Sustainable development best practice is soon set to be improved, as a new partnership is established between the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) and US-based EcoDistricts.
The two groups have joined forces and signed a memorandum of understanding, which will see them carrying out research projects, sharing information and collaborating on industry education programs.
EcoDistricts currently uses a framework designed to help cities and urban developers work together to gauge the potential of particular districts, before securing finance and engaging with the relevant communities.
This enables the group to deliver integrated sustainability strategies, which in turn contribute toward green buildings, communities and infrastructure.
The GBCA's Chief Executive Romilly Madew explained just how valuable this partnership could turn out to be.
"We're committed to working together to provide city governments, planners, designers and developers with a complementary set of tools that establish effective best practice benchmarks and a framework for implementation," she commented.
Ms Madew believes that by working together, the organisations can forge better communities in the future, namely those that are resilient and resource efficient.
The GBCA recently commented on the government's plans to co-locate government departments in a bid to boost sustainability and save money.
The Department of Veterans' Affairs and the Australian Taxation Office will be co-locating their Canberra offices, which the federal government predicts will lead to around $84 million in efficiencies.
Research from the GBCA indicates that just a 10 per cent improvement in the energy efficiency of federal government buildings could save as much as $35 million a year in electricity costs.
In addition, it believes improving the holistic performance of building stock could improve public sector productivity by around $2 billion a year.
This figure is based on the productivity gains achieved in Green Star-rated buildings across the country.