Round table for Australia’s top ratings systems

Australia’s top ratings tools organisations will come together for a panel discussion at AIRAH’s Outlook 2020 Conference on November 10.

The panel will feature Davina Rooney, CEO of the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA), Carlos Flores, M.AIRAH, Director of the National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS), and Jack Noonan, Vice President, Asia Pacific of the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI). Jeff Robinson, Affil.AIRAH, Technical Director and Sustainability Consultant for Aurecon, will chair the session.

Robinson says that it is a time of great change in the ratings space.

“There are so many positive changes that are happing at the moment,” he says. “The GBCA has just launched the new Green Star Buildings Tool, NABERS has teamed up with Climate Active to help building owners to pivot to Net Zero Carbon buildings in operation, and the International WELL Building Institute has recently launched its WELL Safety Rating and WELL Version 2.”

Although the three organisations offer different tools, Robinson says they are collaborators rather than competitors.

“The GBCA, NABERS and IWBI  all collaborate and support each other and thereby help drive our industry forward to deliver affordable healthy low carbon buildings,” he says. “Attendees will go away with a good understanding of the new developments and how they are helping transform the property industry at a commercial and domestic level to build comfortable and healthy low-carbon buildings that provide the resilience we need for the climate emergency and pandemic we are currently facing.”

The ratings tool round table is one of three panel sessions at Outlook 2020. The virtual full-day conference also features three keynotes and more than 30 speakers across five streams, as well as a networking café. It will be followed by the AIRAH Awards 2020 ceremony.