Green Star favourites mark certification milestone
Cundall is celebrating a milestone – we have certified 100 Green Star projects, the first consultancy to do this. This includes 1.5million m² in area, 488 Stars and projects across the country in multiple sectors including the first 6 Star Green Star communities project, the first project to incorporate Green Star’s life cycle assessment points, the first 6 Star Green Star Multi-unit Residential development and the first retail development to achieve an As-Built Green Star Rating.
To mark this occasion, we asked our Green Star Accredited Professionals (GSAPs) what their favourite Green Star project has been to work on over these 100 projects so far.
New Royal Adelaide Hospital (nRAH), SA
The $1.85 billion new Royal Adelaide Hospital (nRAH). On completion it will be one of the largest and most advanced hospitals in Australia. It was almost certainly the most complex submission in GBCA history with effectively every trade and discipline, peaking at 1,800 on-site staff, having Green Star reporting requirements!
Lewis Hewton, Adelaide
Sustainable Building Research Centre, University of Wollongong, NSW
Difficult question as I’ve been lucky enough to work on so many great Green Star projects. The University of Wollongong’s Sustainable Building Research Centre would have to be my favourite however as it went beyond sustainable to what could be considered ‘restorative’. It generates all of its energy onsite through renewables, is capable of disconnecting from municipal water supply and treatment, grows food onsite and attempted to eliminate toxic chemicals from the supply chain, as well as providing a wonderfully light and beautiful workplace. It’s also an admirable function for a building - researching and developing new products and technologies with industry partners in an effort to advance the sustainable construction industry.
Hannah Morton, Sydney
Kings Square, Perth, WA
The Kings Square development. It includes 4 buildings which have achieved 5 Star Green Star Office Design and As-Built ratings with Kings Square 2 achieving LEED Silver rating and is expected to achieve 4 Star Green Star Office Interior rating.
Cundall was involved in all projects for building performance modelling, independent commissioning, green ratings documentation and more. This wide scope allowed made us to feel like a unifying force in all four buildings, working with a number of top architectural and engineering consultancy firms, in addition to providing the opportunity to collaborate with all Cundall offices in Australia (and few Cundall offices abroad).
Mathuran Marianayagam, Perth
The Plumbing Industry Climate Action Centre (PICAC), VIC
There will never be another job like this one! Within 1,700sqm we fitted cogeneration, multiple solar hot water systems, PV, in-slab heating, active chilled beams, natural ventilation, heat recovery and economy mode ventilation, an absorption chiller, rainwater harvesting and non-chemical grey water treatment. And all systems are exposed and capable of isolation to be used as training and teaching aids for plumbing industry professionals. And a 5 Star Green Star Education rating was achieved, despite the tool not even existing at project kick-off! Great to know it’s still upskilling today’s industry for tomorrow’s challenges.
Andrew Thompson, Melbourne
JLL Melbourne Fit-out, Melbourne, VIC
My favourite Green Star project is the JLL Melbourne Office Fit-out project. This Green Star Interiors project placed a really strong emphasis on staff wellbeing and indoor environment quality, including lush indoor planting, extensive use of adjustable workstations and healthy materials selections. A post-occupancy survey completed after the completion of the fit-out showed that JLL staff satisfaction increased from 36% to 75%, and there were significant increases in staff utilisation, comfort, empowerment and generation of new business leads.
Damon Cuming, Melbourne
Wollongong Central, West Kiera Retail Development, NSW
My favourite would have to be West Kiera, we focused on passive measures to reduce energy consumption. I like the skylight, it was a challenge to get through minimum BCA standard as it’s so big but the hard work is worth it. I also really like the natural wood throughout, unusual for a shopping mall.
David Collins, Singapore
55 St Andrews Place, Melbourne, VIC
We transformed a 1960’s office building with task lighting, external blinds, indirect evaporative cooling, naturally ventilated wintergarden, rainwater harvesting for toilets and delivered a significant improvement to the air quality provided by the HVAC system. The building won Sustainable Refurbishment of the Year at the UK Building Services Awards 2007. We acted as the principal consultant and also provided building services, ESD and Green Star certification. A fantastic example of going back to first principles – fix the façade (passive) then the services (active).
Former Partner, David Clark, Sydney
Check out the great info graphic below summarising the 100 Green Star projects.
