Industrial companies in China can turn green-focused new factories into potential gold with the right business planning, says Stefan Rau, Founder of Metropolitan Synergies, a Shanghai-based architectural firm that specialises in eco-friendly city and business park planning.
During a speech entitled “Green = Gold, Eco-Efficient Site and Facility Planning” in Shanghai, Rau argued a six-point plan for green masterplanning and facility design that “can recoup money very quickly in energy savings provided all aspects are incorporated into the business plan from the beginning.”
The six key green factory factors Rau cites are:
1) Land use efficiency – better use of a plant’s green “ecological infrastructure,” such as gardens and park areas.
2) Eco efficiency – building a factory garden roof or exterior wall for better insulation of the plant.
3) Water efficiency – adopting recycling and refiltering methods for all waste water.
4) Renewable energies – thoroughly investigate the most beneficial sustainable energy options for a particular plant, such as wind-powered electricity and/or photovoltaic panels and facades.
5) Clean factory technology – cleaning your exhaust air before it is emitted into the atmosphere and reducing, recycling and, where possible, gasifying, industrial waste.
6) Life-cycle planning – look at value-driven ways for converting your industrial asset once its productive life-cycle runs its course – which may actually be sooner than you may think.
