Green Star and Living Building Challenge Partner to Streamline Dual Certification

The Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) and the International Living Future Institute (IFLI) today released a new guidance document to streamline certification efforts for projects pursuing both Green Star and Living Building Challenge ratings.

This follows a commitment by the two organisations in 2016 to work collaboratively to promote the design, construction and operations of positive and restorative buildings in Australia.

“Increasingly, leaders in Australia’s property and construction industry are looking to pursue more than one rating to demonstrate transparency, accountability and sustainability,” says the GBCA’s Head of Market Transformation, Jorge Chapa.

“By working together, we’ve identified the overlaps between the two rating systems so that project teams can avoid duplication of effort. As a result, achieving both Green Star and Living Building Challenge ratings will be faster and cheaper.”

“This partnership comes at a critical time where our collective work is more important than ever,” says Amanda Sturgeon, CEO of ILFI.

“This will allow project teams pursuing ratings with both systems easier access to essential information and ultimately, accelerate the move to regenerative design.”

ILFI is represented in Australia by the Living Future Institute Australia (LFIA).

“We are seeing some amazing projects and world-leading developments being progressed here in Australia, and naturally these are the ones that have multiple facets. What this usually which means is that these projects are able to reach new heights across a range of standards. We are delighted to have completed this piece of work together, as it should only encourage better and better projects into the future,” says LFIA’s Executive Director, Stephen Choi.

The document provides guidance specific to new buildings rated under Green Star – Design & As Built v1.1 and Living Building Challenge 3.1.

In February, the GBCA and the International WELL Building Institute released similar guidance for dual ratings under Green Star and the WELL Building Standard.

Download Green Star – Design & As Built/ Living Building Challenge: Approaches to buildings or fitouts seeking a dual rating: https://living-future.org/product/lbc-green-star-crosswalk/

About the Green Building Council of Australia

Australia’s authority on sustainable buildings and communities, the GBCA is leading the transformation of the nation’s built environment. The GBCA’s vision is for healthy, resilient and positive places for people and the natural environment, and it works with more than 700 members, industry and government to encourage policies and programs that support this vision. The GBCA educates thousands of people each year on the design and delivery of sustainable outcomes, and operates Australia’s only national, voluntary, holistic rating system for sustainable buildings and communities – Green Star. A trusted mark of quality, Green Star has transformed Australia’s built environment, with more than 1,450 certified projects – the equivalent to 21 million sqm of space – delivering environmental efficiencies while boosting the productivity, health and wellbeing of occupants. www.gbca.org.au

About the Living Future Institute Australia

The LFIA was established in 2012 by a passionate founding committee as a Chapter of the International Living Future Institute. Dedicated to establishing a powerful network of informed, influential, and active global citizens who are committed to redefining humanity’s relationships with the ecosystems we inhabit, the LFIA seeks to redirect our future towards a society that is socially just, culturally rich and ecologically restorative. A chapter of the International Living Future Institute, the Australian Institute provides training, support, and design initiatives across four innovative international programs, including the Living Building Challenge and the Living Community Challenge which call for the creation of building projects and communities at all scales that operate as cleanly, beautifully and efficiently as nature’s architecture. https://living-future.org.au/

About the International Living Future Institute

The International Living Future Institute is a hub for visionary programs. The Institute offers global strategies for lasting sustainability, partnering with local communities to create grounded and relevant solutions, including green building and infrastructure solutions on scales ranging from single room renovations to neighborhoods or whole cities.  The Institute administers the Living Building Challenge, the environment’s most rigorous and ambitious performance standard. It is the parent organization for Cascadia Green Building Council, a chapter of both the United States and Canada Green Building Councils that serves Alaska, British Columbia, Washington and Oregon. It is also home to Ecotone Publishing, a unique publishing house dedicated to telling the story of the green building movement's pioneering thinkers and practitioners.. http://www.living-future.org/