Seven signposts on the road to sustainability

The signposts are all pointing in one direction - and that direction is greater sustainability for both individuals and organisations. So, what lies ahead for Australia’s built environment?  Where do the opportunities and risks lie?

Retrofitting: Increasing asset value remains a key driver for green building activity in Australia, and upgrading older buildings is no longer simply an option, but a commercial imperative. The US Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environment Design for Existing Buildings: Operation and Maintenance (LEED-EBOM) has certified more than 1700 projects, with a further 13,200 registered for certification. We expect the Green Star - Performance rating tool to have a similar impact in Australia from mid-2013.

Scalability: Australia is yet to capitalise on the eco-district trend which is shaping other parts of the world. From Freiburg in Germany to Greensburg in Kansas, and from Sweden’s Malmö to China’s Tianjin, sustainability is being embraced at the neighbourhood, precinct or even city level. Australia’s built environment industry needs to take the lessons learnt from green buildings and scale them to communities, districts and cities. Green Star - Communities provides the framework to help us to do this, and to include principles such economic prosperity, liveability, design and governance.

Quality: Increasingly, green is synonymous with quality, and Green Star has become the method of measurement. The Property Council of Australia’s (PCA’s) revised Guide to Office Building Quality identified 5 Star Green Star and 5 star NABERS Energy ratings as the benchmarks for new Premium Grade buildings. Peter Verwer, Chief Executive of the PCA, has said that the new expanded environmental performance metrics in the Guide “demonstrate what industry already knows - sustainable design and management of office buildings has become part of core business”.

Energy: Energy security is a long-term global challenge, particularly in growing economies such as China and India. These countries recognise that energy security also requires unprecedented investment in energy efficiency. Despite living in a country with more sunny days than anywhere else on the planet, we are still lagging behind Asia, Europe and North America in installation and mainstreaming of solar photovoltaic panels. This will change as solar, wind and photovoltaic systems are integrated into buildings and used as building materials, rather than simply being installed ‘on top’. 

Affordability: Many people associate green initiatives with higher costs - but that’s changing.  New business models, technologies and high-performance materials are bringing green within reach.  At the same time, as utility costs skyrocket, people are beginning to understand that affordability means more than the cost of a building the day the auctioneer’s hammer falls. With Green Star ratings being awarded to social housing projects and low-cost university accommodation, we now have positive proof that green building delivers both environmental and financial sustainability. Sustainability initiatives are no longer about higher costs, but about lower bills.

Regulation: Regulation is already reshaping the built environment, with mandatory disclosure driving higher levels of energy efficiency in commercial buildings, and the carbon price encouraging more informed decision-making across the economy. At the same time, governments are increasingly recognising that Green Star is an assurance of quality and a demonstration of fiscal responsibility. State and local governments are increasingly requiring developers to meet Green Star benchmarks for all new projects and choosing Green Star to future-proof their investments.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR): PricewaterhouseCoopers has found that 88% of young workers choose employers based on strong CSR values, and 86% would consider leaving if a company’s CSR values no longer met their expectations. Appealing to the next generation of workers makes operating from a Green Star-rated building a business imperative. Not only do Green Star-rated buildings frequently see significant improvements in productivity, but they represent an investment in the health, wellbeing and comfort of staff.

With more than seven billion people in the world, the need to stretch resources even further will secure sustainability as a central design principle - and the Green Building Council of Australia will continue to work with our members to realise our collective vision for sustainable buildings, communities and cities.

*Romilly Madew, Chief Executive, Green Building Council of Australia.