by jbs071409 e3 — July 17, 2009—The Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) has launched its new Green Star—Healthcare v1 environmental rating tool for buildings, as well as an assessment framework for both forest and product certification.
The new Healthcare v1 tool will help owners and operators of healthcare facilities around Australia to reduce the environmental impact of their buildings, improve patient health outcomes and staff productivity, and achieve real cost savings and added value. The tool evaluates the environmental potential and integrated fitout of health and aged care facilities. It also assesses major refurbishments of existing facilities.
The Assessment Framework for Forest Certification Schemes will create a level playing field for certification schemes, simplify compliance requirements in the Green Star “Timber” credit and encourage the use of Australian timber over illegal imported timber.
The Assessment Framework for Product Certification Schemes will raise the Green Star best practice benchmark expectations both for manufacturers and suppliers of fitout products, as well as certification schemes.
