Melbourne award for Tony Arnel

Victorian Building and Plumbing Commissioner Tony Arnel was last month awarded the Melbourne Award for Contribution to Sustainability by an Individual.

He won the City of Melbourne award primarily for his roles as chair of the Green Building Council of Australia and the chair of the World Green Building Council.

Docklands-based Mr Arnel has worked in China, India and the United States and has promoted Melbourne as a centre of sustainability.

Last year Mr Arnel was awarded the inaugural Australian Institute of Architects’ Leadership in Sustainability Award.

Among his achievements, Mr Arnel has helped make Victoria the first state in Australia to achieve the five-star standard for new homes – soon to be six-star standard.

He is also responsible for helping introduce Green star rating tools for buildings and has increased the expectations for the minimum standard and industry best practices. He also helped include sustainability principles into the National Building Code for the first time.