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Multiplex's $240 million, 20-level tower being built for the BNZ at 80 Queen St, Auckland, is New Zealand's first high-rise to be given a five-star green rating.
Five stars is a standard of excellence under the Green Star NZ-Office Design buildings' rating tool of the New Zealand Green
Building Council (NZGBC). The 26,000 sq m building in the CBD has set the bar for new commercial office space, says Jane Henley, NZGBC chief executive.
BNZ partnered with Multiplex to seek the five-star green rating. The building was assessed under an NZGBC pilot scheme and Henley says the project has contributed immensely to the development of the green star ratings scheme.
"The knowledge shared has ensured the Green Star NZ tool adaptation process from the Australian version is robust and meaningful," she says.
Green Star NZ is the country's first comprehensive environmental rating system for buildings. It evaluates building projects against eight environmental impact categories.
Points are awarded for initiatives that demonstrate the project has met the overall objectives of Green Star NZ and the specific criteria of the relevant rating tool credits. Points are then weighted and an overall score is calculated, determining the project's green star rating.
There are about 20 buildings in the process of certification involving three stages of office design, as built and in-service performance.
Geoff Wicks, who led the Multiplex design team, says it took three ring binders of documents, a dedicated administration team, hours of writing engineering and architectural reports into readable papers and four months to achieve the five-star rating.
"Whether we went too far, we don't know but the comprehensive submission was well received and, as NZGBC refines it procedures, we would expect future certification to be a much shorter process," Wicks says.
He said the star rating pilot process was a steep learning curve for NZGBC and Multiplex as the tool was open for scrutiny. "We were running the building design at the same time the tool was being developed and it involved a bit of crystal ball gazing.
"There was a lot of pioneering discussion and separate opinions sought on various aspects of the tool. The NZGBC's robust and professional examination of our submission has gone a long way to answering any niggling questions over the process for applying the office design rating tool."
The Australian-based Woods Bagot and Warren & Mahoney design for 80 Queen St evolved over two years. The tower will be a combination of new construction and old, preserving substantially the heritage features of the historic Jean Batten Building.
The property is Multiplex's first fully integrated project in New Zealand and will be finished in 2009. Wicks says it will be mid-2010 before the building can be evaluated for the third stage of the rating tool - in-service performance. "The costs of running the building are measured against operating expenses after a year's occupation."
Multiplex NZ managing director Peter Wall said the company, as developer, builder and owner of 80 Queen St, worked in close partnership with BNZ and could not have achieved the mark of excellent without its total commitment and buy-in.
BNZ's new 11,500 sq m headquarters will be housed in the podium of the building and the 10 tower floors are being leased by Colliers International.
"Green building is economically, socially and environmentally beneficial for building owners and tenants," says Colliers International leasing director Rob Bird.
"Environmentally sustainable design is now a requirement of the Government and a large number of corporates in any new or refurbished premises it occupies. This has led to a market shift and green building has almost become standard practice overnight, although we have some way to go to catch up with the rest of the world."
Since July 2007, new A-grade offices housing government staff have been required to be built with a five-star green status and all new B-grade and lesser buildings to at least four stars.
"Australia has more than 400 buildings with green certification and Green Star NZ will continue to revolutionise our market in the same way," Bird says.
The $29 million, four-storey Kumutoto Site 7 building, owned by Dominion Funds and built by Fletcher Construction on Wellington's waterfront with Meridian Energy as signature tenant, has also been awarded a five-star green rating.
Phil Brown, general manager investment for Dominion Funds and Meridian project director, says it is important to note that the Green Star NZ tool not only allows the industry to assess a building's environmental impact but also measures the quality of the work space environment.
Business has a vast impact. Worldwide it is accountable for an estimated 30 per cent of the world's raw materials, 20 per cent of land use, 30 per cent of water use, 40 per cent of energy consumption and 40 per cent of all solid waste produced.
Green rating systems stimulate market demand for high-performance buildings, provide "branding", and transform the skills and knowledge of the industry as a whole.
Global awareness of the urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental degradation has mandated the rapid formation of "green building councils" around the world. It is estimated that buildings are responsible for 40 per cent or more of greenhouse gas emissions in the developed world.
The longer-term objectives of the World Green Building Council are to create a global market for green building through the creation of national green building councils and represent 60 per cent of the global property industry.
Dean Riddell, a Wellington-based quantity surveyor and board member of the two-year-old New Zealand Green Building Council, says he is a convert to sustainable development but within the confines of the free market.
Riddell says there should be a balance with quality, cost, time and function-producing buildings that are not only energy-efficient but pleasant to work in and function long term.
Factors such as ventilation, air quality, views, heating, internal noise levels, daylight glare, lighting, water usage and carbon dioxide levels - and even closeness to public transport - take preference over aesthetics.
If there are sound reasons to strive for sustainable workplaces that can be achieved without destroying profits, then green buildings will be the norm.