His comments come after the head of the ACT architects' institute criticised Australians for being ''oblivious'' to climate change and ''detached'' from environmental issues.

In a speech to the Australian Institute of Architects on Saturday night, the institute's ACT chapter president David Flannery had said Government environmental initiatives like the solar power feed-in tariff were met with ''tortoise-like'' support from the public and climate change sceptics still held sway.

Mr Flannery said society needed the ''virtuous urban citizen'' who would act sustainably for the collective good of the community.

But Mr Johnson said people were willing to adopt environmentally friendly initiatives and needed leadership.

''At the bigger scale of public buildings, the Government must lead the way, they must invest more, they must put more into the capital cost of the building for payback later,'' he said.

''There are exemplary projects all around the country, if you look at the national awards, or all the state awards, it's the small private buildings that are actually innovative and leading the way with clients that are prepared to take the time and pay the initial capital cost.''

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