The internationally renowned Sydney Opera House has been awarded a 6 Star Green Star Performance Rating, confirming its status as an innovator in environmental and social sustainability.
The official rating by the Green Building Council of Australia makes the Opera House one of the first World Heritage Listed buildings to have received the certification. The Opera House and its administration have adopted a number of sustainable measures to achieve the rating.
This includes maintaining carbon neutral status year-on-year since 2018, retrofitting the building with energy and water monitoring tools supplied by Honeywell, a 20 percent reduction in electricity and water usage, increasing its operational waste recycling rate to more than 90 percent and diverting over 90 percent of major building works construction waste from landfill. Most stunningly, the Opera House has also installed an artificial reef in the waters around Bennelong Point to restore habitat and increase marine biodiversity.
“The Opera House’s 6 Star Green Star certification highlights the remarkable progress this world-famous building has made in reducing its environmental impact as well as its broader commitment to long-term sustainability,” says NSW Minister for the Arts, John Graham.
“The leadership and innovation exhibited by the Opera House demonstrates how sustainable building transformations can successfully address the challenges of our time, ensuring a positive and lasting impact on current and future generations.”
Opera House CEO Louise Herron AM is delighted with the certification.
“The Opera House is the most recognised and loved building in Australia. The community looks to us to provide leadership on the issues that matter.
“This includes taking positive climate action and improving equity, inclusion and access for everyone. We hope our focus on sustainability, which is part of the Opera House’s DNA, will help inspire organisations everywhere, big and small, to create positive change.”
The announcement is a major milestone within the Opera House’s 2020-23 Environment Action Plan. The Opera House now operates completely on renewable energy and has eliminated single-use plastic. Administration has also invested in nature-based projects and First Nations initiatives. The Opera House also plans to be climate positive by 2030.
Green Building Council of Australia CEO Davina Rooney says the implementations made by Opera House have paved the way for the 6 Star Rating.
“The Opera House is so much more than one of the world's most iconic performance spaces – it's a world leader in operational sustainability too,” she says.
This energy efficient, heritage listed, public building has gone from a 4 Star Green Star Performance rating for best practice in 2015, to a 6 Star Green Star rating for world leadership in 2023. This is proof that any building – old or new, big or small – can reach the highest sustainability outcomes. This achievement deserves a standing ovation, and we thank the Opera House for its leadership.”
