by Brianna Crandall — April 12, 2017 — The Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) and the International Living Future Institute (ILFI) have just 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 organizations in 2016 to work collaboratively to promote the design, construction and operations of positive and restorative buildings in Australia.
Jorge Chapa, GBCA’s head of Market Transformation, pointed out:
Increasingly, leaders in Australia’s property and construction industry are looking to pursue more than one rating to demonstrate transparency, accountability and sustainability. 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.
Amanda Sturgeon, CEO of ILFI, said:
This partnership comes at a critical time where our collective work is more important than ever. 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). LFIA Executive Director Stephen Choi stated:
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.
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 (see story on FMLink).
Download Green Star – Design & As Built / Living Building Challenge: Approaches to buildings or fitouts seeking a dual rating from the ILFI Web site.
