18 Mar 2020
The Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) has welcomed the Australian Government’s $28 million investment announced today through its Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) Program in a new Building 4.0 CRC to provide Australians with lower cost, smart housing solutions.
CEO Davina Rooney said the GBCA was proud to be one of 30 partners supporting the Building 4.0 CRC led by Monash University, Lendlease, The University of Melbourne, Donovan Group, BlueScope, Sumitomo Forestry and CSR.
“Australia is already a world-leader when it comes to sustainable building construction and operations and this research will help maintain that position and extend it into advanced building material manufacturing,” Ms Rooney said.
“This new CRC will lead research into how buildings can be built safer, faster, cheaper and smarter, with Australians as the ultimate beneficiary of their customer-centred approach.
“GBCA is particularly supportive of the ambitious outcomes the Building 4.0 CRC has set including a 30 per cent reduction in project costs, an 80 per cent reduction in construction waste and a 50 per cent reduction in Co2 emissions for more sustainable buildings.
“This research program is closely aligned with the market transformation GBCA seeks to achieve through Green Star and our other industry-led initiatives to create healthy, resilient and positive places for people.
“The new CRC will complement the work GBCA is already undertaking with its members as part of our Future Homes program, which we will be releasing more detail about shortly.
“We know that more than 50 per cent of the buildings that will exist in 2050, will have been built after 2019 so the work of this new CRC could not be more timely.
“Australia’s built environment accounts for almost a quarter of our emissions so measures that will transform the design and construction of our buildings into the future have a huge capacity to help us meet our emissions reductions targets.
“CRCs are all about collaboration, about bringing together government, industry and academia to leverage expertise and resources. We are thrilled to be a part of this critical new partnership that will deliver tangible benefits to Australian communities in terms of comfort, cost-savings, climate action and job creation in the years to come.”
The full list of partners in the Building 4.0 CRC is: Monash University, University of Melbourne, Lendlease, Donovan Group, BlueScope Steel, CSR, Utecture Australia, Bentley Homes, Coresteel Australia, A.G Coombs, Ultimate Aluminium Windows, Queensland University of Technology, Holmesglen Institute, Hyne Timber, Shapeshift Design Technologies, M-Modular, Schiavello Manufacturing, Gelion Technologies, YNOMIA, Fleetwood, Master Builders Association of Victoria, PrefabAUS, Salesforce, Sumitomo Forestry, Green Building Council of Australia, Standards Australia, Taronga Venture Advisory, Victorian Building Authority and the Victorian Government Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions.
More information about the Building 4.0 CRC is available at https://www.building4pointzero.org/