Green Building Council of Australia

For this month's employee spotlight, we are highlighting Gabrielle Pavicic who is a Green Star Program Lead within the Green Star Strategy and Development team 👐 Her role allows her to view the built environment and the direction it needs to head in through a big picture lens, working to help industry understand how to move forward. This also means she has the opportunity to engage with clever and curious people who are interested in pushing industry to do better. Gabrielle is incredibly passionate about resource management in the built environment. She's interested in how we can reduce waste by extending the life of existing materials and design new materials with the entire lifecycle in mind, whilst also ensuring that the spaces we create with these materials are healthy, safe and inclusive. Gabrielle says "Ensuring new materials are designed to either safely return to nature or re-enter the economy at the end of their use is something we are seeing more of, but not enough. To engrain circularity into the design process of new materials will spark a revolutionary change and help to solve a myriad of environmental issues"☘ This passion makes Gabrielle a perfect fit for her current work in the development of our Green Star Fitouts rating tool (the next generation of the Green Star – Interiors tool). There are many people who inspire Gabrielle but one stand out is Ellen Macarthur, described as someone who "is both a leader in sustainability and someone who is just willing to take on a challenge". Gabrielle encourages anyone who hasn’t already, to read about Ellen's inspiring solo sail around the world⛵

To facilitate the $35 trillion investment needed by 2030 to meet global energy transition goals, an international alliance of world leading green building rating system organisations launched a global practical guide which, has been described by Gillian Charlesworth, as a “translation mechanism between different languages of sustainability and finance which is full of complexities”. At the launch event in London, the BRE team sat down with Davina Rooney, Green Building Council of Australia, Peter Templeton, U.S. Green Building Council, Gillian Charlesworth and Jane Goddard, BRE to discuss the recently released report. Critically, this podcast touches on strategies for success, and how the report can be a tool towards this. As stated by Davina, we actually know what the solutions are — there is a renaissance underway. In the podcast, Peter Templeton outlines that the purpose of the report is to bridge the real estate and finance industry, to move the needle in terms of progress, as neither capital, nor carbon respects borders. To hear more from what gives the four leaders hope for what will be achieved in the next decade, listen to the full podcast on our Spotify below. It is also available on BREEAM’s Spotify channel, 'The BREEAM Podcast'. 🎙 https://lnkd.in/gYUFi99J

From the moment you register your project with Green Star, you can start promoting to stakeholders and customers that you’re engaged in a movement for a better future, with healthier, more responsible spaces🌷 Depending on the Green Star tool your project is registered under, we have created a range of bespoke guidance to assist with your marketing. Whether you are marketing your Green Star achievements to your internal team, or a wider external audience, our guides for promoting your Green Star projects are tool specific and available on our website now. Find the guides here > https://lnkd.in/gN6MBaJt Upon certification, we offer digital decals to projects to display their Green Star achievement and plaques are available for purchase. Our marketing team is here to assist you with any queries you may have.

If you have spent any time in Brisbane, you have likely strolled around, or eaten dinner at West Village, Sekisui House Australia - but did you know it has a 6 Star Green Star - Communities rating? This month’s feature for Projects of Note is not only a fantastic example of a world class energy efficient, resilient, community-minded space, but a project that has given new life to the heritage-listed Peter’s Ice Cream Factory, spanning 2.6 hectares. Swipe through to learn more!

Explore our latest edition of Inside Green Star ⭐   Discover guidance on the recently released Site-wide credits approach, developments on our Future Focus rating tools, Green Star Communities v2 and Green Star Fitouts and a shoutout to our recently awarded Green Star Champions.   We’re constantly improving our approaches to stay ahead of the curve. Read all about our most recent updates and support resources https://lnkd.in/gvNn_Hes

The 7th of July marked the start of NAIDOC Week, a time to recognise and celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples' history and culture - the custodians of this land for over 65,000 years.   This year's theme, 'Keep the Fire Burning! Blak, Loud and Proud', calls for the reclamation of voices and stories which were once silenced, while unapologetically celebrating Indigenous identity.   It honours the unwavering strength and vitality of First Nations culture and speaks to the importance of respecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples' contributions and stories.   NAIDOC week is an invite for us all to listen, learn, and engage in meaningful dialogue, nurturing a community where the wisdom of Indigenous peoples is fully valued.   Here at GBCA, we have had the privilege of listening to many powerful voices from Australia's First Nations community who have taken the time to not only welcome us to Country, but to remind us of the importance of acknowledging our shared history.   Listening and learning is a huge part of what we do at GBCA, and one of those key moments was the experience gained observing the collaboration between the Kaurna People, Traditional Owners of the land that makes up the Adelaide Plains, and the project team, to bring to life Yitpi Yartapuultiku. With design led by the Custodian group, this unique project will be a community centre, envisioned as a place of healing.     To read more > https://lnkd.in/ga_QTh2D   This week, and every week, we recognise the importance of amplifying and celebrating the voices from the oldest, continuous living cultures on earth. Image credit: The artwork featured is a detail from Samuawgadhalgal, Torres Strait artist Deb Belyea’s NAIDOC poster, Urapun Muy, which means ‘One Fire’. #naidocweek

Exciting News for Product Manufacturers! Join us for our NEW Lunch & Learn Series 🍎📝 Designed to tackle the critical challenges facing product manufacturers today, don’t miss out on this opportunity to connect with industry peers, share experiences, and gain valuable insights to navigate the path towards more responsible products. Hear from speakers: Joshua Begbie, CEO, GECA Dr. Nana Bortsie-Aryee, Program Director, Global GreenTag International Pty Ltd 📅 Save the date: 17 July 12:30pm – 2pm AEST Find out more > https://lnkd.in/gxWM6wQs

At the end of June we joined UK-based BRE, Singapore Green Building Council, the U.S. Green Building Council, Alliance HQE - GBC France, the Climate Bonds Initiative, and the CRREM - Carbon Risk Real Estate Monitor to launch an industry-first, global guide for sustainable finance. The guide aims to help drive the investment needed for buildings to make the transition to net zero globally.   Read our conversation with Davina Rooney, CEO of GBCA, about the new resource, below.   https://lnkd.in/g4pgRNjg

The scope three emissions discussion paper is here, and we want your feedback. Scope 3 is the unknown source of emissions for companies, and until now the property sector hasn't had much specific guidance on how to report on it. Measuring impact: Why scope 3 deserves our attention more than ever, highlights the challenges of reporting, but moves to show how project-level analysis can be applied to corporate reporting and provides a consistent interpretation and approach to Scope 3 boundaries for real estate companies. GBCA will use industry feedback from the discussion paper to create a comprehensive guidance document for Australia. Background on emissions scopes: ⚡Scope 1: Direct emissions from sources owned or controlled by the company. ⚡Scope 2: Indirect emissions from the generation of purchased electricity consumed by the company. ⚡Scope 3: Other indirect emissions resulting from company activities but coming from sources not owned or controlled by the company. Scope 3 emissions, which are divided into upstream (purchased or acquired goods/services) and downstream (sold/leased goods/services) categories, usually make up the majority of a real estate company's total emissions. Despite being indirect, they significantly impact the company's value chain and decision-making. Download the paper and provide feedback here > https://lnkd.in/gcJWdBst

Off the back of our February launch of our co-written paper with Hassell, Social value in the built environment, we hosted events in Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth to continue the discussion around the importance of this topic. It is our hope that this paper will help governments and industry understand the current state of the measurement of social value in the built environment sector and spark a curiosity for what else is possible. Do you consider the people who will be positively impacted by the projects you're delivering? How do you measure it? What would be useful to include in a practical guide for social value? We engaged the below industry leaders in these events who shared their opinions and insights into their experiences and the need for recognition of the worth of social value in the built environment sector. ✳️Andrew Lee, The University of Queensland ✳️Leah Lang, Government Architect QLD, Queensland Government ✳️Jack Coghlan, Social Ventures Australia ✳️Julian Loh, QIC ✳️Simon Faivel, Social Ventures Australia ✳️Sarah Clarke, Mirvac ✳️Clare Parry, Development Victoria ✳️Emma Williamson, Government Architect WA, Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage ✳️Helen Bell, Green Building Council of Australia ✳️Jen Ehlers, Social Ventures Australia To read the paper and/or leave your feedback, please follow this link https://lnkd.in/gww2-WYM We want to hear from you!