Standardization News

Survey and Workshop Are Components of Project

ASTM International, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, will be working with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation on a two-part program called Sustainability in Building Construction (Commercial Buildings).

The first part of the program is a survey of the 21 APEC economies regarding sustainability policies and regulation; how standards, codes and rating systems support policies and regulations; and how technical requirements facilitate trade in sustainable building materials and products among these economies.

Results from the survey will be used in choosing topics for the second part of the program, which is a workshop to be held March 3–4 in conjunction with the annual APEC meeting to be held in Washington, D.C.

Five economies have joined the United States as co-sponsors of the APEC event: Canada, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand and Peru.

In addition, the U.S. Agency for International Development will partner with ASTM International to extend this effort beyond the March workshop to another event later in the year.

Preliminary stages of the project were funded by the Aluminum Association; the Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute; the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials; and the International Code Council.

The 21 APEC economies are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.