19 Dec 2025
The Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) is seeing more property owners link their financing to Green Star Performance outcomes, with purpose-built student accommodation provider Scape’s new Sustainability-Linked Loan (SLL) the latest example of Green Star being used to guide improvements across large portfolios.
As part of the loan, Scape will work to lift the average Green Star Performance rating for assets in its Core Fund from 2 Stars to 3.5 Stars over three years. GBCA’s analysis shows this pace of improvement is higher than what’s usually seen among portfolios that have been benchmarking through Green Star Performance for several years.
GBCA Chief Executive Officer Davina Rooney said organisations are increasingly looking for a consistent way to understand how their buildings are performing, and where the opportunities for improvement lie.
“Green Star Performance gives owners a clear picture of how their assets are operating today and what it will take to do better over time. When financing is linked to these outcomes, it helps keep the focus on practical, steady improvement across a range of environmental measures.”
“Improving a portfolio’s performance isn’t about a single issue. It involves lifting results across energy, carbon, water, materials and governance. Having a common benchmark helps everyone stay accountable and transparent about the progress being made.”
Scape’s earlier SLL, completed in 2023, required all eligible assets to achieve Green Star Performance v2 certification several years before the new tool was mandatory. Continuing to use Green Star Performance v2 as the basis for its performance targets provides a consistent way to track changes across the portfolio.
The new loan includes targets across both Scape Core Fund’s operational and development assets.
For the existing operational portfolio, this includes commitments focused on electrification and moving to 100 per cent renewable energy. In addition, the loan includes measures for two development assets, such as reducing upfront embodied carbon, electrifying building systems and installing solar PV.
If delivered as planned, the development asset measures are expected to avoid around 5,900 tonnes of upfront emissions.
Chris Nunn, General Manager - Environment, Social and Governance at Scape said “Green Star Performance gives us a reliable framework for lifting the operational sustainability of our assets, and linking this work to our financing helps keep us focused on the outcomes we’re aiming for.”
The loan was supported by ERM CVS, which provided the Second Party Opinion, and by the Joint Sustainability Coordinators – Commonwealth Bank of Australia, HSBC and MUFG.