Flood damaged districts of Brisbane and Ipswich should be rebuilt using resilient and sustainable building methods, said Green Cross Australia managing director Mara Bun.

Ms Bun used the American town of Greensburg in Kansas as a reference point for Queensland.

Devastated by a tornado in 2007, it now has the mid-west's only Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum accredited hospital, city hall and business hub, utilising advanced green technologies.

"There is a lot of pressure to do things quickly during recoveries,'' she said.

"Thinking 'business as usual' can lead to a short-term focus on cost, but it is possible to have a broader view towards innovation and value for money.''

The company's Build It Back Green initiative was instrumental in working with communities following the Victoria bushfires of 2009.

With clear thinking and motivation, a program focusing on small projects in affected areas like Ipswich, Grantham and Brisbane could come out of the recovery, said Ms Bun.

Green Cross International was launched in 1993 by former Soviet statesman Mikhail Gorbachev and now has a global network of 30 offices plus an affiliate in America.

Global Green USA is responsible for The Holy Cross Project in the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans features five homes and 18 units.

By logging on to Globalgreen.org, visitors can watch real time measurements of energy, electricity, gas and water consumption.

Ms Bun said that it was proving to be a great tool for community education.

"It is not just in the aftermath of disasters that we can employ this,'' she said.

"There is a big discussion on population growth in Australia, given the predicted impacts of climate change, and predictions of further floods and storm surge.

"Over coming weeks and months, we will open dialogue with local government to discuss a vision that might be possible, and find areas where local appetite for this work is real.''

Read the full article written by Ben Johnson in the Quest Ipswich News on 3 May 2011.