2022 Jury
They’re leaders in their respective fields. They’re from universities, industry associations and architecture firms, and they know what sustainable buildings look like. They are world-class industry experts and world-class judges, and will ensure that only the country’s most pioneering green projects have made the final cut.
Arianna Brambilla
Dr Arianna Brambilla is a senior lecturer at the School of Architecture, Design and Planning, the University of Sydney, and co-chair of the Building Efficiencies cluster within the smart sustainable building network (Sydney Nano). Her expertise lies at the merging borders of architecture, construction, building physics, and engineering, drawing upon the different disciplines to propose an innovative approach to design and construction. Her research offers a novel philosophical design approach in which buildings, new or renovated, are in balance with nature and become restores or regenerators for the environment instead of being consumers of resources.
David Coates
David Coates lives and breathes sustainability and has been delivering beautiful buildings that perform to an exemplar level in both sustainability and practicality. David specialises mainly in urban designs, with over 25 years of experience working within the building industry.
After working in London in his early 20s for a number of years turning historical inner-city dwellings into state of the art establishments, David later returned to Australia and started his company Sustainable Building and Design.
David’s vision is all about efficiency of performance and reusing and up cycling. His projects achieve high end energy efficiency ratings in the NatHERs score system, and as well as energy efficiency, his projects regularly contain old building materials upcycled form their former dwellings. David and his team even built an entire sustainable development using no mains power from an off-grid onsite power station, described by Renew Magazine as an ‘industry first.’
Dick Clarke
Dick Clarke is principal of Envirotecture, is an Accredited Building Designer, with 45 years experience, focusing exclusively on ecologically sustainable and culturally appropriate buildings, as well as sustainable design in vehicles and vessels, and has received many Design Awards.
He is Director of Sustainability, and Past President of the NSW Chapter, of the Building Designers Association of Australia. He is a Past President and Board Member of the Association of Building Sustainability Assessors (ABSA). He is on the Board of Renew (Alternative Technology Association).
Dick has sat on the Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council (ASBEC), the peak body representing industries committed to a sustainable built environment.
He has been design director of many hundreds of projects over 45 years, with sustainability as the major driver over that whole period (with the ever-changing understanding of what sustainability is), and his work has covered a wide variety of project sizes and types.
Dick is a founding author and editor of the acclaimed Your Home series, recently released in its sixth 20 year anniversary edition. He has edited the sought after book for designers, builders and home-owners, How to Rethink Building Materials.
Jeremy Spencer
Jeremy Spencer is a long time builder, thermal performance assessor, and Director at Design & Building company Positive Footprints. Positive Footprints is a multi award winning construction company, dedicated to making high performance sustainable homes and renovations easy to achieve and affordable. His company has worked for the last 19 years to show that energy efficient design and high performance construction is a cost effective option and can be a mainstream reality. Jeremy currently sits on the Design Matters National board, the NatHERS Stakeholder Committee, and the board of directors for Builders Declare. An educator, and previous Master Builders GreenLiving instructor, he is passionate about spreading environmentally sustainable design, and the knowhow needed to make the residential construction industry the first carbon neutral industry in Australia.
Kate Nason
Sustainability Advisor
Frasers Property
Kate is a passionate advocate of high-performance, healthy and resilient buildings. With a background as an architect (ARBV) she has worked across multiple low-energy buildings including Certified Passive House projects such as the Monash Gillies Hall and several single residential homes utilising low carbon prefabricated construction systems. She is a certified Passive House Designer (PHI), Green Star Accredited Professional and Chairperson at the Australian Passive House Association. She holds the role as Sustainability Advisor at Frasers Property Australia, working across the development of the corporate sustainability strategy and project oversight in Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia, ensuring buildings and master planned communities integrate leading sustainability objectives and targets.
Mahalath Halperin
Architect & Director, Mahalath Halperin Architects
Mahalath Halperin, FRAIA, is an architect and environmental consultant living and working in regional NSW.
As well as running an architectural practice since the 1990s, addressing everything from domestic renovations through to large commercial buildings, resorts and education facilities, she also conducts energy and environmental audits and assessments, and has always tried to tie the scientific with the aesthetic to achieve highly sustainable but liveable works where possible.
Mahalath has also developed and delivered courses on environmental and architectural issues, and is also a published author, including assorted children’s books, including one about her cat building a house.
Mahalath Halperin Architects won the Single Dwelling, New category for Drumkerin at Sustainability Awards 2018.
Michael Faine
Architect, Faine Group Architects
Michael Faine has been a registered architect since 1980 and to date, has worked on a multitude of building types, designs, construction and procurement methods.
His diverse career led him to a teaching position at the University of Western Sydney in the Bachelor of Building/Construction Management degree, and saw him acting as the Head of School for a time.
After 17 years as an academic, and juror positions on both the Building Designers Association of Australia and the HIA Awards, Michael is attuned to analysing the work of builders and designers, and understanding the price in the work they are carrying out.
Oliver Steele
Oliver has a stellar twenty-five year track record of sustainable design & construction, winning numerous awards.
His mission is to show the world that sustainable development works for people, industry, and the planet. To prove that people want healthy, comfortable homes that cost less to live in; and that it makes dollars and sense for developers to provide them – now and into the future.
His team delivered FERN, the first Passivhaus certified apartments in the southern hemisphere, as well as Australia’s first green-roofed terrace housesat 88 Angel St, Newtown.
Sandra Furtado
Director, Furtado Sullivan
Sandra is the co-founder of Furtado Sullivan, an architecture studio based in Sydney. The practice enjoys the challenge of translating a project’s complexity into a design that works with its environment, combining large-scale efficiency and sophistication with a bespoke design approach.
In the past, she has been intrinsically involved in notable large-scale projects including 8 Chifley, Barangaroo Masterplan and International Towers, and One Circular Quay hotel in Circular Quay.
Sandra has an extraordinary ability to understand urban complexity. Through holistic design thinking, she seeks synergies with multidisciplinary practices, harnessing collective knowledge in order to achieve goals creatively and drive the sustainability agenda.
Simone Schenkel
Simone is a certified Passive House designer and the founder at Gruen Eco Design, whose mission is to make energy efficient homes a staple in the Australian landscape. Everyone should have the right to live in a comfortable house that does not cost the earth!
She has used the passion, experience and knowledge she gained from her upbringing and architectural studies in Germany to create Gruen Eco Design. A business where she works with her clients to create not only beautifully designed homes that won’t cost the earth. But also homes that are healthy, thermally comfortable, energy efficient and resilient for future generations.
Simone loves making the world a better place by improving the way houses are built. And helping others to live a more sustainable life.
Suzanne Toumbourou
Suzanne Toumbourou, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Council of Recycling.
Suzanne Toumbourou is the Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Council of Recycling (ACOR).
Suzanne is an organisation leader with deep experience in public affairs, executive management, stakeholder relations, governance strategy of not-for-profits, with a strong reputation as a sustainability and circular economy subject matter expert. Prior to ACOR, Suzanne was the longstanding Executive Director of the Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council, where she delivered impactful policy outcomes for building sustainability, including advancing the energy performance provisions in Australia’s Building Code and informing the priorities of the COAG Energy Council’s Trajectory for Low Energy Buildings.
Suzanne has broad experience encompassing Federal and State Governments, industry and non-profit organisations. She is passionate about leading positive change for people, industry and the environment.
