Green Building Week

Now in its third year, World Green Building Week (17-21 September) showcases green buildings and communities and the role they play in reducing the global carbon footprint and saving money, while also creating jobs, boosting productivity, health and learning, and improving lives. This year, green building councils in 92 countries, representing more than 30,000 organisations, will participate - hosting events, running campaigns and more.

The Chief Executive of the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA), Romilly Madew, says: “Australia can be proud of its achievements in sustainable building.

“We have eight million square metres of Green Star-certified space around Australia, we’ve trained 40,000 people in the property and construction industry on sustainable building practices and our GBC is the one of the world’s largest and most influential.

“Many Australian companies now have international reputations as sustainability specialists and we are leading the way in terms of green products and innovations.

“In 10 years, we have transformed some segments of the property and construction market - such as commercial offices - and we are making inroads into other markets, with sustainable schools, hospitals, shopping centres, industrial facilities and apartments a reality across Australia.

“World Green Building Week reminds us that sustainable building is not a fad or a fashion - it’s the future, and Australia is at the forefront of this global movement.”

Over the course of the week, the GBCA is hosting a series of ‘Sustainable Sydney’ walking tours in conjunction with the Better Buildings Partnership. Participants will see for themselves how the Green Star rating system has transformed the city’s footprint and how Sydney’s infrastructure is getting a green makeover, in advance of further tours to be established in other cities around the country.

Sustainability Matters took part in the first walking tour yesterday, which started at 30 The Bond, Hickson Road. Built in 2004 and the first commercial building to achieve a 5 star certification, it still remains a remarkable, modern building. It brings the outside in with an outstanding heritage-listed, convict-made, four-storey sandstone wall. Not only a stunning visual feature, the wall also creates a comfortable ‘living’ space keeping the building cool and showing a connection with the environment.

The tour then proceeded to One Shelley Street, which is known for its striking ‘net’ facade and activity-based work space. The building features 100% pass through air and a harbour water heat rejection system. Combining good design with smarter technologies and changes in behaviour have resulted in productivity improvements and staff satisfaction. 

The Darling Quarter precinct home to the Commonwealth Bank also features activity-based working and a number of technologies including blackwater recycling, greywater recycling, rainwater recycling, trigeneration and high-performance glass. The development has also created a community space with cafes, water features and parks which can be used for festivals.

But the tour was not just about highlighting new buildings, retrofitting can also yield good results and the GBCA has achieved a 5 star Office interiors v1.1 rating for its new headquarters. Called The Greenhouse, it proves you can do something with a 1980s ‘old school’ building. The fitout took less than five months to complete and was delivered on a budget of just over $1.3 million. The design embraces the concepts of ‘reduce, re-use, recycle’ by reducing the amount of plasterboard and the number of ceiling tiles required by leaving ceilings exposed, using carpet tile with recycled content and using second-hand furniture for its cafe-style eating area for staff. Also featuring, a raised floor provides a displacement ventilation system reducing air conditioning and a fabulous outlook over Hyde Park - no wonder it has resulted in 95% of staff having had a positive or very positive perception of their new workplace.

The self-guided walking tour can be viewed at www.gbca.org.au/events/sustainable-sydney-walking-tour/34310.htm.

Dozens of GBCA member companies are hosting events and activities - from site tours of Green Star-rated buildings to photo competitions, from seminars to product launches. Find out more at www.gbca.org.au/events/world-green-building-week-2012-industry-events/34242.htm.