A group of Australian sustainable building design experts have answered the call to judge Architecture & Design’s 2016 Sustainability Awards.

Celebrating its 10-year anniversary in 2016, the Sustainability Awards is Australia’s longest running program specific to recognising the projects and products at the forefront of sustainable building innovation in Australia.

This year’s panel includes dwp|suters’ National Research + Sustainability Leader Rory Martin, Lendlease Sustainability Consultant Darryl Stuckey, Cundall Principal Alistair Coulstock, Norman Disney & Young Global Sustainability Director Tony Arnel, Positive Footprints Director Jeremy Spencer, and Woods Bagot Senior Associate Silvia Cupik

Re-joining the band of experts is Suzie Barnett, a 2014 and 2015 judge and a key player in establishing the green building movement in Australia.

Heading the panel as the jury chair will be long-time Sustainability Awards judge Dick Clarke of Envirotecture. Clarke will be overseeing the new special awards including Best Newcomer and Lifetime Achievement Award.

“We’re extremely pleased with the wealth of expertise and the breadth of the knowledge this year’s panel will offer the program,” said Architecture & Design’s Nathan Johnson.

“I am confident that they’re the best people for the job and will continue the award’s reputation as a merit-based program dedicated to recognising the truly sustainable building products and projects.”

The judges will now be tasked with deciding which entrants demonstrate the highest levels of excellence and innovation in contributing to a sustainably built environment.

Finalists will be announced in September, with winners honoured at a gala dinner in October.


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Introducing this year's panel of experts:

dick-thumbmail.jpgDICK CLARKE (JURY CHAIR)

Our returning judge on the awards panel, Dick Clarke is the founding director of Envirotecture, a design outfit which also offers a range of training courses tailored to increase practical solutions with focus on sustainability in building design and construction.

Clarke is involved with various government and non-governmental bodies that focus on environmental issues surrounding the innovation and design of sustainable environments.

He holds a Master of Sustainable Futures degree by research (awarded from the Institute of Sustainable Futures UTS), having pursued the topic of the effect of state and local planning instruments on the sustainability of the built environment.

A contributing writer and editor to the widely acclaimed Your Technical Home Manual, Clarke has also previously sat on the NatHERS AccuRate Technical Advisory Committee and the Basix Industry Reference Group.

Having trained with environmental philanthropist Al Gore in November 2006; Clarke is a volunteer presenter with the Australian Conservation Foundation’s Climate Project, as well as the Director of Sustainability at the BDA of NSW and past president of the Association of Building Sustainability Assessors (ABSA).


AC-for-printing-cropped-1MB.jpgALISTAIR COULSTOCK

Alistair Coulstock is a leading expert in the subject of sustainable environments.  His expertise spans strategy, design and engineering in outdoor spaces, buildings, towns and cities. He has significant experience developing and facilitating sustainable vision and values workshops and has a talent for inherently understanding the importance between creating places for people and the environment.

For almost 20 years Alistair has focused his efforts on professional projects across the world assisting clients such as Lendlease, GPT, Investa, Westfield and many more achieve world leading status in sustainability.  During this time he has raised compelling arguments for sustainable change.  Utilising systems thinking he has presented leading ideas at conferences and lectured at various universities on, passive and active design for buildings and worked on developing strategies for delivering sustainable livelihoods.

Alistair has been fortunate to work upon world leading projects, from residential buildings through to the design of large town centres.

A few projects that have won many awards in the field of sustainability are Rouse Hill Town Centre NSW Australia, 1 Bligh St, Sydney Australia, Coca Cola Place NSW North Sydney, NSW, Westfield Sydney shopping centre and commercial towers.


Stuckey.JPGDARRYL STUCKEY

One of Lendlease’s fundamental sustainability practitioners, Stuckey is an accomplished scientist with 15 years of experience in sustainable design, in government and corporate sectors.

Since joining Lendlease, Stuckey has been instrumental in developing an in-house Life Cycle assessment (LCA) capability, and integrating LCA as part of their design and procurement functions.

A key leader in the LCA, Material Science and Climate Adaptation Team, Stuckey has been responsible for managing and delivering Lend Lease’s embodied carbon reduction commitment for the $6 billion Barangaroo South Waterfront renewal project in Sydney.

Stuckey has worked to deliver sustainable design solutions on a number of other Lend Lease projects including Australia’s first multi-story engineered timber building and a range of other commercial and residential fit outs and developments.


Jeremy.jpgJEREMY SPENCER

Jeremy is a builder and director at design & building company Positive Footprints.  Positive Footprints is a multi award winning design and construction company, dedicated to making high energy performing sustainable homes and renovations easy to achieve and affordable.

Jeremy Spencer is a registered builder and energy rater with a Bachelor of Arts and Teaching degree.  He is passionate about spreading the message of environmentally sustainable design, and to help bring about change in the way we build homes.  As well as building homes, Jeremy also teaches other builders green construction in the Master Builders Greenliving program.

Positive Footprints have one three awards at the Sustainability Awards since 2010


Rory-Martin.JPGRORY MARTIN

Previously named ‘Future Green Leader’ by the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) for his ardent commitment to innovative sustainable design, dwp|suter's National Research + Sustainability Leader Rory Martin joins the judging panel for a second time.

Describing sustainable design practises as simply “good design”, Martin is a Green Star Accredited Professional that strongly believes in minimising environmental impact while still meeting economic targets.

Having previously completed projects across North America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Australia, Martin has solid experience in design, consultancy, project delivery and industry standards.

Responsible for building a sustainable culture both internally and for the agenda of all dwp|suters' projects, Martin is a highly regarded professional that has made an enormous contribution to building cleaner, greener spaces that benefit building occupants and users.


photo_SilviaCupik.jpgSILVIA CUPIK

Silvia is a designer working at the cutting edge of architectural projects with a high level of precision and technical knowledge. Of German heritage and with an international CV, Silvia’s passion for architecture is coupled with over 12 years of experience delivering major projects in London, Germany and Australia.

“Office buildings have to be functional and efficient but they need to be a place for people. A well-designed building is so much more than a place where people work, it is a space which inspires, where people meet and collaborate,” says Cupik.

“A building can be subtle, it can be dramatic. It needs to respect the surrounding buildings and the environment, but first of all it needs to be a space which people enjoy, a building people are proud of.”


Suzie-Barnett-Profil-Pic-1.jpgSUZIE BARNETT

A strategic thinker, marketer and industry connector, Suzie was a key player in establishing the Green Building Council of Australia as well as the World Green Building Council. Her current focus is on driving change in the building product supply chain and trends such as circular economy, health and wellbeing, toxicity, transparency and procurement.

Tired of the greenwash, superficial marketing and lack of authenticity in the marketplace, in 2013 Suzie launched her consulting career and collaboration with Nicole Smith to deliver marketing strategies and advice to companies dedicated to the supply of authentic and genuine green building products and services, they recently launched this business as Good Marketing & PR.

She is currently a Board member of Archikidz, a not-for-profit providing a dynamic learning platform for inspiring kids about the built environment and has been a judge of the BPN Sustainability Awards every year since 2014. She recently set up her local community garden in Redfern and is the parent representative for building works at Bourke Street Primary School and the new Inner City High School.

Suzie holds a degree in Commerce (PR & Marketing) and has over 20 years positioning and creating new business opportunities for small, medium and large companies throughout Australia. She is an experienced marketer, influencer and public speaker. She has spoken at many conferences in both Australia and overseas on the topic of green building and also been involved in the inception, writing and editing of key research and publications such as “The Dollars & Sense of Green Buildings”, “Valuing Green” and the “Green Building Market Report”.


Tony-Arnel.JPGTONY ARNEL

Tony Arnel is the Global Director of Sustainability at architectural engineering firm, Norman Disney & Young.

A founding Director and former Chair of both the GBCA and the World Green Building Council, Arnel is a highly respected international expert and leader in the field of sustainable innovation.

He has been a member of the Australian Building Codes Board – and for more than a decade – drove the implementation of sustainability principles into the national building code; including new energy efficiency standards for all classes of buildings.

Appointed President of the Energy Efficiency Council in February this year, Arnel is committed to the development of policies and platforms that support smarter, more sustainable use of energy.

Arnel is a Life Fellow of the Australian Institute of Architects and Victorian Fellow of the Institute of Public Administration Australia.

His list of accolades is impressive; having received the Australian Review’s ‘True Leadership’ award in 2009, the inaugural ‘Leadership in Sustainability Award’ from the Australian Institute of Architects in 2010, the ‘Individual Award for Contribution to Sustainability’ in 2011 and most recently, the Chairman’s Award from the World Green Building Council for his contribution as Chair between 2008 and 2011.