Green Building Council of Australia
The Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA), established in 2002, is a not-for-profit industry association that promotes sustainability in the built environment. The GBCA is best known for developing the Green Star rating system for buildings and communities.
The GBCA was one of eight national councils which helped to found the World Green Building Council.[1]
The GBCA's member companies comprise developers, local, state and federal governments, owners, professional services firms, investors, manufacturers, suppliers and distributors, facility and asset managers, universities, professional societies, utilities and contractors.
The GBCA's Chief Executive is Romilly Madew and Chair is Daniel Grollo from Grocon.
Green Star
The Green Building Council of Australia released the first Green Star rating tool for offices in 2003, and subsequently released rating tools for office interiors, education, healthcare and industrial facilities, public buildings, multi-unit residential developments and retail centres. A rating tool for communities was released in 2012. The Green Star – Interiors rating tool was released in 2013 to assess the interior fitouts of any building type (beyond offices) and a rating tool for the operational performance of existing buildings is expected to be released in 2013.
Special Green Star rating tools have been developed for buildings that fall outside the scope of Green Star rating tools, including supermarkets, restaurants and mixed-use developments.
The system assesses and rates buildings, fitouts and communities against a range of environmental impact categories, and aims to encourage leadership in environmentally-sustainable design and construction, showcase innovation in sustainable building practices, and consider occupant health, productivity and operational cost savings.