The hunger for green building products is on the rise all over the world, according to a press release from the Green Product Association (GPA), Boston. McGraw Hill’s Smart Market - Global Green Building Report notes that, “At $4.7 trillion, the [global] construction industry contributes 8-10 percent of global gross domestic product” and is projected to grow steadily, despite the state of the economy.
Additionally, the expected boom in infrastructure and building development in Asia and other markets, together with the race for innovation in green and clean tech, are expected to generate tremendous opportunities for growth and promotion of green building products.
The GPA, a global association promoting the entire life cycle of green products for construction and operations, says it recognizes these opportunities and has announced the establishment of its Global Trade Partner network to accelerate market adoption of green products for companies of all sizes.
GPA’s Global Trade Partners include governmental International Trade and Investment Offices, World Green Building Councils and other entities in both the public and private sectors that represent trade and commerce.
Representatives from China, Canada, Mexico, Russia, the United Kingdom, Vietnam, Mauritia and Israel were the first to join, representing trillions of dollars in market investment. GPA is working with these and other partners to create effective channels for product promotion to developers and specifiers and to proactively address challenging issues such as conflicting standards and regulations across international markets.
Many innovative, game-changing technologies will come from small and mid-sized companies, the GPA notes. Recognizing this fact, GPA membership is now tiered to ensure that companies of all sizes and market-share can participate and benefit from its global initiatives. Companies who join by April 30, 2010, are included as founding members and have a seat on GPA’s interim advisory board, providing leadership and direction for GPA market activities.
Heidi Jandris of A. Jandris & Sons, CMU manufacturer and GPA Founding Member, explains, “Our company has taken several steps at our manufacturing facility to reduce oil, water, and energy consumption. Most of our production waste is recycled into local industries. By becoming founding members of the Green Product Association, we are working to generate a network between manufacturers to open recycling channels between industries, increasing the feasibility and availability of recycled content.”