Mr. Johnny Lin Attends Low-Carbon Design for High-Rise Buildings Conference and Delivers Keynote Speech

Mr. Johnny Lin was an invited guest speaker sharing his insights.

On October 28, the "Low-Carbon Design for High-Rise Buildings Conference" was held at the Roca Shanghai Gallery. The conference aimed to jointly explore the symbiosis between humans and nature and a zero-carbon future in high-density cities. Mr. Johnny Lin, founder of Novtone, attended the conference as an invited guest and delivered a keynote speech titled "Empowering the Future of Low-Carbon Buildings from a Strategic Perspective."

Other distinguished guests at the conference included Mr. Xu Ji, Design Director of gmp's Shenzhen office; Ms. Pearl Tang, Senior Partner at Foster + Partners; Ms. Shasha Wang, Asia Region Industry Research Manager at CTBUH; and Ms. Chen Yingqiu, Head of Roca Shanghai Gallery.

From the perspective of a "Personal Mission in the Course of History," Mr. Johnny Lin deeply analyzed the turning points in human historical development and the journey of environmental awakening. He proposed a strategic framework for the building sector to achieve true, sustainable ESG impact: shifting the focus from solely "carbon reduction" to being "people-centric."

WELL's Entry Point—Making Health and Well-being a Core ESG Issue

In his speech, Mr. Lin emphasized that future ESG strategies must be verifiable and quantifiable. He pointed out that merely pursuing "net-zero" is no longer sufficient to meet the challenges of our time. The building industry needs a more comprehensive system of indicators to make the leap "From Net-Zero to Healthy Buildings."

Core strategic points included:

• Quantifying ESG Outcomes: The ultimate goal of the strategy is to provide verifiable, quantitative results for mainstream reporting standards such as the GRI (Global Reporting Initiative). Data shows that health certification systems like WELL at Scale can cover approximately 20% of ESG metrics.

  
  

• Synergy between WELL and GRESB: Mr. Lin highlighted the strong correlation between healthy building standards and the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB). The indicators covered by the WELL v2 standard account for about 40% of the GRESB Real Estate Assessment. Projects that achieve WELL Certification receive explicit bonus points from GRESB (e.g., 1 point for WELL Certification, 0.6 points for WELL Health-Safety Rating), reflecting the market's recognition of the value of healthy buildings.

  
  

• Comprehensive Coverage and Equitable Governance: The strategic framework is built around three pillars: "Integration with the natural environment," "Social impact," and "Respectful governance." It specifically proposes using WELL at Scale and the WELL Equity Rating to ensure ESG outcomes not only benefit the environment but also achieve social equity.

  
  

To demonstrate the strategy's feasibility, the presentation shared the success story of the NEO Group. The group now has 7 green-certified buildings, covering 255,000 square meters of floor area and 27,500 office workers.

NEO Group in Bonifacio Global City, Philippines

"When health becomes part of ESG, companies are not just more responsible—they are more competitive." — Johnny Lin

By implementing a comprehensive strategy of "Portfolio Net Zero + WELL at Scale + WELL Equity Rating," NEO Group has achieved outstanding sustainability performance and earned a GRESB 3-Star Rating. The group has used 100% renewable energy since 2013 and has accelerated its adoption of EDGE Zero Carbon and WELL certifications in recent years, successfully building a comprehensive ESG impact ranging from environmental benefits to personnel well-being.

During the Q&A session, Mr. Johnny Lin responded to the question "Who is willing to pay for ESG?" He pointed out that state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and centrally-administered enterprises have clear mandatory requirements. Beyond them, investment firms are more willing to participate because investors consider social responsibility, and the firms need to address their investors' demands in this area.

Mr. Johnny Lin answering questions from attendees.

Mr. Johnny Lin concluded that the true impact of ESG lies in completing the transition "From Carbon to People." The future of low-carbon buildings is not just about improving energy efficiency, but more importantly, about achieving the higher goal of sustainable development by creating healthy indoor environments and fair social impacts. This speech provided a clear and executable strategic blueprint for the architecture and investment sectors, illustrating how to achieve long-term value growth through differentiated health and environmental performance in a competitive market.