fragmented industry, restrictive business models, limited green finance and confused consumers. But the standard is being developed collaboratively with industry, consumers, builders, banks, investors and insurers to ensure it is fit for purpose. And with the backing of volume home builders and residential builders, including Stockland, Mirvac, Metricon and Rawson Homes, we are closer to our goal that every home built in Australia from 2030 onwards is healthy, resilient and positive.
TURN UP THE TECH Ubiquitous connectivity, big data, automation, artificial intelligence and a host of other smart technologies were poised to make our cities more resilient, responsive and intelligent. And then COVID-19 hit. While investment in some technology may slow, coronavirus has also created the WWW.ANCR.COM.AU
conditions for smart building technology to flourish. Building owners are now investing in sensors to monitor social distancing and air quality, apps to keep remote workers engaged and digital twins to cut costs after lockdowns. As our industry’s investment in technology accelerates, we can’t afford to ignore the questions of responsibility, ethics and sustainability of digitalisation. This is why the Sustainable Digitalisation Project continues to work in partnership with the GBCA, ISCA, GRESB and RICS on five objectives: to grow awareness, define the agenda, build a coalition of leaders, help organisations put sustainable digitalisation into practice and set a long-term strategy for the industry. The GBCA is also looking to introduce a privacy leadership challenge into the next version of Green Star, which will reward projects that consider privacy during the procurement of smart building technology.
READY FOR RESILIENCE Our experiences this year have underscored the importance of being crisis-ready, with systems and structures, processes and procurement pathways in place before the next emergency strikes. Resilient design has long been embedded into Green Star, but we’ve now made this explicit in the new Green Star Buildings rating tool. A new standalone ‘Resilience’ category includes credits to improve an asset’s resilience to climate change impacts, and to boost a community’s overall resilience. The challenges ahead are huge. But together, Australia’s construction industry can build cities that are economic powerhouses, great places to live and tread lightly on the planet. We can build sustainable cities – but only if we’re smart.
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