VicUrban and the Green Building Council of Australia have joined forces to develop a national benchmark for sustainable design across entire communities.

The Green Star rating tool could shape VicUrban's township in Melbourne’s south-east, Sydney's Frasers Broadway (pictured) and Sydney’s Barangaroo, Macquarie University, CUB in Melbourne and Eastlake in ACT.

While a Green Star tool would be “more complex” than other Green Star rating tools developed for specific building types, such as offices, shopping centres, hospitals, and schools, GBCA CEO Romily Madew said VicUrban’s commitment to the tool was the impetus it needed.

VicUrban said it would incorporate the Sustainable Community Rating tool into a national framework.

The GBCA and VicUrban held a “visioning workshop” in June with 48 representatives from Australia’s development and building industry and the three tiers of government to outline what a framework could look like.

“Initiatives like this lead to innovative practices,” said Sue Holliday, chair of the Built Environment Industry Innovation Council, who participated in the workshop.

“We saw significant innovations in the built environment industry emerging from tools like Basix and Green Star. This initiative, now being developed at a national scale, will do the same for precinct-wide approaches to sustainability,” Holliday said.

A number of Australia’s leading private-sector developers, including Stockland, Lend Lease, MAB, Leighton, Mirvac, Grocon and GPT Group also participated in the workshop.

“This framework, to be shaped by policy makers and diverse players across the property sector, will guide sustainable development of communities, encompassing social as well as environmental sustainability attributes,” Stockland’s general manager, corporate responsibility, Siobhan Toohill, said.

The GBCA and VicUrban are urging the government to play an important role in mandating higher standards for some aspects of urban development, optimal outcomes can only be achieved through partnership, industry leadership and informed consumer choices.

“Sustainable communities are more than just sensitive to their environment. Sustainable communities meet the diverse needs of both existing and future residents and workers and contribute to a high quality of life,” Madew said.