the British government, which found that the impacts of global warming will shrink the global economy by 20 percent, should we take no action. The same report suggests that taking action now would cost just one percent of global gross domestic product.

Here in the Caribbean, there is a tendency to declare that these issues are “not our problem,” and that it is up to the larger and more powerful countries to change their ways. However, we should not always wait for others to act. With our privileged financial position in the BVI, and with our abundance of sources for renewable energy, we have the opportunity to lead by example, and to implement measures which will help to reduce our carbon footprint on a national level, and our environmental impact on a local level. The time for complacency is over. We all need to look very hard at our lifestyles and development policies, and consider what we can do to minimize our impact on the natural environment, which is so critical to our future economy.

“Green” building practices can substantially reduce or eliminate negative environmental impacts, and improve existing unsustainable design, construction and operational practices. Moreover, green design measures can reduce operating costs, enhance marketability and improve living and working environments. The US Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) programme is at the forefront in helping to improve building industry standards. LEED is a rating system, which evaluates environmental performance from a whole building perspective over a building’s life cycle, providing a definitive standard for what constitutes a “green building”. The system rigorously evaluates all aspects of the design, construction and operation, from selection of the site, to the design response to the site, to the choice of paint and other building materials and the design and operation of electrical and plumbing equipment, with the aim of achieving certification in one of four ratings categories: Certified, Silver, Gold or Platinum.

The LEED system is becoming increasingly prevalent in the US, with many corporate and governmental organisations now insisting that new projects attain at least Silver or Gold certification. Although the system has generally been applied to commercial projects, the design principles and construction practices required to meet the standards can and should be applied to all building projects. A number of buildings have recently been certified in Puerto Rico, and these have shown that the system can be adopted successfully in our climate. And we at OBM are in the process of registering a number of new commercial and resort projects for LEED, in the BVI and in other Caribbean locations, which will set an improved environmental standard for construction in the region.

As our largest industries, tourism and finance, continue to grow and change, the BVI should continue to celebrate the people, culture and environment that make us indelibly unique. Our environment is an intrinsic and critical feature of the complex economic and social framework, which needs to be protected, maintained and preserved, in order to ensure a lasting and stable marketplace for current and future business.

Oyster Publications Inc, PO box 3369, Road Town Tortola, British Virgin Islands, VG1110