Industry must challenge the notion that sustainability needs to cost more, according to Dan Labbad, chief operating officer at Lend Lease.
Speaking to participants at the Green Cities 2013 conference in early March, Labbad said the key is industrialising construction processes and standardisation.
"Most of the buildings we live and work in today are bespoke and that should change,” he said.
Labbad joined a long list of local and international speakers at Green Cities 2013, Australia's largest and most influential conference for sustainability in the built environment.
The two-day event was jointly organised by the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) and the Property Council of Australia (PCA).
Despite the challenging market conditions for large sections of the property and construction industries, conference participants were optimistic, describing the future of green building as an unstoppable force.
PCA CEO Peter Verwer said sustainability begins with optimism about human nature and human endeavour, rather than a religion or ideology.
"We must adopt a new ‘green modernism’ that is pro-technology, pro-cities and pro-growth,” he said.
Brookfield Multiplex CEO John Flecker zeroed in on the social side of sustainability.
"If buildings are better utilised and have higher performance, that's worth something to a client and will drive green solutions,” he said.
Author of The Blue Economy, Gunter Pauli, said the goal is to think as part of a system, not in isolation.
"Many green solutions are a case of doing less bad, rather than more good; instead, we should focus on the solutions which create positive change,” he said.
An international symposium dealing with corporate initiatives around climate change was also held in March at the University of Sydney Business School.
Sydney University professor of organisational studies Christopher Wright said despite the widespread scientific consensus, ideological rhetoric still dominates the global debate on climate change.
"This is preventing the development of clear policy which companies need for long-term investment,” he said.
Wright said signs of positive change include the development of new “green” products and services. Moreover, major financial institutions now include “carbon risk” in their lending practices and mark down enterprises that fail to manage these risks.
"Virtually every company in the construction sector offers green construction materials; energy companies are diversifying into renewable electricity generation and insurance companies now focus explicitly on the physical and financial risks of more frequent and intense storms, floods and fires,” he said.
Andrew Hoffman, professor of sustainable enterprise at the University of Michigan in the US, said many of the world’s major companies are now seeking to mitigate carbon emissions and adapt to changing markets and “the physical consequences of climate change”.