Benchmark Study on Green Buildings - Royal Architectural Institute ...

KAB has identified actions to change long-standing and unacceptable construction
practices and to meet new standards ensuring a cleaner environment. The Program will
focus on maintaining the overall environmental quality of the building site throughout the
building period, with particular emphasis on minimizing negative effects on local
waterways, rivers, creeks and beaches, which can experience significant increases in
pollution and sediment load during and after the construction phases. This is an important
Australian green building program because the majority of green building initiatives deal
with energy efficiency, with very few focused on the other aspects of green building such
as site sustainability.
KAB’s Sustainable Cities Program is one of the leading community and environmental
awards programs for metropolitan communities in New South Wales. The projects
carried out not only enhance the environment, but also improve the standard of living and
quality of life for urban communities. More than any other metropolitan based
environmental program, the Sustainable Cities Awards inspire communities to make a
genuine and lasting contribution to their area, working in partnership with local
government and local businesses. The Program incorporates two levels of awards,
category-specific awards and an overall award. These two levels acknowledge individual
aspects (such as litter and graffiti minimization) or entire project results respectively.
Local councils, community groups, businesses, schools, or individuals can enter the
Sustainable Cities Program, which is free of charge. Awards for excellence in each area
will be given to entries regardless of who nominates the program or project. Each
submission will be considered on its merit and alongside similar entrants.
The Green & Healthy Schools Program is run by KAB primarily in Queensland schools
but also in selected schools in other Australian states. Thousands of students and their
teachers from about 450 schools (one in five Queensland schools) participate in this
leading-edge, curriculum-based program which promotes health, safety and the
environment through elementary and middle-school classrooms. Green & Healthy
Schools encourages schools to develop a green and healthy philosophy and to tackle a
range of issues at the school level, including nutrition, waste minimization, energy usage,
litter and recycling. The program gives students, teachers, parents and friends the chance
to take part in a range of initiatives that develop the educational, personal and social
benefits that come from caring for self, the community and the environment. Schools that
register for the program are provided with a comprehensive resource kit covering
everything from school environmental audits to curriculum-based classroom activities.
Registration is free and open to all schools. The program also features a competition
element to recognize and reward schools for their Green & Healthy endeavours.
Other KAB programs include ‘Keep Australia Beautiful Week,’ the ‘Tidy Towns
Program,’ and the ‘Clean Beach Challenge.’
Futureenergy.org:
www.futureenergy.org is an Australian website which coordinates action promoting the
use of renewable energy. The site provides a wealth of information about how to live
more sustainably, and among this information is a section about various ways to make a
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