A new report with recommendations for local governments to drive down carbon emissions in buildings has been released by the Green Building Council of Australia.
Launched in conjunction with the Property Council of Australia, Every Building Counts – For Local Government lists 19 policy recommendations across six key areas including accelerating the shift to high performance, sustainable buildings with targeted incentives.
GBCA CEO, Davina Rooney said the report highlighted the importance for local governments to demonstrate climate leadership. Setting targets for achieving net zero by 2050 or sooner should be, underpinned by clear, long-term strategies to encourage and deliver zero-carbon-ready, resilient buildings, she added.
The City of Melbourne’s program, Retrofit Melbourne, is in place to lower emissions and make buildings more sustainable.
“Existing buildings contribute 66% of our current carbon emissions. To become a zero carbon city by 2040, more than 80 commercial buildings need to be decarbonised each year,” said Deputy Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece. “It’s crucial we act now – working alongside industry, government and academic partners to future-proof our city for generations to come. We need to get the balance right – protecting our older buildings which give Melbourne its character, while accelerating our collective journey towards zero net emissions.”
The Property Council’s executive director in Victoria, Cath Evans, said without coordinated and targeted actions to address building emissions, the net zero transition cannot be totally successful.
“The adoption of Every Building Counts policies will incentivise high performance buildings, [and] encourage uptake of proven ratings tools,” Ms Evans said.
Read and download the free report here.
Image: GBCA promoted the reuse of Sydney’s Quay Quarter Tower, the Kevin Cavanagh Trophy winner at the 2023 Awards for Excellence in Concrete, and our cover image for the December issue of Concrete in Australia.
About the author
Desi Corbett
Desi is our weekly news journalist and the editor of Concrete in Australia magazine for 10 years. She has been heavily involved in all forms of engineering since 2013; part of a 30-year writing career across a range of subjects and media.