Sustainability Awards & New Green Building Standards

The Common Carbon Metric for measuring energy use and reporting greenhouse gas emissions from building operations was officially launched at COP15 in Copenhagen, while Stockland has been named Sustainable Company of the Year at the 9th Australian Sustainability Awards for Australian Securities Exchange-listed companies.

Stockland cleans up sustainable company of the year award

Stockland has been named Sustainable Company of the Year at the 9^th Australian Sustainability Awards at a luncheon in Melbourne.

The Awards, hosted annually by Ethical Investor magazine, recognise outstanding achievement by Australian Securities Exchange-listed companies in a range of areas of corporate sustainability.

Stockland received the award for its ongoing commitment to sustainability, balancing environmental, social and economic outcomes.

Stockland Managing Director Matthew Quinn said the company was delighted to have been recognised by Ethical Investor for its commitment to operate ethically, responsibly and in a sustainable way.

“We have achieved a great deal this year by creating a more robust sustainability strategy for our Residential and Retirement Living businesses, as well as continuing to focus on improving the sustainability performance of our assets,” said Mr Quinn.

Stockland was also recognised for its commitment to creating sustainable and vibrant communities through stakeholder engagement, community development and community involvement.

“At Stockland, we aim to create sustainable and vibrant communities by engaging with the local community and other key stakeholders,” Mr Quinn said.

This approach has been formalised over the past year with the development of a Stakeholder Engagement Framework and clear stakeholder engagement plan templates for all of its projects.

“We are currently refining our community development plans and aim to introduce world-class initiatives on social sustainability.

“Our community investment program has been developed by our people and allows us to make a positive impact in the communities in which we operate,” said Mr Quinn.

Stockland contributed $3.4 million in community investment in FY09, with more than 44 percent of employees volunteering time to mentor students and support local communities.

Stockland environmental highlights from the past year include:

• Achieved ‘Gold’ membership of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index World in early 2009. The Index represents the top 10 percent of the leading companies globally, with four property companies awarded ‘Gold’ status. Stockland is also included in the FTESE4Good Index which recognises organisations that apply and demonstrate outcomes against environmental, social and governance principles.

• Listed in the Australian Climate Leadership Index in 2009 which rates companies with advanced strategies on climate change.

• Two projects, Stockhome and 2 Victoria Avenue, Perth, attained their final Green Star accreditation with both achieving 6 Stars (‘World Leadership’).

Source: www.stockland.com.au

The Green Building Council of Australia passes on some important news to come out of Copenhagen:

 The Common Carbon Metric for measuring energy use and reporting greenhouse gas emissions from building operations was officially launched at COP15 in Copenhagen on 11 December 2009. The event was hosted in the EU Pavillion by the Ministry of the Environment of Finland and the Marrakech Task Force on Sustainable Buildings and Construction and organized in cooperation with UNEP-SBCI, UNEP FI and ADEME. It was well attended by representatives from delegations and observer organizations, including several senior level representatives.

… “No government – let it be in an industrialized or in a developing country – can leave buildings out of its policy toolbox if it wants to save energy and reach serious greenhouse gas emission reduction targets”, stated the Minister of Housing of Finland, Mr. Jan Vapaavuori, who opened the meeting. UNEP DTIE’s Director, Sylvie Lemmet, then presented the new UNEP SBCI report “Buildings and Climate Change – Summary for Decision Makers” highlighting the opportunities for drastic emission reductions in the building sector and outlining a step-by-step approach to harnessing these opportunities. She also called upon the negotiators at COP15 to make the building sector count in the outcome of negotiations, and to put in place an agreement that will support emission reduction in the building sector at international, national and local levels.

Professor Diana Urge-Vorsatz, lead author for the buildings chapter in the 4th IPCC report, presented new research showing that the emission reduction potential in buildings is in fact much higher than was presented in the IPCC report. Every new building we build and every building we renovate have the promise to make or break a low carbon footprint for decades to come – this is an opportunity we simply cannot afford to lose, she said. Mr. Hewson Baltzell, of UNEP’s Finance Initiative presented the overwhelmingly positive business case for emission reductions from buildings, using the landmark building Empire State Building in new York as an example.

The chairman for SBCI’s think tank on climate change, Mr. Stéphane Pouffary of ADEME, introduced the Common Carbon Metric, highlighting the importance of now finally having one common tool – a common language – in place to provide an internationally coherent and consistent method for measuring the climate footprint of buildings. A big thank you was given to all the many organizations and experts who have contributed to establishing this metric. Finally, Ms. Priyanka Kochhar from TERI in New Delhi presented the situation in India, confirming that the opportunity for emission reduction in buildings is also recognized and pursued in Indian policy making.

The participants to the event had several questions and comments, which were welcoming the Common Carbon Metrics as an important step forward. The event was followed by a press conference at the main media center in COP15.

The event is the fifth time UNEP-SBCI and partners formally organize side events as part of the UNFCCC negotiation process. In COP15, as in previous meetings, the side event is complemented with bilateral discussions and informal information meetings with delegations.

Source: www.gbca.org.au