Bayer MaterialScience (BMS, Leverkusen / Germany; www.bayerbms.com) and its “EcoCommercial Building” (ECB) programme – see Plasteurope.com of 23.06.2010 – have been awarded the prize for “best practice of global green building” for its sustainable lighthouse developments, led by the Qingdao Zero Emission Lighthouse project.

The most recent lighthouse project in Qingdao / China involves the construction of a new office building which, when complete, will be Bayer’s first zero-emission building in the country, and will be 100% carbon neutral. The project was developed under the ECB programme and employs a wide range of innovative materials and technologies in the area of sustainable building construction thanks to its network of expert partners in China providing solutions that are available locally.

Michael Voigt, BMS’ head of EcoCommercial Building in China said the country “is a really important market for the committed members of the EcoCommercial Building network and of course for BMS as well. We are expecting more and more demand for the high-performance materials and solutions in the construction industry because the country is working towards being greener and a more sustainable economy."

The award was presented by the Global Forum on Human Settlements (GFHS; www.gfhsforum.org) at the “Conference on Sustainable Human Settlements”, co-organised by the GFHS, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA; www.un.org/en/development/desa), the United Nations Human Settlements Program (UN-HABITAT; www.unhabitat.org), the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP; www.unep.org), and is supported by a wide variety of international organisations. The conference was associated with “UN Rio+20 Earth Summit” (www.uncsd2012.org) held in Rio de Janeiro / Brazil in June 2012.