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
