Australia: Victoria introduces new green star rating for public buildings
The Victorian building industry now has a new rating system, developed by the Green Building Council of Australia, to assess the sustainable design and development of public buildings. Launching the rating tool at the Melbourne Convention Centre today, Planning Minister Justin Madden said the new rating system would assess the environmental attributes of new buildings such as libraries, law courts, museums, art galleries and sports stadiums. The new Public Building Rating Tool had its genesis in 2005 when Major Projects Victoria committed $50,000 to a pilot system to specifically rate the design and construction of the emerging Melbourne Convention Centre. The successful pilot was further developed by the Green Building Council of Australia and launched as a new benchmark in environmentally sustainable design and development of public buildings.