INTHEBLACK August 2025 - Magazine - Page 34
F E AT U R E
“People think green homes require recycled car tires or bottles.
We think that is outdated. We use everyday materials from
local hardware stores — the difference is how we design.”
MICK FABAR, GREEN HOMES AUSTRALIA
star strategic delivery. “Our certification
creates market demand for sustainable
homes, which transforms supply chains.”
It is an approach that is producing real
results. Builders initially recoiled at the
expense when the Green Star standard
mandated double-glazed windows, a
measure that reduces a home’s heat loss
by 50 per cent. Today, supply-chain
optimisation has adapted and builders accept
double-glazed windows as a manageable cost.
The embodied carbon produced during
manufacturing, transport and construction
is irreversible once a building is erected.
With building materials responsible for
most of a structure’s lifetime emissions, the
GBCA’s Responsible Products Guidelines
push building industry suppliers and
manufacturers to reduce carbon footprints.
“Our rating tools set outcome-based
targets, like a 20 per cent reduction in
up-front carbon emissions,” says Monavari.
This flexibility has spurred innovation, such as
cross-laminated timber replacing steel, which
is being used on some floors in skyscrapers
like Sydney’s new Atlassian Tower.
NEW THINKING ON OLD MATERIALS
On a sustainability front, cross-laminated
timber is considered better than steel
for its carbon-sequestering properties
and renewable nature. It is also lighter,
enabling faster construction with a
comparable structural performance to steel,
but lower embodied energy.
Modular construction is also gaining
traction, with prefabricated homes reducing
waste and accelerating builds.
For Mick Fabar, founder and CEO
of Green Homes Australia (GHA), the
notion that sustainable building is inherently
expensive is a relic of the 1970s.
“People think green homes require recycled
car tires or bottles. We think that is outdated.
We use everyday materials from local
hardware stores — the difference is how
we design,” says Fabar.
A render of the Atlassian Central building, Sydney, Australia
34 INTHEBLACK August 2025
