Member Expert Thoughts: 15 years is a significant milestone, but much still needs to be done to combat climate change

”15 years is a wonderful milestone!” ”When I look back to our first meetings, our first Green Star course and our first Convention, GBCSA has come a long way, and it’s wonderful to see it stronger than ever.”- Bruce Kerswill, GBCSA Founding Chair

For me, the journey started by watching Al Gore’s documentary, ‘An Inconvenient Truth’. It showed so much evidence of how things are going wrong and yet no concerted action to address it.

The Australians were doing amazing things with green buildings. Study tours to Oz, a challenge by Romilly Madew, CEO of the GBC Australia, and support from SAPOA under Neil Gopal, resulted in the start of the GBCSA. We hit the ground running: customising Green Star, running our first AP course, and holding a Convention (and we went big, hiring the CTICC, even though we had no members!). They were nervous times, but the support from the property industry was incredible.

Now, 15 years later, GBCSA have over 900 certifications and should reach 1000 certifications next year! The impact of that is enormous, including 1 320 million kWh per annum of electricity saved, 1 590 million kg of CO2, and 1 220 million litres of potable drinking water. Also, 2 300 APs trained, thousands captivated by the Conventions, a thriving consultancy community.

But for me the more important achievement is in terms of influence: the number of institutions and companies who have committed to building green; the developers who have embraced it; the professionals who have innovated; the contractors who have worked out how to build it; the suppliers who’ve found the materials; the manufacturers who’ve created the new products; and the tenants who experience and learn about the buildings they occupy. This is the real impact – this is how society is changed. Green building has a huge value chain, with influence at every link of the chain.

But, good as these achievements are, so much more needs to be done. Every night on the news we see the frightening evidence of climate change all around the world – the floods, the heatwaves, the wildfires, the intensive storms. Global society is not responding commensurate to the threat we face. We should be directing massive resources into countering climate change.

A huge amount of change has happened. Look at renewable energy, regenerative agriculture, the circular economy, and ESG is now all over the executive suite. But we’re nowhere near meeting the science-based targets; we’re not getting there quickly enough.

Why not? Why are people switching off, and not engaging? Maybe the issue appears too overwhelming, the solutions too unattainable. People don’t feel they can make a difference. ‘Fire and brimstone’ terrify people into inaction. Rational argument is not working).

Maybe people are right – only governments and large corporates have the authority and scale necessary. But we need to push them. Lobby governments and politicians. Support the companies that are doing good, and boycott those that are not. Support the NGOs in the space.

Maybe we need to paint a picture of where society needs to go, of possibilities, of solutions, so people can see there is a way out – and demand it. Positive images, as well as negative ones. Less about the apocalypse, and more about how we avoided the apocalypse. Stories about how the world came together, how people were empowered, and how life continues in a regenerative society.

In the green building field, we’re privileged to have frameworks to guide our activities, and we can see the enormous positive impact we have. We must scale up what we do, push boundaries, and move the goalposts. Remember when Four Star Green Star seemed unattainable? Now the stretch is for Net Zero and regenerative buildings. We must push our clients, our professional teams, and our local authorities.

I believe the GBC/green building movement is one of the most powerful organisations in the effort to stabilise the climate. We share knowledge, stimulate innovation, deliver on-the-ground solutions, and demonstrate what can be achieved. We lobby for change. And we influence attitudes over an enormous value chain.

Congratulations GBCSA on 15 years! And well done and thank you to all the directors, staff, sponsors, members, and supporters whose involvement made those 15 years possible!