Region's building industries warned of climate change impacts

The industry will have to adapt to these changes, focusing on energy efficiency and renewable energy to combat the hike in electricity consumption, tariffs and operational costs.

Frost & Sullivan’s new analysis “Country Benchmarking: climate change remodels the building industry in Asia-Pacific,” finds that the emerging nations of China and India present the highest market potential for climate change technologies due to their sheer size. Among developed economies, Singapore and Australia provide significant scope in the overall climate change market in the building industry.

The uncertainty in policies pertaining to climate change in the Asia-Pacific, along with the unavailability of funds for research, remains a challenge. Greater awareness on the importance of climate change mitigation technologies and their long-term benefits is vital in ensuring the successful implementation of green buildings, the report says.

In Thailand, foreign market participants with technical expertise are favoured over domestic ones owing to the existence of too many competing green standards and a lack of direction from the government in regulating these standards.