Emerging economic powerhouses such as India and China have long been criticised for not doing enough to cut carbon emissions but the chairman of architecture firm Benoy, Graham Cartledge, takes a different view.
Benoy is currently working with the Chinese government on the sustainable development of areas devastated by the recent earthquake. Cartledge says developing nations are taking a “very responsible attitude” to environmental issues.
He says: “We’re finding that more clients are becoming conscious of the zero carbon issue and the need to cut waste or utilise waste, where possible. The energy issue is also a big one and I’m finding that the emerging nations – particularly India and China – are very conscious of this.”
Benoy, a £30m-turnover firm, does a lot of work in countries such as India and China; Cartledge says that’s the reason why the company's revenue growth has been so strong in recent years. “Fundamentally, we were rather comfortable in our remit of trade within the UK and Western Europe and I took the view that we were missing the opportunity of utilising some of the energy and experience that we’d gained by taking it offshore,” he says.
“But you don’t go offshore with such confidence when your cash flow isn’t quite as strong in the UK as it should be. We did it at the right time when we were really strong at home.”
Cartledge says being environmentally friendly is not just about building carbon neutral structures. “It’s making sure that schools, hotels, hospitals and the like are well thought out so that travel time and distances aren’t big issues,” he says. “Transport systems need to be properly in place. We’re great fans of Hong Kong and the way the city’s built over the transport systems.”
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