星空传媒

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 exactly thank my parents for my name while I was at school; I took some stick for it.鈥� Growing up in the UK in the 1970s, as Wolfie Smith proclaimed 鈥減ower to the people鈥� on television, Ch茅 Wall had to contend with gibes from classmates. His hippy parents chose the names of left-wing reactionaries for their offspring. Wall鈥檚 brother was named after the psychologist and LSD guru Timothy Leary. 鈥淥ddly enough, Tim didn鈥檛 attract as much attention as that of a certain freedom fighter,鈥� he smiles.

At 37, Wall is managing director of the Australian building services and environmental engineer Lincolne Scott and has been named one of Australia鈥檚 True Leaders by Australian Business Review Weekly. Did the childhood ridicule spur him on to achieve great things fast? No, but his parents鈥� environmental beliefs played a big part in shaping Wall鈥檚 psyche.

鈥淢y dad had a house with a wind turbine and solar panels, way ahead of its time in the 1970s, and my parents taught me never to live beyond my means. I suppose sustainability is in my blood.鈥� Wall doesn鈥檛 drive a car and is a vegetarian. His carbon footprint is lower than most simply because he doesn鈥檛 eat meat. However, in 2004, when Wall was presented with the Prime Minister鈥檚 Environmentalist of the Year award by the Australian premier John Howard, newspapers screamed 鈥渢urncoat鈥�. One journalist described accepting an honour from a man who had refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol as 鈥渓ike taking a humanitarian award from Pol Pot鈥�.

鈥淚 did have my misgivings,鈥� says Wall, 鈥渂ut, after talking it through with close friends, I saw the award as a way of publicising and furthering the environmental cause.鈥�

Like all great revolutionaries, Wall sees beyond the immediate furore to the greater goal. However, as is the wont of those in power, he has a single-minded streak. In 2002, he co-founded the Green 星空传媒 Council of Australia (GBCA). Wall readily admits that his tireless work for the council, and later as founding chairman of the World Green 星空传媒 Council, has been 鈥渁bout getting around government inaction and forwarding my own sustainable agenda to create a market for people who wanted to do the right thing鈥�.

The GBCA introduced Green Star, an environmental building accreditation scheme that is a hybrid of BREEAM and LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). It has had a massive influence, penetrating 70% of the commercial property market in Australia in just four years. Wall believes there are two reasons for its success. First, Green Star was developed to work for industry: it has the technical rigour of BREEAM in the UK enhanced with an element of commercial astuteness from the US scheme, LEED. 鈥淪ustainability and commerce must work together,鈥� Wall says. 鈥淚f they don鈥檛, sustainability will lose out.鈥�

Green Star has developed further than its UK and US forebears, morphing from a design tool into an accreditation that offers ratings not only for architectural designs but also built projects, existing buildings and management efficiency. 鈥淚t can get a little confusing at times,鈥� Wall says, 鈥渂ut the market is maturing fast and clamouring to have buildings judged on their environmental performance.鈥�

The second important factor that is driving green accreditation in Australia is the competitive nature that seems to be built into every citizen. Wall bemoans the UK鈥檚 legislative big stick approach and likens Green Star鈥檚 success to that of the country鈥檚 sports teams. 鈥淎ussies aren鈥檛 just competitive when it comes to beating the Brits,鈥� he laughs. 鈥淚t starts at local and state level. So, if Victoria announces a new green initiative, New South Wales wants to go one better, and the idea snowballs. Both the states and developers are driving forward the initiative in an effort to outdo their rivals.鈥�

This thirst for success also courses through Wall鈥檚 veins, although his self-deprecating nature doesn鈥檛 give it away. He began as a mechanical engineer at YRM after being educated to ONC level on day release at Vauxhall and Croydon colleges in south London. He describes himself as a 鈥渇ailed engineer who admires the linear thinking required to excel at the discipline鈥�, and mocks the 鈥渙pen-minded attitude鈥� that has brought him so far.

Aussies aren鈥檛 just competitive about beating Brits developers and states want green initiatives to outdo their rivals

Wall moved to Australia in 1993, where he first specialised in energy modelling and conceptual design with Lincolne Scott. That same year Sydney won the bid to host the 2000 Olympics, making him well positioned to promote environmental design. In 1999 Lincolne Scott gave him managerial and financial control of his own division, Advanced Environmental Concepts (AEC), telling him to prove that there was a real market for sustainable building design.

Work soon poured in and Lincolne Scott realised that the ethics of this 鈥渂outique鈥� division had to be at the core of its activities if the company was to grow. In 2001, Wall was appointed group director, giving him the chance to develop green skills across the business and take the company carbon neutral. 鈥淥ver five years we promoted the green ethic throughout our offices; recycling, using less water, encouraging cycling to work, all the usual things. Then, when I looked into offsetting our remaining emissions, I was surprised at the relative low cost.鈥�

Lincolne Scott spends the equivalent of only 拢18,000 a year to offset emissions from offices in five countries. It pioneered Australia鈥檚 first voluntary salary sacrifice scheme, allowing staff to offset personal emissions via payments from their pre-tax wage packets. 鈥淧eople don鈥檛 realise that carbon is cheap. When they do become involved, most are very willing to give a little back,鈥� he says.

And what is the payback for the firm? 鈥淭wo of the biggest challenges in our industry are sustainability and skills shortages. Get the first right and you solve the second. The greening of our business has attracted staff and retained them: people like working for something they believe in.鈥�

Lincolne Scott was acquired by WSP last summer, bringing benefits for both sides. Lincolne Scott wanted to spread its wings in the US and Europe while WSP gained some of the world鈥檚 best environmental engineers. A team from AEC has already moved into the San Francisco office of another WSP subsidiary, Flack & Kurtz, and London is possibly the next port of call.

Spreading the green revolution worldwide must be on Wall鈥檚 mind. But his primary concerns are more with keeping sustainability on a local level. While global leaders meet to discuss international solutions and the new Australian prime minister, Kevin Rudd, gets the Kyoto message, Wall sees difficulties in looking for the big answer. 鈥淓very country has its own problems and challenges when it comes to the environment, and each must put in place measures to tackle them.

鈥淕lobal companies would favour a single method of accrediting their property portfolios but we can鈥檛 impose LEED, Green Star or any other method worldwide. Maybe there will have to be a global brand or heading under which schemes operate eventually, but the key to global green design is localisation. I鈥檝e worked with the Chinese ministry of construction, the Mexican and Indian green building councils, and each area requires different solutions tailored to specific needs.鈥�

Since starting his career, Wall has pursued the environmental goals his parents instilled in him but inevitably has been drawn into the heart of the capitalist beast. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think my parents envisaged me in a suit, working for a big firm; more standing on the outside throwing rocks. But I鈥檓 doing things in a different way and I鈥檓 comfortable with my role. I鈥檓 very lucky that my work sits nicely with my personal aspirations and beliefs. And I鈥檝e started to get used to the name now, too.鈥�