The Victorian government's urban development agency, VicUrban, and the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA), have formed a partnership agreement in order to create a national framework to drive the development of sustainable communities and precincts.
"Since the introduction of Green Star environmental rating tools in 2003, we have seen Australia's property and construction industry embrace sustainable building practices to the extent that 11 per cent of Australia's CBD office space is now Green Star certified," says GBCA chief executive, Romilly Madew.
"We are now broadening our focus to examine how we build and support sustainable communities, acknowledging that many urban precincts embrace multiple uses."
VicUrban and the GBCA are hoping to develop a framework which will inform consumers about achievable and desirable levels of sustainability, and act as a mechanism for industry to raise standards and deliver best practice against measureable benchmarks.
A visioning workshop was held 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. Stockland, Lend Lease, MAB, Leighton, Mirvac and Grocon all 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," says Stockland's general manager.
