A rise in the number of new office buildings in Canberra has resulted in significant growth in the territory's greenhouse gas emissions, says Property Council ACT executive director, Catherine Carter.
The ACT Greenhouse Gas Inventory has found that Canberra's electricity use has increased considerably over recent years.
Carter believes that the best way to address this problem is to retrofit existing buildings to make them more sustainable. "The quickest way to achieve deep emission cuts is to improve energy efficiency in existing buildings. Accelerated 'green' depreciation would fast track efforts to rebuild existing stock to high environmental standards."
Terence Ring, director at Griffith-baed Architect Ring and Associates, is finding the many existing buildings are being upgraded as a by-product of new developments.
"Say you're doing a new apartment block and down the road is an old apartment block. The old one will be refurbished because of the pressure being put on it by the new one. So the old block will be refurbished to a standard that is up to the standards of today. And that's what's happening with office buildings," he said.
"We need new buildings but we also need to have the older buildings done up ... You've got to have the new to get the old working."
Carter believes that a reduction in electricity usage could also be achieved by having tenants accept a greater temperature range in their working environments.
