Measures in an 18-point Green Jobs plan unveiled today by the Victorian Government include a $60 million spend on eight priority construction projects and streamlined approval procedures for renewable energy projects.
The Property Council today warned a Senate inquiry that a bill requiring disclosure of office building energy performance would create a 'massive' logjam of buildings to be rated, while Lend Lease and green building advocate Che Wall described the bill as a failure.
Federal, state and territory energy officials that report to COAG today floated the prospect of incorporating a 2020 performance goal for new buildings into a proposed national framework designed to reduce building energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.
A bill introduced today by Assistant Climate Minister Greg Combet obliges office building owners to disclose their building's energy rating to buyers and tenants, with a maximum penalty of $100,000 for failure to disclose and up to two years jail for those misusing information.
A Senate report has rejected a Greens bill for an energy efficiency certificate scheme targeting non-residential buildings – but has urged work on a mandatory program for commercial buildings – while Lend Lease sustainability chief Maria Atkinson is 'optimistic' the Government will eventually recognise the bill's merit.
In statements to Parliament, Climate Change Minister Penny Wong and assistant minister Greg Combet have set out the failures of the Government's insulation and green loans schemes and their plans to fix them but they are far from adequate, says the Coalition.