The City of Melbourne declared a climate and biodiversity emergency in 2019. In doing so, we joined around 1,400 jurisdictions across 27 countries – a local and international movement recognising that climate change poses serious risks to the people of Melbourne and Australia.

Immediate action to reduce emissions and adapt to the impacts is needed now if Melbourne is to remain a liveable city for future generations to visit, work and live in.

In February 2020, the City of Melbourne’s Future Melbourne Committee endorsed 10 priority actions in response to the climate and biodiversity emergency including supporting an accelerated pathway to zero emissions by 2040. One of these actions was to mandate greening and zero emissions buildings through Melbourne’s Planning Scheme. In September 2020, the Future Melbourne Committee unanimously endorsed the Planning Scheme Amendment C376 and the Green Factor Tool.

Objectives:

The Green Factor Tool is driving greater sustainability and uptake of green infrastructure in the built environment by encouraging developers to:

• Reduce the urban heat island effect by retaining vegetation and optimising canopy tree provisions.
• Enhance habitat for wildlife and biodiversity by planting biodiverse and indigenous species and connecting nature to support pollinators and invertebrates.
• Reduce stormwater run-off by integrating stormwater management and providing raingardens and water sensitive design to reduce phosphorus and nitrogen pollutants in waterways.
• Improve amenity, recreation and mental wellbeing by providing landscaped communal open spaces for the health and wellbeing of future inhabitants.
• Increase urban food production by including communal, productive gardens on available rooftops, podiums and balcony spaces.
• Improve aesthetic values by providing attractive green facades and visually pleasing, public realm interfaces.

The City of Melbourne’s Planning Scheme Amendment C376 proposes to implement the Green Factor Tool as a sustainability tool into the Melbourne Planning Scheme. The proposed standards will apply to new buildings, alterations and additions that meet a certain size threshold. The standards will mean new developments in the city will need to achieve environmental targets.

The Green Factor tool was launched in May 2020 as part of the City of Melbourne’s Canopy Green Roof forum. Providing the tool as a free to use service for developers, academics, property owners and consultants to analyse their proposed landscape designs for their private sites has allowed Green Factor to be used and tested in a voluntary capacity which has demonstrated increased greening outcomes.

The first built Green Factor project was opened in 2023 and is a commercial office development in Kensington. The project has obtained a Green Factor score of 0.66 and includes a bio-diverse green roof, a feature in ground canopy tree at the street entrance, canopy trees in planters at different levels on the façade and integrated perimeter planters with balconies that provide city skyline views.

Our team is working with our Technology and Digital Information team to update our municipality’s Development Activity Model which provides key features and details of each development to the public. By providing the development’s Green Factor score, transparency and visibility to the broader public can be improved, which will raise awareness and build the profile of urban greening by city developments for the municipality.

The City of Melbourne is the lead agency for the project.

Since the Green Factor Tool was launched there have been over 200 assessments completed on a range of development types.

In 2022, the Green Factor tool won the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects inaugural national Climate Positive Design Award. 

As cities increase in size and density, the ecosystem services supplied by urban greenery and green infrastructure are increasingly vital for sustainable, liveable urban communities. However, retaining and maximising urban greenery in densifying cities is challenging. Governments have critical roles in addressing these challenges through policy development and implementation. While there’s significant attention on the quality and quantity of green space on public land, there’s an increasing focus on policy mechanisms for integrating green infrastructure in the private realm, including green roofs, walls, facades, balconies and gardens. Buildings are the biggest contributor to emissions in our municipality, accounting for 66 per cent of all our emissions. This means way we build our homes and offices must change to respond to the climate and biodiversity emergency.

In developing the Green Factor Tool, the City of Melbourne has laid the foundations to transform how developments engage with sustainability and green infrastructure to deliver greater ecosystem services and more sustainable cities and built environments. 

 The Green Factor Tool is an example of originality and innovation in how transdisciplinary approaches to planning can inform and support policy development for urban greening and sustainability outcomes, and lead to more rigorous, evidence-based and locally relevant outcomes. 

 Project governance was established by a steering group and external advisory committee. This transdisciplinary approach with policymakers, sustainability and landscape practitioners, software designers and researchers brought together unique ways of thinking, enriching Amendment C376 and the Green Factor Tool’s development journey. 

 Transferability

The initiative has gone above and beyond the original scope which has reinforced the need for a Green Factor Tool for many cities to address climate change. We have engaged in trials with three other local governments in Victoria and the City of Brisbane has released a Green Factor Tool for their municipality based on the City of Melbourne’s Green Factor Tool.

Our team is working closely with the Council Alliance for a Sustainable Built Environment (CASBE) and they are proposing a planning scheme amendment for sustainable building design which incorporates the use of the Green Factor Tool. Their planning scheme amendment is a joint amendment with 24 local government councils across Victoria.

Scenario Testing Report

Green Factor Scorecard

Greening Scenarios