SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA-New Songdo City overlooks the Yellow Sea, but creators of the $25-billion enclave favor association with the color green, as underscored by inclusion in a pilot program run by the US Green Building Council. The initiative will result in a new LEED certificate covering entire neighborhoods, and the masterplanned, ground-up New Songdo City will establish criteria for the standard, explains Carl Seaholm of Gale International, lead developers for the multi-faceted project.

"We don't want to just say we are green--we want to prove we are, and this is the best way for us to do that," Seaholm tells GlobeSt.com. The effort involves application for a LEED-ND certificate in which New Songdo City would secure the first citation issued for an entire city. Although stressing that Gale and partner Posco E&C are eager to work with the recently formed Korean Green Building Council, Seaholm says the USGBC LEED certificate currently carries the most validity of any such group globally. Acceding that it can be both expensive and time-consuming, Gale's EVP for international relations says surviving the rigorous USGBC process would put New Songdo City in an esteemed category, and is a goal all members of the project team are enthused about achieving.

"They like to have one foot in the future, and so there is a lot of excitement about this," says Seaholm. The rating process will assess density, proximity to transit, environmental preservation, pedestrian friendliness and materials used in the design, all areas that the architects at Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates considered from the outset, according to Seaholm and others active in the planning. "Green principles permeate Songdo's DNA, making it a model of the best environmental practices not only today, but also adaptable for future challenges," says Christine Todd Whitman, the former US Environmental Affairs administrator who is now a member of the Gale International Advisory Board.

Whitman's consulting firm is also environmental advisor to Gale International, and is helping oversee New Songdo City's participation in the 18-month pilot program along with YRG Sustainability Consultants and Terrapin Bright Green. New Songdo City is among only one of three LEED-ND projects in Asia, and is by far the largest outside North America. When completed in 2014, the city will feature 50 million sf of office space; an international preparatory school; art museum and health center, plus 30 million sf of residential space and 10 million sf of retail. About $10 billion of construction is expected to be underway by year's end, Seaholm estimates.

For all the real estate anticipated, including a 65-story, 1,000-foot tall office tower that recently broke ground, New Songdo City places a major emphasis on the environment, says Seaholm. About 40% of the city will be open space, well above that found in most major metropolises. New Songdo City will have its own 100-acre Central Park, an 18-hole Jack Nicklaus Golf Course and various water features to accommodate aquatic activities. In aspiring to the tenets of LEED-ND, Gale International chairman Stanley Gale says the process "is about enhancing and protecting the overall health, natural environment and quality of life of a community."

As the largest private real estate project ever undertaken, New Songdo City is garnering international attention, and with that comes a responsibility to set an example, adds Seaholm. "We need to be ahead of the curve," ensuring that New Songdo City has the flexibility to adapt to new environmental breakthroughs such as the anticipated fuel-cell sector. To further enhance that element, Seaholm says the planners hope the city will attract cutting-edge environmental companies who can use the community as a base to serve all of Asia, which faces intensive pollution issues going forward.

Not only will New Songdo City encourage such advancements, Seaholm says the environmental focus is also seen as a lure to attract the regional and global companies literally looking for a fresh approach to living. Some of Asia's dirtiest urban centers are within an hour's flight of New Songdo City, Seaholm notes, making it an attractive alternative. "It helps us fulfill our business model," he says.