GBCA awards first Communities rating

GBCA awards first Communities ratingThe Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) has awarded the first 5 Star Green Star – Communities rating to WA’s Curtin University for its master plan.The master plan will see 114 ha of Curtin University’s Bentley campus transformed through urban regeneration over a 20-year period, supporting an urban economy based on education, business, technology, housing, public transport, the arts and recreation.Vice-chancellor Professor Deborah Terry said the rating endorsed the university’s vision to transform the campus through urban renewal and sustainable design.”As a university we are continually striving to be leaders in research and education, and the 5 Star Green Star – Communities rating validates our ambitions to develop a vibrant urban centre while achieving our vision to change the world through innovation and excellence. To be the first project in Australia to receive the rating is a significant achievement,” Professor Terry said.The GBCA’s CEO, Romilly Madew, said the university’s master plan was “assessed against best-practice benchmarks for governance and innovation, design excellence, environmental sustainability, economic prosperity and liveability”.”A 5 Star Green Star rating signifies ‘Australian excellence’, sets new sustainability benchmarks for Australia’s universities and provides Curtin University with independent proof that its vision will deliver environmental, economic and social sustainability,” she added.Stage one of the master plan is underway, with Wesfarmers Court – described as “a dynamic economic and innovative hub” – opening in December last year.The GBCA describes Green Star – Communities as “one of the world’s first independent, transparent, national schemes designed to assess and certify the sustainability of large-scale master-planned development projects”.Elsewhere, the GBCA awarded Lend Lease a 6 Star Green Star rating for Tower 3 at International Towers Sydney, which is located in the heart of Barangaroo’s commercial precinct.International Towers Sydney “is set to be an extraordinary project that demonstrates the latest thinking in the future of sustainable workplaces”, said Madew, adding, “Lend Lease secured enough points for a 6 Star Green Star rating in its first-round submission – this is a rare feat.”Typically, building projects require more than one round of assessment to achieve a Green Star rating. Lend Lease could [have rested] on its laurels, but instead chose to proceed to round two to secure maximum points and demonstrate its enduring commitment to sustainability,” she said.Barangaroo is intended to be Australia’s first large-scale carbon-neutral community. It is also registered under the GBCA’s Green Star – Communities PILOT rating tool, which assesses green solutions on a precinct scale, as opposed to individual buildings.