South Korea’s Songdo International Business District Sets Global Standard as ‘Eco-City’

New international standards are being set by Gale International in sustainable building design, systems engineering, and urban infrastructure and planning with Songdo International Business District (IBD), a new city currently under construction off Incheon, South Korea, on the Yellow Sea. Songdo IBD is a joint venture between Gale International and Posco Engineering & Construction and is the largest private development in the world.

Songdo IBD, as well two other Gale International signature sustainable developments, One Franklin Street and Seaport Square, are featured this week at the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) annual Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in Boston.

New York and Boston headquartered Gale International began constructing the $35 billion, 1,500-acre development in 2005. When completed in 2014, Songdo IBD will be home to 65,000 people and 300,000 will work there. The first phase of the city opens in August, 2009.

Songdo International Business District stands apart from other large-scale sustainable developments which are typically spearheaded and funded by governments. “The lessons and systems from Songdo IBD can be replicated around the world to create privately financed, master-planned green developments,” stated John B. Hynes, III, CEO and Managing Partner of Gale International. “We have a model that works.”

Indeed, Songdo IBD was recently named a winner of the first annual Sustainable Cities Award from the Urban Land Institute, the only project in Asia so honored. The Sustainable Cities Award honors global examples of sustainable land use that have demonstrated financial viability, a capacity to inspire and an ability to be replicated. With more than 120 buildings registered for LEED certification, Songdo IBD also is one of the world’s most ambitious LEED developments.

Songdo IBD’s extensive use of green materials, systems and planning principles includes such innovations as the following, which are being detailed this week for the first time:

* Water-cooled central air conditioning units were developed by Carrier and LG specifically for Songdo IBD, the first time such systems will be used in Korea. These custom-engineered units will provide a 20% energy savings over industry standard air-cooled units and will now be marketed by the manufactures to other green developments.

* Gale International, in conjunction with UTC, is working to field the first hydrogen fuel cell-powered municipal bus fleet in Asia.

* Songdo IBD will be the first development in Asia to make extensive use of “iCRETE,” the revolutionary construction material that cuts greenhouse gases by 40% as compared to traditional concrete.

* Songdo IBD will boast among the largest commercial installations of UTC fuel cell co-generators in the world.

* Songdo IBD’s massive citywide pneumatic centralized waste management system will almost completely eliminate the need for garbage trucks.

* Gale International owns and operates an onsite factory in Songdo IBD producing glass fiber reinforced concrete (GFRC) panels, a highly economical and environmentally efficient cladding system.

* Gale International is developing a bike lending system similar to that in Paris to encourage residents to make use of Songdo IBD’s 25 km network of bike lanes. The city also will offer charging stations in both residential and commercial buildings to support electric car usage within the city.

* Water efficiency is a hallmark of Songdo IBD’s development. Public green spaces in the city will use indigenous plants requiring little or no irrigation. Greywater systems from larger buildings will be collected, treated, and reused for non-potable uses such as flushing, cleaning and irrigation. Low-flow plumbing fixtures are the standard. A system will be in place to treat and reuse stormwater runoff, and all blackwater will be reprocessed by the city. The lake in the 100-acre Central Park and the canal system will use sea water, not fresh water, thus saving immeasurably on potable water supplies. The canals are powered by wind turbines and the entire body of water is refreshed every 24 hours.

* Information technology is a key enabler of Songdo IBD’s sustainability efforts. All major information systems (residential, medical, business, governmental, etc.) will, at a resident’s discretion, share certain data. Computer systems will be integrated into the houses, streets and office buildings. This integration will greatly enhance demand management, energy efficiency, systems reliability and quality of life. Gale International’s technology partners include Microsoft and LG CNS.

By its very design, Songdo IBD will be an environmental standout not only in Asia, where many urban areas are in a state of ecological crisis, but the world. The city is using as one sustainability framework the evolving LEED for Neighborhood Development certification, for which Songdo IBD was recently selected as a pilot project and partner by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). LEED-ND sets standards not just for green building but also for enhancing and protecting the overall health, natural environment and quality of life of a community. Songdo IBD is the largest LEED-ND pilot project in Asia and one of the few urban areas in the world targeting such certification for an entire city. The KGBCS (Korean Green Building Certification System) also is used within Songdo IBD.

Gale International’s efforts go beyond LEED. “Long-term sustainability and the minimization of the city’s carbon footprint have been considered in every design and engineering decision” by master-plan architect Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates and chief engineers Arup and Cosentini Associates, according to CEO Hynes. “Green principles permeate Songdo’s DNA. It will be a model of the best of what is possible today as well as grow and adapt to the environmental challenges of the future.”

One of the explicit goals of Gale International is to create an elegant urban environment with a significantly reduced carbon footprint compared to a standard baseline Korean or U.S. design. In addition, Songdo IBD is master-planned for 40% green space — a much higher percentage than nearly any other Asian urban centers.

Songdo IBD is a pedestrian city — the furthest residential districts are only a thirty-minute amble from the center. All blocks are designed to connect pedestrians to open space, walking/biking corridors, and public gathering areas. Songdo IBD also will feature a first-rate system of public transportation comprising buses, subways (with connections to Seoul and Incheon City), and water taxis, as well as extensive bike ways and electric-car rentals. Preferential parking spaces will be available for low-emissions vehicles.

“Sustainable Design has environmental, economic and social elements that benefit all building stakeholders, including owners, occupants and the general public,” said CEO Hynes. “Green buildings enjoy the benefits of reduced energy consumption and operating costs, increased building value, and enhanced worker productivity. Most importantly, they foster environmental awareness and engender a real sense of eco-responsibility within the larger community.”

About Gale International

Gale International is a premier international real estate investment and development company with headquarters in New York and offices in Boston; Irvine, California; Seoul and Songdo, South Korea.

About Songdo International Business District

Songdo International Business District, the “Gateway to Northeast Asia,” is being developed by New York headquartered Gale International in a joint venture with Korea’s POSCO E&C. Songdo International Business District (IBD) officially opens August, 2009, as the first “new” city in the world designed and planned as an international business district. The $35 billion, 100 million square foot master-planned metropolis will include forty-five million square feet of office space, thirty million square feet of residential space, ten million square feet of retail, five million square feet of hotel space and ten million square feet of public space. When fully completed in 2014, Songdo IBD will be home to 65,000 people and 300,000 will work there. Songdo IBD is located within the Incheon Free Economic Zone.

Songdo IBD will offer every conceivable amenity including a world-class hospital, an international preparatory school, a 100-acre Central Park, a 1.1 million square foot premium retail mall and a championship 18-hole golf course, the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea.

This new metropolis will be connected to the Incheon International Airport, one of the world’s busiest, by a 7.4 mile highway bridge, and linked by subway to Seoul and its surrounding suburbs. Day travel is easy to China and Japan’s major business centers. More than one third of the world’s population lives within a three and a half hour flying radius. Additional information can be found at www.songdo.com.