Sustainable practice recognised

A new sustainability category has been added to the Victorian building industry's Continuing Professional Development (CPD) awards, conducted by the Building Commission.

The Sustainability Award will acknowledge the builder who has displayed the best environmental practice on a residential or commercial building site in Victoria over the past year.

"Sustainability is an integral part of the building process in the 21st Century, so it is important to recognise registered building practitioners (RPBs) who use sustainability practices in their daily work and seek greater understanding through their CPD," said building commissioner Tony Arnel.

"Incorporating sustainable processes makes good sense, environmentally and economically.

"A site that is environmentally friendly will generate less waste material, reducing demand on landfill and making for a smaller building footprint.

"This is not only what the industry wants, but it is something the market is increasingly demanding. An RMIT survey found that 75% of those surveyed said they were looking for builders who use environmentally aware practices. This is a very clear signal to builders to ensure their professional development encompasses this area of demand," Arnel said.

Entries are now open for the 2007 CPD Awards, with the winners being announced at a function at the RACV Club in Melbourne on November 9.

The two main categories in the awards are:

• The 12-point category for domestic and commercial builders, demolishers and erectors and supervisors of temporary structures
• The 15-point category for building inspectors, building surveyors, draftspersons, engineers and quantity surveyors

There is also the CPD award for Education Providers, with building practitioners nominating CPD providers that have provided excellence in service, delivery or course content for CPD, and now the Sustainability Award.

The awards are open to any RPB who has undertaken CPD in the past 12 months and reached the required number of points. Entries close on 28 September with a range of criteria judged, including:

• Participation in CPD activities (such as trade nights, reading industry publications and supervision of apprentices)
• Attending the required number of hours of CPD
• Professional memberships and participation in those organisations
• Citing examples of how CPD has improved the quality of work practices
• How participation in sustainability activities has specifically benefited work practices

• A total of 12 finalists will be selected in the four categories, with the winners announced at the CPD Awards event on 9 November.

  In addition to the prestige of winning a CPD Award, the 12- and 15-point category winners each receive $2000 towards their ongoing CPD activities, the Sustainability Award winner receives $1000 and the Education Provider Award winner receives a plaque.