Considering nature at the heart of our buildings
14 June 2018
GBCA:
As an industry, the Australian built
environment has committed to becoming
carbon neutral by 2050 and is
already working collaboratively to hit these targets through the uptake
of
Green Star in office
buildings and beyond.
Tackling climate change and slashing energy emissions has been engrained
in the GBCA’s purpose since our establishment as an organisation in
2002, but now, we’re incorporating a focus on nurturing the natural
environment in the way we build.
Australia is home to some of the world’s most unique and awe-inspiring
flora and fauna and we believe that as our population increases and
cities develop, it’s our responsibility to protect it.
We’ve just released a landmark discussion paper to industry, Building
with nature, which presents biodiversity as a priority for minimising
impact on the ecological value of the cities and communities we’re
building in.
According to the Department of Environment and Energy’s Fiona Beynon,
also the primary author of Building with Nature, 30 per cent of our
threatened species populations are in cities, so how can we ensure we
protect them through biodiversity?
“There are many ways that ecosystem services and green infrastructure
support sustainability in the built environment.
“For example, ecosystem services such as wetlands, and green
infrastructure such as bioswales, provide alternative solutions for the
management of stormwater events,” explains Fiona.
“Biodiversity also plays a significant role in reducing heat stress in
the built environment, whether it be individual trees or vegetative
cover.
“Biodiversity and green spaces also supports threatened species in the
city scape, provides for visual amenity, improves liveability, and
provides for improved mental and physical health outcomes for the people
who live and work in cities,” she continues.
Fiona believes that in order for the industry to embrace biodiversity as
a key consideration in green building, we need a refocus and that’s
where Green Star Future Focus comes in.
“Looking to the future, we’ll see the Green Star credit scheme change to
place more emphasis on the value of biodiversity.
“That’s been our purpose over the last year in bringing Building with
nature to life.
“It outlines the role of biodiversity and its benefits, details key
principles to guide the formation of credits for biodiversity, and
recommends steps to take in order to value, enhance and maintain
biodiversity in the built environment.”
And there’s certainly no shortage of examples we can look to in terms of
how the built environment and its natural surroundings can benefit from
each other.
Sydney Olympic Park in Western
Sydney, one of the city’s biggest sporting and entertainment
precincts, spans over 40 hectares of parklands.
Its Brickpit Ring Walk towers almost 19 metres above a pond that is home
to the endangered Green and Golden Bell Frog.
Fiona says that it’s our role as an industry to pave the way for our
flora and fauna to flourish as our cities grow.
“We need to acknowledge the role and benefits of biodiversity; to act as
its champion and educate others on the its full suite of benefits.
“There’s an opportunity for practitioners to find innovative ways that
biodiversity can contribute to a range of improved outcomes and tangible
savings for the built environment and its community.”
--ENDS--
Source: Green Building Council of Australia - www.gbca.org.au
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