Two of Australia’s leading sustainability organisations, the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) and the Infrastructure Sustainability Council of Australia (ISCA), have come together to make it easier for industry to deliver sustainability through the infrastructure and buildings that are rapidly shaping Australian cities.
Modern cities have blended boundaries of property and infrastructure, which deliver on the needs of societies ignoring the traditional delineation of asset types.
In particular, the development of integrated station developments and over station developments are becoming the new norm, maximising land use whilst delivering on the needs of communities.
These are the projects where the Infrastructure Sustainability (IS) Design & As Built for infrastructure and Green Star – Design & As Built rating tools for buildings overlap.
With a collaborative and integrated approach, today the organisations have released a guidance which maps out the common elements of both rating tools and identifies where alignment and certification efficiencies exist when targeting dual certification.
GBCA Chief Executive Officer, Davina Rooney, said the shared approach reflected increasing demand from government, industry, investors and the wider community for independent assurance of sustainable outcomes across all facets of project delivery.
“We recognise the importance of working together to deliver leading standards of sustainability, but also making these standards and the outcomes they drive as accessible as possible,” Ms Rooney said.
“With an increasing focus on large scale infrastructure delivery, supported by integrated built form and urban renewal, a coordinated approach to sustainability is more important than ever.”
According to ISCA Chief Executive Officer, Ainsley Simpson, there was increasing uptake from government and industry of both rating tools to measure and reward sustainability performance across urban development projects.
“Together with industry we can successfully deliver even greater sustainable outcomes,” Ms Simpson said.
Project team members are encouraged to consult with both the GBCA and ISCA where opportunities to apply the guide exist, in order to drive benefits for the industry.
A copy of the guide can be found online here.