The Federal Government has expanded the National Carbon Offset Standard (NCOS) to include buildings, precincts and cities.
The NCOS was introduced in 2010 to recognise carbon neutral businesses, products, services and events.
As part of the NCOS, certified organisations reduce their emissions through using renewable energy and lowering energy use through energy efficiency measures or reducing waste and increasing recycling.
They offset the remaining emissions through the purchase of abatement units, such as for native vegetation restoration.
Now the NCOS will encompass buildings, precincts and cities, and the federal government hopes to have the first officially certified and operating carbon neutral precinct or city by January 2017.
To do this the government is establishing an Expert Committee for carbon neutral precincts and cities which will include representatives from the Barangaroo Delivery Authority, the Green Building Council of Australia, the National Australian Built Environment Rating System and the CRC for Low Carbon Living.
The Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) CEO, Romilly Madew, welcomed the announcement as an important step in tackling climate change.
“We applaud the Turnbull Government’s commitment to expand the standard; our cities are responsible for as much as 80 per cent of our national energy consumption," she said.
“Australia now has more than 1,050 Green Star projects under its belt, and we’ve claimed the title of the world’s greenest property sector for five years running, according to the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark.
“We know how to deliver low-carbon buildings but to do this, we need a credible, rigorous and broadly-accepted method that provides a clear definition of carbon neutral buildings, and provides certainty to investors, tenants and building owners. Expanding the National Carbon Offset Standard will allow Australia’s property industry to be recognised for creating and operating carbon neutral buildings, precincts and entire cities."