Look out for this Green Tag

It’s being launched by David Baggs of ecospecifier Global at Green Cities in Melbourne. Ken Hickson/ABC Carbon will be attending the four day exhibition and conference. The next issue – abc carbon express 97 – will come to you from the Melbourne event, More news then, so in the meantime… Read More

Green Light for GreenTag™

Australian-owned ecospecifier Global is committed to raise standards for green building materials and methods with the introduction of its four tier GreenTag™ eco-label certification process.

David Baggs, ecospecifier Global’s technical director, is launching the company’s much anticipated GreenTag quality mark at the Green Cities Conference in Melbourne which starts Sunday 21 February and runs until Wednesday 24 February.

The GreenTag is a third party, green building certification system, underpinned by rigorous scientific and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) testing processes. Its advanced and robust LCA certification methodology, which has been developed exclusively by ecospecifier, is a world first.

Mr Baggs is convinced the GreenTag will “simply and effectively demonstrate to the market and the industry which building materials and methods are ecological, safe and socially-responsible compared to other comparable purpose business-as-usual products”. 

Design and development of the GreenTag mark has occurred over three years, under the watchful eye of some of the world’s top advisors in eco-labeling standards, green building and green product development.

GreenTag operates on four tiers – platinum, gold, silver or bronze – to rate and position a product at the top end of the green building market for materials and methods. 

The GreenTag standard has been created to comply or exceed the highest international green building rating requirements, and Mr Baggs expects it will be adopted in many overseas markets, including the Middle East, South East Asia, India and China.

“Australian exporters with GreenTag certified products will also be instantly at a distinct advantage in overseas markets, as this system becomes recognised as the highest possible standard for green building materials and methods,” says Mr Baggs.

In Australia, GreenTag is expected to become the benchmark for green products vying for selection in buildings to be approved by the Green Star system, awarded by the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA). 

Currently, ecospecifier’s GreenTag is going through the final stages of its application for acceptance as an authorised third party certification authority with the GBCA.

“We have designed GreenTag to be an efficient one-stop solution for the whole industry to benefit,” says Mr Baggs, “as it will speed up product research and planning processes in the specification and purchase of green building products”.

The GreenTag rating certification is seen as a versatile process that will also optionally assess products against other green building schemes around Australia, including NABERS, BASIX, BCA and overseas schemes, including LEED, BREEAM, Estidama Pearl, Green Building Index and Green Mark. 

“To protect nature, it is important to begin with a good sustainable design, however, the building blocks of any project rely on the quality, characteristics and advanced functionality of the products selected.   These are critical for the end result for any construction project that is seeking a top green building scheme rating,” Mr Baggs says.

He contends that the Life Cycle Assessment inherent in the GreenTag is particularly important as it determines the environmental and health impacts of a product from the sourcing and refining of its raw materials, transport, manufacturing, disposal, including reuse, recycling, operations and maintenance, over the whole life of the product.

“Our main intention is to enable the protection of natural systems to the utmost and help in the quest to deliver healthier built environments,” says Mr Baggs.

Since starting out in 2002, ecospecifier has created a reliable resource for the building industry in Australia, as a trusted third party verifier of green building products, fit-out materials and technologies. 

In 2008, the company took a leap onto the world stage to take up a leader position in the Middle East, as an industry resource and service in green product knowledge and application.  When the UAE and more specifically, Abu Dhabi Emirate, mandated new directions for the building sector in the region ‘to start greening the Middle East’, ecospecifier Global became a key advisor in these processes, helping to develop green policies and processes for the building industry.  

Now ecospecifier Global is also working with key local partners with websites also in South Africa, South East Asia and China.

GreenTag Information Seminars will be held in Melbourne 24 February; Sydney 4 March; Brisbane 8 March. Besides the Green Cities event, Ecospecifier will also be demonstrating Green Tag at DesignEX in Sydney 22-24 April and DesignBuild in Melbourne 23-25 June.

Source:  www.ecospecifier.org

GBCA (12 February 2010):

Victoria’s credentials as the home of Australia’s most sustainable cities will be under the spotlight when Premier John Brumby addresses the cream of global property and environmental leaders in Melbourne this month.

The Premier will deliver the first keynote address at the Green Cities 2010 conference at the Melbourne Convention Centre on 22 February to hundreds of international and Australian property and environment experts. Green Cities 2010 is a joint initiative of the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) and the Property Council of Australia (PCA).

Green Cities 2010 will showcase many of Melbourne’s most sustainable buildings with delegates touring a number of Green Star rated buildings. They include The Gauge, Kangan Batman and Goods Shed North in the Docklands area, and Council House 2 in Little Collins Street, which has become a high-profile example of public sector leadership in sustainable development.  

GBCA Chief Executive, Romilly Madew said government policy is playing a critical role in determining the sustainability of cities.

“The approach government takes to development and planning policy, and its leadership by example, will determine which cities are sustainable for the next 100 years,” Ms Madew said.

The options available to further improve the sustainability of Australian cities will be a key theme of Green Cities 2010, with experts from the United States, Germany, South Africa, Hong Kong, New Zealand and India comparing the most successful methodologies from around the world.

Property Council Chief Executive Peter Verwer said the impact of sustainability policy on the property sector would be a key theme for delegates at Green Cities 2010.

“Australia has a rare opportunity to supercharge the greening of the nation’s buildings, precincts and cities,” Mr Verwer said. “Public policy on sustainability is a hot topic for commercial building owners and developers, and will be a key focus for Green Cities 2010 delegates.”

“Undoubtedly there will be a robust debate concerning government sustainability initiatives and how they will determine the future of incentives for existing buildings, the Green Building Fund and carbon trading.”

Source: www.greencities.org.au.