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Securing a sustainable future

UTC believes climate change is a critical environmental concern. With a worldwide real estate portfolio of more than 100 million square feet, we are committed to designing and building new facilities with the lowest possible environmental footprint. In 2008, UTC will begin using the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system in all new facilities, whether owned or leased. Two of these new facilities are in China. In 2007, the Otis Elevator Company TEDA Center opened. Located in the Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area, this facility is designed to meet LEED Gold standards and uses advanced technologies and green building practices to lower energy consumption at least 25 percent, as compared with conventional construction methods and materials. In Shanghai, Pratt & Whitney Global Service Partners broke ground on an engine overhaul facility targeted to meet LEED Platinum standards. Once complete, it is expected that at least 12.5 percent of the facility’s energy use will come from renewable sources.

We also partner with other leading companies to affect global change. With Lafarge, UTC is leading the World Business Council for Sustainable Development’s Energy Efficiency in Buildings (EEB) project, to develop a roadmap for zero net energy buildings in six representative regions of the world. The project’s first report found that, on average, building and property professionals overestimate the additional cost of green buildings by more than 300 percent and underestimate by 50 percent buildings’ contribution to global GHG emissions. The next report, in September 2008, will outline paths to achieve zero net energy buildings. In November 2007, UTC and more than 140 companies signed The Bali Communiqué before the start of The United Nations Climate Change Conference 2007. This document pledged that global corporations will work with governments internationally to reduce GHG emissions, primarily through investment in low-carbon technologies.