Published May 27, 2020
Watch Episode 3 of Urban Green Live, hosted by Urban Green Council CEO John Mandyck. This livestreamed interview series features industry experts from NYC and around the globe to talk about solutions for a zero-carbon future.
On May 27, 2020, we welcomed Davina Rooney, CEO of Green Building Council of Australia, to Urban Green Live. Rooney and Mandyck discussed sustainability trends on a global scale, including embodied carbon—the next frontier of the materials space. Rooney also shared critical lessons from her work with WorldGBC’s Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment, where she is partnering with over 16 property groups to achieve operational net zero by 2030.
Key Takeaways
There are three interrelated sustainability trends surrounding green building and low-carbon initiatives in Australia.
-> Carbon Reduction: Buildings are responsible for 39% of global carbon emissions.
-> Circular Economy: Over 50% of material use is attributable to buildings, emphasizing the importance of circular economy practices.
-> Health and Wellbeing: More than 90% of people can’t access air that meets WHO standards, highlighting the need for better air quality and overall health and well-being.
Australia has a significant interest in net-zero carbon buildings.
-> There are currently 16 groups committed to achieving this by 2030.
-> The strategy includes efficient buildings powered by renewables and avoiding fossil fuels.
-> Australia’s renewable energy efforts include solar, wind, and government hydro projects.
Speakers
John Mandyck
Chief Executive Officer
Davina Rooney
CEO Green Building Council of Australia
The Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) is Australia’s authority on sustainable buildings, communities and cities. Rooney has led the GBCA since June 2019 and is a property professional with a broad range of sustainability experience, including working on environmental projects and nonprofit boards. Rooney also has experience with overseas community development work: she spent 8 months working in the Indian Himalayas on the construction of a school that won multiple international awards. Rooney has also received several industry awards including NAWIC NSW Sustainability 2016, PCA 2014 Future Leaders Award, and Sydney University Engineering Young Alumni Award.
Q&A
John Mandyck: Given the proximity of wildfires in Australia, which makes climate change very tangible, how much do you think that contributes to the speed of uptake?
Davina Rooney: It absolutely broke our hearts this summer. I think the real challenge for us as we go from one crisis being the bushfires to another being the pandemic, is how do we actually create the right level of focus on the long-term items? Once we have defeated Covid, we’re going to be working with an even far greater threat of climate change. I think it really affects our national psyche and will for a long time.
In Australia, for the next 3-to-5 years I think we’re actually going to see what our politicians do in carbon policy and how we take the work of the leaders in green buildings, and actually scale that across the nation.
John Mandyck: Did the bushfires create a sense of urgency in climate change, or was there a cognitive dissonance about climate change in the bushfires?
Davina Rooney: There was a huge national engagement. To be frank, for the deniers or for those who thought carbon hadn’t been a big issue, there was just enormous public backlash. It was an event of a large enough scale to absolutely engage the populace. We saw huge public grief and fear.
There hasn’t been any cognitive dissonance, but we need to see this converted into public action and awareness through public policy.
John Mandyck: Most projects in the US don’t account for embodied energy at all. What are the first steps that we might need to take to start incorporating up-front energy into our codes if the industry isn’t ready yet?
Davina Rooney: I think what we found to be really impactful was actually having one or two global leaders work on those important and seminal projects. One of the key moments in the Australian context was where we had one of our key projects, our Barangaroo project, and it was actually mandated to have a lower embodied carbon. Many people were bidding for the same project and the winning participant differentiated themselves by offering an embodied carbon solution that wasn’t available elsewhere in the market. There needs to be different partnerships and you need to engage along your supply chain very differently.
John Mandyck: What are the Australian federal and local provisions to provide money for these zero carbon requirements for low-income communities?
Davina Rooney: At the moment, we’re trying to get low-income communities to nearly zero at this stage. We’re having a really interesting partnership at the moment because our national codes are being reviewed for residential at the moment.
We’re trying to make the argument that it’s a health and safety issue. Terrifyingly, we have more people in Australia die of cold than in Sweden because our homes are less sealed than your average tent. It’s really important for us to make our entire push for the residential code based on the health and wellbeing of vulnerable Australians.
It is the most vulnerable that are impacted the most highly.
John Mandyck: How much did it matter that Australia changed policies at a national level? We aren’t going to get federal policies requiring net zero buildings in our immediate future. Do think that changing laws at the city and/or state level could make up for that?
Davina Rooney: Yeah, I’ve been really inspired by the New York example. We have experienced the similar discord that you’ve seen. I think there’s a few lessons that we’ve learned in that time. We’ve had to work very differently for how we partner for change.
Sometimes all of our commentary talks about the business case and the economic impact of reducing energy, sometimes we talk about the subsidies that the most vulnerable receive and their health and safety. We use a really different language. When we go into some of those discussions, we never reference net zero buildings. We talk about highly efficient buildings, and how much more cost effective they’d be if they were powered by renewables.
I’m really heartened to see what New York’s doing and how New York is reaching out to partner with five cities around the globe. I actually think in this new world, the new world of Brexit, that we are going to have more consensus at a city level and that it can be really impactful to see change one city at a time.
John Mandyck: I heard you talk about wellness and low carbon as value propositions of green buildings rather than return on investment. Was there a shift in thinking about this or has the conversation always been this way?
Davina Rooney: We try to inspire people with a value proposition at the start, and then we win it with a return on investment in the business case. We need to have both a value proposition that we sell to the broader populace, and a return on investment that we write on the business case. I think without that compelling value proposition, we don’t get a seat at the biggest tables or get the broadest audience discussions.
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