Sustainable buildings
What is a sustainable building?
A sustainable building has minimal environmental impacts and provides a comfortable, safe and healthy space in which to work, live or play. A sustainable building is resource efficient, making it cheaper to run.
By designing and constructing buildings for sustainability, we can reduce operating costs, minimise the impacts of electricity price rises, reduce carbon emissions and environmental impacts, and create buildings that are more user-friendly, resilient and adaptable.
What is Council doing?
Council is committed to improving the sustainability of its buildings and to demonstrating leadership in the area of sustainable tropical building design.
Council adopted a Sustainable Building Design Policy, Guidelines and Checklist in October 2011. These provide a framework for incorporating sustainability principles in all new and retrofitted Council buildings.
This means that Council buildings will be more energy and water efficient, have reduced environmental impacts and also provide healthier indoor environments and improved community spaces.
The Policy, Guidelines and Checklist are publicly available and can be accessed in the Related Documents section. Council encourages other organisations and businesses to adapt and make use of these tools.
See Related Links to read case studies of some recent energy efficiency upgrades and building projects completed by Council.
View the Sustainable Building Design Guidelines as an e-Book below or download the PDF version