The Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) says the Paris climate agreement presents a unique opportunity for Australia's building industry.

"We applaud the commitment of the nearly 200 nations who have signed up to the Paris climate agreement, and who have pledged to ensure global warming remains below the critical two degrees Celsius mark, " said Romilly Madew, CEO of the GBCA.

Madew said buildings play an important role in achieving emission cuts. “The inaugural COP Buildings Day recognised the role buildings play in helping nations meet their ambitious targets."

The GBCA is a world-leader in building sustainability, having topped the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark for five years in a row.

“The GBCA is keen to work with our three tiers of government and industry to ensure the built environment can meet its emissions reduction potential," said Madew.

“We have more than 1000 Green Star certified projects around Australia. These 1000 Green Star certifications save the equivalent of 128,000 average households’ electricity use, and 625,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions each and every year. This is equivalent to removing 175,000 cars from our roads."

Following the COP Buildings Day on 3 December, the GBCA committed to introducing a 'net zero' rating system in 2016. The system will recognise buildings that have no impact on energy, water and carbon.

“The GBCA’s challenge next year is to help industry move beyond ‘low carbon’ to ‘no carbon’. We will be working on our 'net zero' label which will recognise and reward projects that make a positive contribution to the environment,” Madew said.

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Industry stalwart joins GBCA’s growing team