Conveners:
Harrington, Phill (Australia) / Awano, Hirohisa (France)

Overview:
Governments have a key role to play in the delivery of a sustainable built environment. They exercise considerable influence throughout the building's lifecycle, beginning with land development, redevelopment and planning processes. At this early stage, governments can influence the location and overall character of the development via development approvals, zoning requirements and by specifying the degree of integration of the development with existing and surrounding infrastructure, such as transport nodes, housing and commercial and social services. In addition, the resource efficiency of new buildings is generally influenced by building codes, which may also extend to requirements for the ongoing operation and maintenance of the building (including indoor air quality measures) and for refurbishment of the existing building stock, to extend the effective life of existing buildings. Other policies may influence the eco-efficiency of the materials used in construction, operation and renovation process, including the environmental impacts associated with construction, incentives for recycling of building materials, and the efficiency of building components (such as glazing and lighting systems). Research, development and demonstration programs will help to push new technologies and processes into the market. In addition, policies may influence building performance via economic incentives in the building market, including rating and accreditation schemes, tax and depreciation provisions, leasing policies and incentives; or via voluntary agreements with industry. Finally, polices that affect the price of energy and other inputs, and/or pollution control measures, will also influence the sustainability of the building sector.

At the same time, building development is primarily a private sector activity, and therefore it is important that the government's influence on the process is as ‘light-handed’ as possible, while still ensuring that the broader public interest is served. Excessive or overly-prescriptive regulation could be expected to discourage innovation, while the overall policy environment should aim to encourage above-minimum performance, continuous improvement and high productivity. The problem for government, therefore, is to judge the design and mix of policy measures that will be effective in delivering key public good outcomes, but with least economic cost and least constraint on the building sector. This paper provides a short overview of some of the possible solutions, as an indicator of areas likely to be discussed in this stream at SB05.