Green Star gains government support

The GBCA is about to begin work on the proposed Green Star - Communities rating tool, which we believe will become a voluntary national standard.

Every state and territory Government Land Organisation (GLO) in Australia has agreed to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the GBCA which will support the development of our rating tool for sustainable communities.

This monumental joint sponsorship initiative confirms Green Star - Communities as a project of national significance. It is a strong sign of national leadership and demonstrates our commitment to a unified partnership approach to the development of sustainable communities.

Many of these GLOs have already spent considerable time and money developing tools to assess the sustainability of their own projects. These tools, research and practical experiences will be invaluable as we work together to develop a truly national set of best practice benchmarks for the planning, design and delivery of sustainable community projects across Australia.

The proposed rating tool has been scoped in close consultation with government and industry and its key characteristics have been documented in the Green Star - Communities draft tool scoping paper, which was released earlier this week.

Every GLO in Australia has agreed to the MoU and will participate in the tool development. The GLOs are: Landcom (NSW); Landcorp (WA); VicUrban (VIC); Land Management Corporation (SA); Land Development Agency (ACT); Urban Land Development Authority (QLD); Hunter Development Corporation (NSW) and Land Development Corporation (NT).

We are confident that the Green Star - Communities rating tool will shape the sustainability, liveability and prosperity of our existing and future communities. This new agreement will bring us one step closer to delivering more environmentally, socially and economically sustainable communities for the people of Australia.

Romilly Madew
Chief Executive
Green Building Council of Australia