Issue 19, June 2006

The Green Building Council of Australia's (GBCA) mission is to develop a sustainable property industry for Australia and drive the adoption of green building practices through market-based solutions.

Since 2003, GBCA has launched the Green Star environmental rating system for buildings. The impact of this scheme is evident through:

• The number of buildings achieving a Green Star rating or buildings being designed for a Green Star rating; and

• Suppliers of building materials (e.g. flooring coverings) who are aware of the need to show conformance with the requirements of the rating tools. In some instances suppliers are modifying their products to meet the requirements.
  Cetec was involved with some early adopters of the GBCA rating requirements. There are now a wide variety of suppliers and industries following the rating requirements.

The GBCA is now in the process of developing a number of new rating tools for Retail Design, Health as Built, Education as Built and Residential.

The new rating tools will be the result of the joint effort of GBCA staff and the GBCA Technical Working Group, which is a voluntary collaboration of experts. These experts come from a variety of environmental and industry backgrounds, including material suppliers, architects, property managers, facility managers and engineers.
 

The development process for the new rating tools is nearing finalization. The pilot version of each new rating tool will soon be available for you to see and offer comment. This will allow each rating tool to be refined before its official release.

Cetec recommends that you watch for the release of each pilot rating tool, relevant to you and your business, and offer your valuable feedback. Your feedback is required to ensure the rating tools can be a success from an effective practical and manageable viewpoint.

To keep learn more about these rating tools and keep abreast of the release of the new rating tools click here.
 

 

Select another article from this issue:

	Diesel Exhaust and Environmental Health
	Why you need a Chemical Inventory System
	The Future of Australian Manufacturing
	Innovative technology for monitoring trace level compounds in soil and air