Barangaroo South wins WorldGBC green building award

Four prestigious green building projects, one leading business and an innovative female industry leader have been announced as winners of the World Green Building Council’s (WorldGBC) Asia Pacific Leadership in Green Building Awards.

The awards celebrate iconic green buildings, up-and-coming innovators and inspiring companies driving change and creating a better future throughout the region. Presented by WorldGBC and its Asia Pacific Regional Network of Green Building Councils, the biennial program this year recognised six winners across three award categories, with winners awarded last week at a ceremony hosted by the Singapore Green Building Council during its annual gala dinner.

Australia’s own Barangaroo South took out the Leadership in Sustainability Design & Performance Award – Commercial category, alongside co-winner Aorangi House in New Zealand. Developed by Lendlease and currently accommodating around 20,000 office workers, 82 retailers and 159 waterfront apartments, Barangaroo South is part of the Barangaroo development — Sydney’s largest urban regeneration project in a generation.

The green building award recognised Lendlease’s ambition to create Australia’s first large-scale carbon-neutral precinct, diverting 97% of construction and 80% of operational waste from landfill and aiming to be water positive. Sustainability was fundamental to Barangaroo South’s design — from raising the ground plane to accommodate predicted sea level rises through to installing over 50,000 LED lamps and 6000 m² of rooftop solar panels. Further sustainability measures include a shared basement with a recycled water treatment plant and district cooling plant to cool the buildings.

Barangaroo South is also home to International House Sydney, Australia’s first engineered timber commercial building. By substituting renewable timber for traditional construction materials, the cross-laminated timber construction is said to reduce the building’s global warming potential by 91% compared to concrete.

Other award winners are listed below.

Swire Properties, Hong Kong: Business Leadership in Sustainability Award with Better Places for People Special Recognition

Swire Properties develops and manages commercial, retail, hotel and residential properties, with a particular focus on mixed-use developments in prime locations at major mass transportation intersections.

Naandi by Organo, India: Leadership in Sustainable Design & Performance Award – Residential category with Advancing Net Zero Special Recognition

Organo is a company founded on the idea of environmentally conscious living. The goal of the organisation is to develop communities which are self-reliant in seven strands of sustainability — energy, food, water, air, animals, people and shelter.

Aorangi House, New Zealand: Leadership in Sustainable Design & Performance Award – Commercial category

The revitalisation of the original 1970 Aorangi house building, which was vacated in 2005 due to issues with heating, cooling and ventilation, demonstrates how the upcycling of an existing commercial office building can not only significantly reduce environmental impact but also achieve positive user perceptions coupled with leading environmental performance outcomes.

Green One United Nation House, Vietnam: Leadership in Sustainable Design & Performance Award – Institutional category

The Green One UN House (GOUNH) represents the commitment of the international community and the UN to work together for an environmentally sustainable future. While the GOUNH serves as a model for sustainable construction in Vietnam, the motivation to build green came from an understanding of needing to reduce the institution’s environmental footprint and meet several Sustainable Development Goals.

Mary Chan, DLN Architects, Hong Kong: Women in Green Building Leadership Award

Head of Sustainable Building Design and Assistant Director at DLN Architects, Mary Chan is an architect with over three decades of experience. Her contributions to the green building movement include spearheading further development of the Hong Kong Green Building Council, leading public engagement programs ‘My Green Space’ and the ‘Green Shopping Alliance’, and influencing government regulators to encourage more green building development in Hong Kong.