30 Jun 2025
We’ve packed a lot into one month, so forgive this rapid-fire round-up covering everything from waste benchmarks to bold roadmaps, and from research to remarkable Green Star Champions. As I reflect, I’m reminded: momentum gathers in many forms.
Tools down for Australia’s Waste[d] Opportunity
We’ve just published Australia’s Waste[d] Opportunity, developed by Coreo, with support from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and the NSW Government.
The headline statistic? Too many to mention! But for me, I’m still astounded every time I read that Australia’s construction industry generates 29 million tonnes of discarded material each year – 39% of the nation’s total waste. That’s 141 kilograms for every square metre we build. Over five years, that’s $64 billion quite literally going in the bin.
The report sets Australia’s first national benchmarks for construction and fitout waste and provides a clear action plan to help industry cut costs, drive down embodied carbon emissions and recover more value. It’s a “tools-down moment” for our industry.
Nature calls with our Nature Positive Roadmap
We’re calling on industry to help shape our Nature Positive Roadmap for new developments, with the consultation draft now open for public comment. This is a rich resource that lays out the built environment’s role in nature loss and our opportunities to reverse it.
In Australia, 95% of a building’s impact on nature is embodied in the materials we choose before construction begins. And 60% of the land expected to become urban by 2030 is still undeveloped. We still have a chance to rethink how and where we build, and to place nature at the heart of our choices.
The consultation draft suggests a practical, principle-led path to move from biodiversity loss to biodiversity gain. Now we want to hear from you.
Listening, again, with Green Star survey
Our 2025 Green Star Accredited Professional survey is now live. Last year’s survey showed us that, for many of you in the field, sustainability is still tangled in cost pressures, knowledge gaps, time pressures and the everyday complexity of getting things done.
Over the past year, we’ve responded – investing in Green Star, ramping up our advocacy and strengthening our hands-on guidance for project teams and prioritising improvements to the submission app. We’re listening again this year, because your feedback drives our priorities.
Closing the performance gap
One way we’re addressing knowledge gaps is through research. A new academic paper from Building 4.0 CRC, co-authored by our own Head of Research Helen Bell, confirms that Green Star buildings deliver as designed.
The study, published in Energy and Buildings, looked at predicted versus actual energy performance across 176 office buildings, with 65% meeting or exceeding expectations. When NABERS Commitment Agreements were in place, that figure rose to 94%. It’s a powerful validation of the impact of certification.
Ideas into impact at Green Building Day
Green Building Day 2025 took us on a cross-country exploration of ideas and impact. From Brisbane’s waterfront revival at Northshore Hamilton to Adelaide’s carbon-neutral ambitions at 60 King William, from all-electric logistics in Melbourne to community-first design at Murdoch Place in Perth – each stop showed how Green Star is being put to work on the ground.
Sydney brought the tour to a powerful close with a showcase of Bradfield’s First Building. This modular marvel is shaped by Country and designed for disassembly. Rammed earth walls anchor the interiors. Expansive glass invites visitors to watch innovation in real time at the AMRF Manufacturing Hall. And a rooftop platform allows people to survey the nascent city. It’s a prototype of what’s possible when sustainability, technology and Country work together.
I was personally inspired by First Building, as we continue our deep thinking about First Nations voices and put the finishing touches on our next Reconciliation Action Plan. We will launch this Elevate RAP in July in conjunction with NAIDOC week. More in next month’s Green Building Voice.
Celebrating Green Star and its Champions
GBCA’s mission is to lead the sustainable transformation of the built environment. But this is a shared path, not a solo climb. And it’s mapped by those who are walking it together.
This month we were overjoyed to win the Property & Construction category in the 2025 Australian Financial Review Sustainability Leader list. We were in good company, joined by Scape Australia and ISPT who were named as finalists.
This honour shines a light on the work of our incredible team and the work of industry too, including that of 22 new Green Star Champions. This is a remarkable group of leaders creating healthier, more efficient and more climate-conscious places. If you know a Green Star Champion, please reach out to congratulate them, and remind them their work matters.