Green Building Seminar in Costa Rica

This past April, the Green Building Seminar and Round-table took place at the University for Peace in Ciudad Colon, Costa Rica. A good portion of the Conference tackled Climate Change, which included a variety of lectures, panel discussions and workshops. Among the assistants were students, policymakers, academics and members of business and NGO community.

Dr. Karl-Werner Schulte, HonRICS CRE, International Real Estate Business School began the conference as well as set the pace of the event. The Round-table was hosted by Mr Sven Schulte, a UPeace graduate student himself.With the aid of many university, NGO and business experts, the whole event moved at a smooth pace. Tropisphere's very own Geoff McCabe was a key note speaker there!

Highlight points discussed in the frame of the Green Building Round-table were:

• Sustainability in a tropical environment, does it need to be adapted?
• LEED in Western countries, and in high profile developments like condominiums and hotels.
• Green Buildings, affordable?
• Problems with inspections, laws and enforcement
• The role of Costa Rica's seismic and topographic environment as a foundation for green buildings
• Concerning commercial real estate: Is it a true vehicle for exercising Corporate Social Responsibility or just a mirage for "greenwashing" (to pretend to be green but not really practicing it).
• Costa Rica's role as a biological corridor, and how this needs to be implemented and considered in green building projects

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