This paper investigates the clustering of Green Star certified buildings within the Melbourne CBD, aiming to identify areas with a high concentration of sustainable development and urban greenery – essentially, “green zones” within the city

Green Star Certifications: A Benchmark for Sustainability

Australia boasts over 4,600 Green Star certified projects nationwide. Established in 2002, the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) developed this rating system to assess the environmental performance of buildings. Green Star certifications have witnessed significant growth, with only minor dips in momentum observed in 2017 and 2021. Notably, these dips were followed by periods of even stronger growth in 2018 and 2022, highlighting the long-term trend towards sustainable development driven by environmentally conscious tenant mandates.

New certifications have come from upgrades, retrofits, and new builds. With much of the recent growth due to an increase in Greenstar tools for non-traditional property classes such as data centres, residential buildings and student housing which have seen strong investor inflows in the post covid / WFH era.

Greenstars. Water ratings. Electricity ratings. Wellness ratings. And like diligent Girl/Boy Scouts Melbournians have collected all the eco-badges. To the benefit of the city, Melbourne has led the charge with its focus on sustainability reflecting a commitment to environmental responsibility that mirrors the dedication of the city’s residents.

Spatial Analysis of Greenstar Buildings

The following section will detail the process of transforming data on Greenstar certified buildings and tree cover into a three-dimensional spatial representation. This visualization will employ a colour scheme where darker shades correspond to higher Green Star ratings. This will allow us to identify areas within the Melbourne CBD that boast a concentration of sustainable buildings or not as the case may be.

To identify clusters, we flip from 3D to a heatmap view. Making it easier to identify the clusters of Greenstar certified buildings within the city fabric.

Under this view you can see pockets of the city that are greener than my teeth after a slice of spanakopita. This heatmap visualisation highlights the “Lonsdale Street Precinct Greenzone,” a concentrated area of environmentally friendly buildings driven by Government ESG and Greenstar occupier mandates. Similarly, the “Lower Collins Street Precinct” and “Docklands” showcase additional green zones emerging due to private sector ESG mandates driven by banks and other large corporates.

Future trends are likely to see further intensification in the Collin Street precinct driven by private industry occupiers who are embracing “return to office” faster than government occupiers. Furthermore the north of the CBD is likely to noticeably increase through the surge in build to rent and student housing projects being invested in by institutional investors who will seek Greenstar certifications for their assets.

Interested in building on this dataset to drive improvements in your portfolio? please contact the author.