Performance - taking schools to top of the class

Green Star - Performance is about more than just offices.

We know that one of our greatest green building challenges is retrofitting the 21 million square metres of existing office stock; Green Star - Performance will address that challenge by providing commercial building owners and facility managers with an holistic assessment of the operational performance of their buildings. They'll gain a performance rating covering the eight Green Star categories, and understand the most useful benchmarks before they embark on renovations.

But Green Star - Performance will also assess the operational performance of existing schools, hospitals, shopping centres and other buildings that might not have Green Star ratings.

We are very proud of the 18 Green Star-rated education facilities and 80 plus Green Star-registered education projects around Australia, and the fact that many governments are now referencing Green Star for all new educational projects.

However, we also know that Australia currently has more than 9,500 schools. Many of our students and teachers spend their days in poorly-designed classrooms with limited access to fresh air and natural light. This affects student health and learning, teacher morale and school operational costs - as well as the environment.

Green Star - Performance will support the greening of these existing schools through holistic assessments of their infrastructure in operation. Schools will have benchmarks that they can use to set targets to increase the energy and water efficiency, reduce waste and improve factors that influence learning, such as indoor environment quality.

A school - or any building, for that matter - doesn't need to be new to be green. What each school community does need is an understanding of their school's operational performance and where improvements can be made. Green Star - Performance will help Australia's schools go to the top of the class.

Romilly Madew
Chief Executive
Green Building Council of Australia