Don’t let your new industrial building become a stranded asset
Industrial buildings worth billions could become stranded assets, reports the Built Environment News
Billions of dollars of industrial buildings face becoming ‘stranded assets’ warns a new report by the Australian and New Zealand Green Building Councils today.
Green Star in focus: The case for sustainable industrial buildings warns of the increasing risk of significant industrial assets becoming stranded if they can’t show that they are low or zero carbon.
The report finds that new Green Star certified industrial buildings produce 66% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than standard buildings and shows that a minimal 2% upfront cost to support green design can result, on average, in lifecycle savings of 20% of total construction costs.
The report underscores that the technology, design, materials and expertise are available now to build more sustainable buildings which will meet investors’ growing demand for future-proofed investments that uphold environmental and social governance principles.
GBCA CEO, Davina Rooney said the forecast growth in the industrial sector, driven largely by the expanding online retail market, creates a valuable opportunity to build better assets which are designed and built to minimise embedded carbon and carbon emissions in operation.
“The sheer size of industrial facilities means they can play a big role in increasing rooftop solar PV capacity,” Ms Rooney said.
“If we put solar panels on all industrial facilities in Australia, we could almost double our capacity – from the current 6,500 Megawatts (MW), to 12,800MW.”