Sustainability Initiatives Growing Green Star Buildings

Australia is at the forefront of global green building and sustainable building practices.

The green building industry has evolved from small beginnings to a large-scale industry with innovative technology and design processes being adopted all around the world.

Internationally, Australia has lead the way with design and innovation energy efficient technology. Some examples from around the world include: the Rockefeller Centre

in NYC, the sustainable infrastructure in the Helix Bridge in Singapore and world leading sporting facility design and construction in the aquatic centre used in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

Locally, the green building industry in Australia has had a significant impact on the construction of commercial properties and the benefits go beyond just those associated with the environment.

Developing and constructing green projects lowers operating costs, increases return on investment, provides greater tenant attraction, and increases the productivity of occupants of the building.

The organisation responsible for the rating and certification of green projects across Australia is the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA). The council’s objective is to transform Australia’s built environment into a healthier, more liveable and sustainable environment.

They aim to achieve this through promoting green technologies and processes, and through the integration of green initiatives into mainstream design.

The current rating system uses Green Star, which evaluates the environmental design and construction of buildings.

The Green Star was developed in order to establish a common language and set a standard of measurement for building environment sustainability.

Here we look at three commercial developments from across Australia, which all boast a 6 Star Green Star Rating, the highest attainable rating.

 
180 Brisbane

180 Brisbane was the first 6 Star Green Star - Office v3 building in Queensland. It received four 'Innovation' category points awarded for unique transport and management initiatives.

The building incorporates real-time energy savings and provides transport information to building users.

Energy-saving features incorporated into the design included a 100kW roof-mounted photovoltaic array for zero carbon electricity, and a 1MW tri-generation system, which provides excellent peak demand reduction.

Daisho describes 180 Brisbane as a 'future-focused building' - and the inclusion of real-time technology demonstrates this vision.

The design was awarded two Green Star 'Innovation' points for the provision of real-time public transport information and building environmental performance information through dedicated foyer displays.

The public transport information can also be made available for display within tenancies, via connection to the building's fibre optic system.

Related Article: Watpac Wins Daisho Deal To Build New Brisbane Commercial Tower

 
664 Collins St Melbourne

664 Collins St is a highly innovative and sustainable building will embody the principles of passive environmental design and will strongly represent the progressive thinking of its tenants well into the future.

Its highly efficient floor-plate around 3,000 square metre NLA per typical flop, is largely column free, with an offset central core to optimise nearby space, and has excellent natural light penetration from all sides.

It is a building that will embrace the social and cultural needs of any innovative and forward thinking tenant.

 
Legion House Sydney

Grocon’s 161 Castlereagh Street development is the largest office building in New South Wales to archive a 6 Star Green Star – Office Design v2 rating.

Some of the features that have pushed 161 Castlereagh Street from 5 Star to 6 Star Green Star include: 2 x 450 kilowatt tri-generation plants, generating electricity, heating and cooling for the air conditioning and hot water systems, a high-performance thermally shielded glass exterior, allowing in maximum light and acting as excellent insulation and environmentally friendly but high-strength concrete and a finely engineered structure to reduce the amount of reinforcing steel required.

Related Article: Inside Liberty Place: Sydney’s Green Star Business Hub