While sustainability frameworks have traditionally focused on operational performance and resource efficiency, emerging global expectations require buildings and precincts to contribute positively to ecological health and social wellbeing. WorldGBC has identified regenerative systems as one of its guiding strategic goals. Looking at practical, evidence-based solutions that can be implemented by industry, this presentation outlines how GBCA has embedded nature-positive principles into Green Star Buildings and Green Star Communities, aligning them with global frameworks such as the TNFD, UN Global Biodiversity Framework, and regenerative design approaches. Using early project data from diverse climate and urban contexts, the study evaluates how habitat restoration, urban greening, Indigenous ecological knowledge, community access to nature, and biodiversity uplift are being delivered and measured. Results indicate clear co-benefits across heat mitigation, stormwater retention, resident health outcomes and ecological connectivity. The paper also identifies barriers to uptake, including inconsistent metrics and market capacity gaps, and proposes a roadmap for mainstreaming nature-positive design in urban development. By positioning buildings as active contributors to ecological regeneration, this research strengthens the international transition toward nature-aligned built environment performance.
Green Star is aligned with the UNSDGs. This paper links to SGD 15 - Life on Land, SDG 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities and SDG 13 - Climate Action.
Who: the actors and coalitions that make nature-positive outcomes possible include: Traditional Owners, Community organisations and residents, Developers and asset owners, Design teams (architects, engineers, landscape architects, planners, community), Local and State Government, Finance and Insurance, as well as Rating organisations.
What: Net biodiversity gain targets, ecological networks, designing with Country, access to nature and other human-centered benefits, ongoing stewardship and the verification measures.
How: Baselines, embedding nature-positive into procurement, co-design, market leavers such as Green Star, policy alignment, dedicated long-term funding and governance and replication across projects.