The papers in this section provide an outline of issues related to sustainable building in selected countries and regions, including discussions of the current status, policies and programs, take-up by the private sector, technologies, education and training issues and obstacles to further progress.

The papers have largely been prepared by the coordinators of the SB07 conferences, except for the Canadian contribution, which was prepared by an associated group. The papers from France and Brazil are unique in that there were no SB07 conferences in those countries.

The list of papers include the following:

• Brazil
• Canada (and Annex)
• Czech Republic
• France
• Hong Kong
• Korea
• Malaysia
• New Zealand
• Portugal
• Sweden
• Taiwan

Even though our coverage is not complete, this collection of eleven papers constitute a valuable glimpse of the status and potential for sustainable building in most continents, and represent a major (and mainly unpaid) effort by the authors. Readers will find some variation in coverage and format within the group, but all are clearly written and well presented.

We will appreciate comments directly to the authors or via iiSBE.

Sincerely

Nils Larsson
Executive Director, iiSBE and Chair of SB08 Regional Committee