Six Green Stars for La Trobe sports stadium

The Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) has awarded La Trobe University’s new sports stadium a ‘6 Star Green Star Design and As Built’ rating for sustainable building practice. The stadium is reported to be Australia’s first sports building to achieve such an accolade.

The stadium — built as part of stage 2 of La Trobe’s Sports Park development — is a key component of the university’s plan to transform its Melbourne Campus in Bundoora into a University City of the Future.

The stadium features include:

• 1104 470 W solar photovoltaic panels on the roof, capable of generating about 724,000 kWh power each year. This is enough to meet the entire stadium’s electrical demand with a surplus that will also provide renewable energy to the rest of the campus for net positive operation.
• Structural design that significantly reduces embodied carbon (the greenhouse gas emissions generated upfront to construct the building), with a 15% reduction demonstrated due to the structural efficiency of the court design.
• The percentage of accredited, sustainable building products — including furniture, flooring and ceiling panels — exceeds the GBCA’s criteria, achieving innovation points.
• Water-efficient fixtures and controls with rainwater capture and reuse.
• Native landscaping, natural ventilation, local procurement, water-sensitive urban design, an integrated waste management plan, green groundskeeping operations and a white roof that reflects the sun to reduce the urban heat island effect.
   

Professor Russell Hoye, La Trobe Dean School of Allied Health Human Services and Sport, said the state-of-the-art stadium had transformed students’ experiences and was a valuable community asset predicted to have more than 10,000 visitors a week.

“The La Trobe Sports Park is now home to 26 sports clubs, the Northern Football Netball League, Softball Australia and Softball Victoria, and planning is underway to become home base for the Matildas, Football Victoria and Rugby Victoria,” Professor Hoye said.

“We’re very proud of the fact that we’ve been able to create this incredible facility while remaining true to La Trobe’s values of being sustainable, protecting our environment and aiming to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2029.”

Professor Hoye thanked partners for their contribution to the complex: Banyule City Council; architect Warren & Mahoney; builder ADCO; project manager TSA Management; ESD consultant Arup and service designers Stantec.

Completed in January 2020, the facility includes an indoor stadium with six multipurpose highball courts, a teaching and research building with world-class sport science and analytics research laboratories, and office space for commercial tenants.

More about Green Star

Green Star is an internationally recognised sustainability rating system for the built environment. There are different Green Star rating tools, and the ‘Design and As Built’ rating guides the sustainable design and construction of schools, offices, universities, industrial facilities, public buildings, retail centres and hospitals.

All newly constructed buildings at La Trobe are certified at a minimum rating of 5 Star Green Star under the GBCA’s building rating system.