When Green Trumps Greed

4th of November 2008 - 8:42 AM

The current economic tsunami has had everyone up in arms about the future of investment. Romilly Madew, Chief Executive of the GBCA talks about how green has now trumped greed.

 In recent weeks we''ve seen the world''s financial markets in
crisis, talk of a global recession, stocks tumbling, house prices
collapsing, a retail sector slump and a wave of pessimism across
Australia''s economy.

It would be easy, as a result, to be gloomy about the prospects of
our nation''s green building industry. We''ve already heard people
talking about how we simply cannot afford to focus on energy
efficiency, low carbon and green building when financial concerns loom
so large.

Now is not the time to step back from our commitment to
sustainability. Now is the time to work harder to ensure that green
building remains high on the national agenda. As Nicholas Stern said
last week, "now is the time to lay the foundations for a world of
low-carbon growth."

Stern went on to say that there are two crucial lessons we must
learn from the financial turbulence the world has been facing. "First,
this crisis has been 20 years in the making and shows very clearly that
the longer risk is ignored the bigger will be the consequences; second,
we shall face an extended period of recession in the rich countries and
low growth for the world as a whole. Let us learn the lessons and take
the opportunity of the coincidence of the crisis and the deepening
awareness of the great danger of unmanaged climate change."

Rick Fedrizzi, CEO, President and Founding Chair of the US Green
Building Council said last week in an open letter to members that "the
greed that led the world economy into crisis will not defeat our
commitment to good work. Fear will not dominate our agenda. And our
commitment to change - even in the face of so great a challenge - will
not waver.

"Change doesn''t wait on Washington. And it doesn''t depend on Wall
Street. Change comes from within. The green building movement has been
demonstrating that fact for more than 15 years. Before there was a
single government green building policy, before the business community
stood up and took notice - there was you."

Now is the time to remind your colleagues, clients and competitors
that green buildings don''t just make sound ecological and
environmental sense - they make sound economic sense too.

At SB08 recently, the Green Building Council of Australia released
The Dollars & Sense of Green Building 2008, which confirmed that
green buildings consume less energy, less water and generate less
waste, and create a healthy and productive environment for employees.

Green building practices can reduce a building''s operating costs by
as much as 9 per cent, increase building values by 7.5 per cent and
realise a 6.6 per cent increase in return on investment. What''s more,
going green can increase occupancy ratios by 3.5 per cent and rent
ratios by 3 per cent, as well as increase worker productivity by as
much as 10.9 per cent.

Green buildings will save money. They will save energy. They will
help save our planet. And they will create good, green, local jobs. As
just one example, a report released in June 2008 used the latest CSIRO
modelling to predict that more than 251,500 ''green collar'' jobs will
be created in Australia''s property and construction industry by 2025 -
that''s 45 per cent of the total number of new jobs, providing new
opportunities and employment for many Australians.

We cannot lose sight of our mission to develop a sustainable
property industry for Australia. Now is the time for every one of our
615 member organisations, our 2,800 Green Star Accredited Professionals
and our 11,000 Green Star trained advocates to work together to deploy
the expertise and capacity we''ve already created to impel the green
building movement forward. Let''s work together to ensure that green
trumps greed.

Romilly Madew
Chief Executive
Green Building Council of Australia