Worldwide, buildings consume nearly 40 percent of the world's energy, 25 percent of its wood and 15 percent of its water. As such, buildings account for 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions and have significant impact on the environment, economy and society. Therefore, green buildings can make a major contribution to tackling climate change and energy use. In order to accomplish the goal of low-impact development and a sustainable future, green building must be a global movement.

China has the largest building construction market in the world and it is growing at an explosive rate. The World Bank estimates that by 2015, half of the world's building construction will take place in China. The Chinese government has invested hundreds of billions of dollars in green building in order to combine further economic growth with increased energy supply security and reduced local air pollution. The combination of China's booming construction industry and its critical need for green buildings makes it a very exciting international opportunity for green building products and services.

As China's premier green design and construction conference, Global Green Building (GGB) featured a broad range of sessions focused on design, economics, technologies, project delivery models and products that lead to high-performance buildings and minimize the environmental impacts of our creations. The GGB 2011 provided a highly professional forum that promoted collaborative excellence between stakeholders, and brought together key stakeholders and expert speakers from around the world to promote eco-friendly design and construction methods and solutions that foster green building development.

The Code Council's CEO Rick Weiland delivered a presentation on the "International Green Construction Code (IgCC): Game Changer in Sustainable Building" to a diverse audience of decision makers in Shanghai, China. The audience was made up of senior Chinese government officials, representatives of real estate developers, utilities, project operators and contractors, leading technology and service providers, leading architectural firms, equipment suppliers, and investors.