Green Building Council say "Increase Building Code to achieve Greenhouse Gas reductions"

As State and Territory Ministers meet with Commonwealth for the Building Minister's Forum in Canberra, the Green Building Council of Australia is encouraging minimum sustainability standards contained in the Building Code of Australia (BCA) to be increased as a way of greening Australia's buildings and fighting climate change.

A recent report by UNEP (United Nations Environment Program) concluded that regulations, such as the BCA, are the most cost effective policy option available to governments for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the built environment.

"As a nationally consistent mechanism, the Australian Building Code can be used to improve the sustainability and environmental performance in buildings across the country. The opportunity to raise the bar should not be missed by Ministers when they meet to discuss this issue, " Green Building Council of Australia Chief Executive, Romilly Madew said.

"The BCA is about setting minimum building standards and eliminating worst practice. Increasing the BCA will be a major step towards unlocking that potential of buildings and help achieve reductions in Australia greenhouse gas emissions by 2020".

Buildings account for roughly one quarter of all greenhouse gasses emitted into the atmosphere in Australia each year, and according to the 4th International Panel on Climate Change, more greenhouse gas abatement can be achieved in the built environment than the industry, energy and transport combined.

"Current energy efficiency measures in the Building Codes of Australia, introduced in 2006, were an excellent first step but lag behind world's best practice and certainly do not support the Government's longer term greenhouse reduction targets."

"If the Building Code standards are set with the goal of sustainability in mind, it can be an unparalleled tool for change across the country," concluded Ms Madew.

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Media Contact:
Emma Piper
Green Building Council of Australia
Tel: 0417 410 288
Email: emma.piper@gbca.org.au